Bhutan Runs on Happiness - and it's reshaping how they think about batteries
- Mar 31
- 2 min read
Bhutan is one of the world's most forward-thinking countries when it comes to energy and, earlier this year, Swanbarton found out just how seriously they mean it.
We joined consortium partners Gham Power and Dolma Impact Fund for the GRIPS 2 Technical Showcase, co-facilitated by Bhutan's Department of Energy and funded by UNIDO and the Accelerate to Demonstrate (A2D) Facility. The week brought us face-to-face with senior figures from across the sector: the Electricity Regulatory Authority, Druk Green Power Corporation, and Druk Holding and Investments, all united by one ambition - a resilient energy future built on Bhutan's philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH).
That philosophy turns out to matter enormously for battery storage. Across every conversation, there was clear consensus: lithium-ion batteries carry costs beyond the balance sheet - environmental harm, end-of-life waste, and geopolitical supply chain risk. For a country constitutionally committed to carbon neutrality, that's a real contradiction in values.
This is where the visit became genuinely exciting. Flow batteries - longer-duration, non-toxic, and free from lithium's circular economy problems - were almost entirely unknown to the stakeholders we met. The response when introduced to the concept was immediate. Swanbarton's research on flow batteries in developing economies, co-published with the Faraday Institution in 2025, drew real interest from senior officials keen to understand how the technology fits contexts like Bhutan's - remote substations, seasonal energy deficits, and grid stability without import dependency on India.
Conversations are continuing, with real appetite on both sides for a battery pilot project. There's genuine momentum, and genuine alignment between what Bhutan needs and what we do.
If you're working on energy storage in emerging markets, we'd love to talk.
Comments