A redox flow battery that uses metal complexes with amino-alcohol ligands as the electroactive species in alkaline electrolytes to store electrical energy. The battery includes a first and a second electrolyte storage unit that each includes a metal complex selected from transition metals with an amino-alcohol ligand as an electroactive species in an alkaline electrolyte. Such solutions in these electrolyte storage units are each prepared by mixing stoichiometric amounts of a metal ion and an amino-alcohol ligand in water to form a metal-ligand mixture followed by adding an amount corresponding to 3-5 moles/liter of an alkaline electrolyte solution to each metal-ligand mixture to form a metal complex with the amino-alcohol ligand in the alkaline electrolyte to be used by a storage unit. As a result, the operational and maintenance costs of the redox flow battery are reduced while reducing the complexity of the manufacturing process.