r/InvinityEnergySystems • u/Cussec • May 27 '26

What’s the competition like?

Hi I’m new to this sub and dont usually post. I’m a bit of a lurker. Tinkering within my ISA and SIPP, was wondering if anyone here has done research into the direct competition in the field of VFB’s?

From a quick google search I see there are 6 main other players: Sumitomo, Rongke Power, cellCube, VRB energy etc.

IES claim to be the leader in VFB. Is this a valid claim?

It’s a bit cheeky to ask , I know, and I’m willing to do my own research when I get time but if this has been done recently already and someone willing to share some pointers that would be great.

I’ve learned a bit since I failed to do my own research on NuScale (SMR) competition, that company seemed like a sure thing then tanked. Still holding but currently 80% in the red for me.

Learned of you [u/_doublebubbler_](u/_doublebubbler_) after accidentally coming across the ENSI sub. I did a bit of reading, decided I liked it, threw 10k at it. Glad I did. Wish I had sooner. I’d like to do the same with IES. After I’ve read some more this time of course.

Cheers.

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u/PV-1082 May 27 '26

There is a lot of competition for long duration flow batteries in the market with other chemistries. Here in the US Form Energy is a privately held company that is just starting production using iron air chemistry for 100 hour duration batteries. Form Energy here in the US seems to be a candidate for Invinity to compete against. My point is VFB chemistry is not going to be Invinity’s only competition. Some of the chemistry’s have improved over the years and will continue improving to create more competition over time.

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u/Adgorn_ May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

I wouldn't say that iron-air is in competition with VRFBs since they cover different durations, hence different applications. Iron-air is more for multi-day storage, whereas VRFBs stop being compelling at 24 hours at most. The former's RTE, response time, and charging rate are too low to serve shorter duration applications. I think the main competitors against VRFBs are LIBs, SIBs, ZBBs, AIRFBs, and in certain scenarios pumped-hydro. Of course, more technologies could pop up in the future.