Redflow was the great hope of Australian manufacturing. Its collapse left customers with broken batteries

Shortly before its abrupt collapse in August,Queensland battery manufacturer Redflow Energy appeared to be riding high.

The 19-year-old company was capitalising on global demand for large-scale battery systems, with multi-million-dollar contracts in California and a growing list of prominent customers at home, including the Bureau of Metereology, Optus and Queensland government-owned energy provider Stanwell.

The innovative “flow battery” maker met regularly with federal government ministers and was tipped as a potential recipient of “Future Made in Australia” funding to support clean energy manufacturing.

But,…