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Technology Center

FlexBase

At the star of Laufenburg, we are creating a technology center that will set new standards. A huge redox flow battery storage facility and a water-cooled (district heating) AI data center form the FlexBase Group's main project. In addition to the planned construction, we took over the former Swissgrid operations building in 2024, which is currently being retrofitted to provide jobs for specialist staff from Laufenburg and the surrounding communities.

flexbase_star

FlexBase

Group

FlexBase Group pursues the vision of using modern and innovative technologies to create new solutions in the fields of information technology, secure communication and energy. The group includes FB Real Estate AG, FB Data AG, FB Storage AG, FB Power AG and FlexBase Service AG. The FlexBase Technology Center Laufenburg (TZL) with a direct connection to the European electricity grid is located at the “Star of Laufenburg”, the electricity hub of Central Europe.


Questions and answers

FAQ

The year is 1958, when the electricity grids of Germany, France and Switzerland are interconnected at the 220-kilovolt voltage level in Fricktal in the canton of Aargau. This brings the Central European countries closer together. The European electricity grid is born with the switchgear known as the “Star of Laufenburg”.

Laufenburg is the heart of and the oldest node in the European electricity grid. The location is unique with

41 border lines
147 switchgears
380 and 220 kilovolt voltage
6,700 kilometers in length
12,000 pylons


The electricity site enables a direct connection of the battery storage facility without detours and power losses and is therefore ideally suited as a location for the storage facility. The existing, former Swissgrid building will be revitalized and offer over 400 office workplaces for employees.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

A battery storage system is primarily used to balance out the power supply from renewable energies. Renewable energies such as solar, wind and hydropower are dependent on the time of day and the weather. The battery storage system is fed with surplus electricity and stores the energy on demand. This means that the technology center does not need emergency power generators that run on fossil fuels. In addition, power fluctuations can be balanced out and risks such as a blackout can be minimized.

Due to its size, the FlexBase battery can fulfill several purposes at the same time: Important balancing energy to stabilize the power grid due to the uneven power production of sustainable energy producers (solar, wind), emergency power for the operation of the data center and peak smoothing, participation in the energy market and storing electricity for shortages.

In terms of battery technology, we rely on redox flow. A liquid battery in which power and energy can be scaled independently of each other. Redox flow technology was discovered 140 years ago. Development began in the 1970s and received a boost in the 2010s. The largest redox flow battery is currently located in China (commissioning in 2022: peak output 100MW, energy content 400MWh). 

The technology has a decisive advantage: it is neither flammable nor explosive, requires fewer to no rare and problematic materials and exhibits only very low power losses over time.

Research and development departments from all over the world are working flat out on improvements to compensate for the disadvantage compared to solid-state batteries (such as lithium-ion batteries), namely the lower energy density.

Due to the large dimensions of the FlexBase technology center, the battery storage system will definitely be able to operate in the GW and GWh range in terms of both performance and capacity. This specification is based on conventional redox flow technology and will be substantiated through research until the completion of the TZL. We are working together with renowned institutions in Switzerland and Germany and will set new standards in terms of both the liquid used and the cell stacks. 

The redox flow battery (RFB) is an electrochemical energy storage system based on redox reactions (reduction-oxidation reactions). In contrast to conventional batteries, where the energy density is limited by the volume and materials of the electrodes, the redox flow battery stores energy in liquid electrolytes that are stored in external tanks.

Advantages:

Scalability: The storage capacity depends only on the size of the tanks. To store more energy, larger or additional tanks can simply be used without having to enlarge the cells themselves. Long service life: As the electrodes do not degrade (as is the case with lithium-ion batteries, for example), redox flow batteries have a very long service life. Safety: They are less susceptible to overheating or fires compared to lithium-ion batteries.

Areas of application:

Redox flow batteries are particularly suitable for applications where large amounts of energy need to be stored, such as renewable energy (solar and wind energy) or in stationary energy storage systems, as they can be used reliably over long periods of time.

The waste heat from the water-cooled data center is fed into the Laufenburg heating network and surrounding communities. This means a reduction in electricity and heating costs for local residents.

FlexBase and its subsidiaries are registered and based in Laufenburg. The tax revenue benefits the town of Laufenburg and the canton of Aargau.

The projects surrounding the technology center and the creation of hundreds of jobs promote the economy and gastronomy of the town of Laufenburg and the surrounding area. FlexBase's move into the former Swissgrid building, which is steeped in history, gives it a new purpose.

From the planning and construction to the operation of the technology center, sustainability is at the top of the priority list.

The FlexBase Technology Center is cooled with water. The waste heat generated will be actively used for the district heating network of the city of Laufenburg and municipalities and industries within a radius of several kilometers, thus enabling the decommissioning of fossil-fuel power plants or their strategic repurposing as backup systems instead of a main system, thereby guaranteeing efficient and sustainable operation.
These two measures in turn reduce the energy requirement for cooling and therefore also the energy costs. At the same time, they enable ecological operation. The building will be equipped with a photovoltaic system with an area of over 8,400 square meters. Further efficiency improvements are actively being worked on.

Artificial intelligence (AI) enables machines to simulate human intelligence and solve problems. We already use AI in our daily lives, e.g. voice assistants and facial recognition.

The ever-increasing volume of data from all kinds of applications is a challenge for conventional computers. In particular, applications that are equipped with artificial intelligence require high-performance servers to handle the requests and processes.

Apps and applications of all kinds, especially applications with artificial intelligence, are run on servers. Everyday applications run in so-called data centers and we access them via various interfaces. The planned AI data center will be equipped with the latest technology and features for AI-optimized applications. As a result, the processes will run much more energy-efficiently and efficiently.

FlexBase Group is an independent, autonomous group of companies and is financed by private equity. FlexBase operates without state influence. FlexBase's private equity investors are exclusively SMEs or private investors from the DACH region. 

The majority shareholder in the FlexBase companies is “FlexBase Holding GmbH”, which is owned by the two Swiss nationals Marcel Aumer (Group CEO, VRP and Co-founder) and Sascha Carroccio (Group CTO, VR and Co-founder).