Energy Storage

RFBs have been purchased for stationary energy storage for over eight years but now the demand for such 4-8 hour storage is increasing coincident with lower cost RFBs becoming available and a very suitable new type of demand arriving.

Li-ion batteries are beginning to hit their performance ceiling, especially with regards to energy density. However, a shift in the anode materials used, namely to silicon or lithium-metal anodes, could provide a stepwise improvement to energy density. Their promise can be highlighted by looking at the high number of early-stage companies primarily developing anode materials, most being focussed on silicon, compared to other areas of Li-ion development.

Industrial activities at sea are safer and save valuable real estate. Several separate ideas and projects are coming together as we tackle a number of issues. Transmitting the electricity from single wave, tidal, wind or solar station to shore is very expensive.

Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) also called Cryogenic Energy Storage (CES), generically thermal energy storage, employs purified air to store electric energy.

Australia-based Avass Group recently announced that they have signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia to jointly manufacture electric vehicles and lithium batteries.

To save the planet and reduce electricity costs we need to electrify almost everything. For the next twenty years, photovoltaic and wind power will be the dominant energy sources creating electricity.

Northvolt and Volvo Cars will place their first joint battery factory in Gothenburg, Sweden, next to Volvo Cars' assembly plant in Torslanda. The new facility will be operational in 2025.

Ford is the first in the US to offer the ability for customers to power their homes with an electric truck when the grid goes dark, providing innovative new capabilities that enhance the energy independence of its customers.

The 2nd Annual Automotive Thermal Management Online Conference was held on the 20th-21st of January 2022. Whilst the conference is relevant for the automotive industry as a whole, the focus was towards electrification, especially battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and some content on fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). In this article we cover the main highlights from talks relating to thermal management for electric vehicles (EVs).

In collaboration with the Portuguese administration, Iberdrola has synchronised the first 220-MW turbine at the Gouvães hydroelectric power plant, delivering clean power to the grid for the first time.The Tâmega complex is one of Europe's largest energy storage facilities with an investment of more than €1.5 billion.

Demand for Li-ion batteries is forecast to grow significantly, driven primarily by the adoption of electric cars and vehicles. With this comes an increase in material demand and there are fears of material shortages and deficits acting as bottlenecks to the level of Li-ion demand, and electric vehicle demand along with it, that can be met in the future. As the two materials where demand is already dominated by the Li-ion battery industry, this premium article considers supply and demand outlooks for lithium and cobalt.

Enervenue are a US company commercialising Ni-H batteries.

The Tipton plant aims to increase Recyclus' lead-acid battery recycling production capacity from an estimated 16,000 tonnes in the first full year of production, to circa 80,000 tonnes by 2027.

In 2021 several thermal process lab and pilot systems for different, even multilayer, battery coating applications and a first high speed separator coating drying system to a leading Asian customer, has been delivered.

Researchers have developed a new technology for producing cost-effective batteries from medical waste. The authors of the research claim that their technology could turn waste that is difficult to recycle into raw materials, according to a study published in the Journal of Energy Storage.

InnovationLab announces BaMoS, its innovative battery monitoring solution for automotive applications. BaMoS uses ultra-thin printed pressure and temperature sensors to capture detailed battery data down to the individual cell level, which can be used to extend battery lifetime by up to 40%.

A research team has developed a graphene-inorganic-hybrid micro-supercapacitor made of leaves using femtosecond direct laser writing lithography. The advancement of wearable electronic devices is synonymous with innovations in flexible energy storage devices. Of the various energy storage devices, micro-supercapacitors have drawn a great deal of interest for their high electrical power density, long lifetimes, and short charging times.

Widespread and uncontrolled EV charging could double peak loads on distribution networks. Yet EVs using smart, two-way charging can feed power back into the network from their batteries at times of peak demand, recharge at times that avoid peak demand on the electric grid and store surplus power when demand is low. The energy and mobility sectors will converge in the future. Energy will flow bi-directionally - from the grid into an electric car and discharged to power appliances, homes and back to the grid itself. This premium article covers the current state of bi-directional technology, limitations and the roadmap to achieving full vehicle to everything (V2X) capability. It also includes an analysis into the role of utilities and why their participation in the growth of charging infrastructure is important.

Renault Group, Nissan Motor Co Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announced common projects and actions to accelerate and to shape their shared future towards 2030, focusing on the mobility value chain.

Refrigerated food warehouses consume large amounts of electricity and produce significant amounts of waste heat. A novel energy storage technology developed with EU funding will improve the sector's energy profile, support renewables, and contribute to Europe's ambitious carbon neutrality and sustainability plans.