Japan’s largest power producer JERA will get state funding for recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) for energy storage. Researchers will demonstrate a non-roasting method for separating battery materials by utilizing JERA’s high voltage pulse technology. The cathode materials will then be recycled without returning them to metal.
Developers are advancing the Oneida energy storage project in Halimond County, Ontario. Made of several lithium-ion battery modules, the 50 MW/ 1,000 MWh unit will store excess renewable power during off-peak periods and release it at times of high demand in order to reduce the need to fire up gas peaking power plants.
Start-up Vulcan Energy will produce carbon-free lithium from geothermal power in Germany from 2024. Lithium prices soured by over 600% in less than a year, as the component is irreplaceable for e-car batteries and stationary power storage. Today, four-fifth of battery-quality lithium comes from China but Vulcan will sustainably produce it near Karlsruhe.
Jaguar Land Rover has partnered with Pramac to reuse electric vehicle batteries for stationary energy storage as the British carmaker targets Net Zero by 2039. The off-grid energy storage system is based on lithium-ion nickel-manganese-cobalt battery cells, taken from Jaguar I-PACE cars. It has a capacity of up to 125 kW, charged by solar panels.
San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), a regulated utility servicing 3.7 million people, has ordered a 10 MW/ 60 MWh energy storage from Mitsubishi Power for its Pala-Gomez Creek project. The battery, due operational in early 2023, will help SDG&E prevent outages at times of peak demand and ensure grid reliability while maximising the use of renewables.
Alternatives to lithium-based batteries – redox flow, metal-air, or sodium-ion batteries – are emerging fast. Once energy density can be de-prioritized as it can be for stationary storage, the choice of battery chemistries becomes less restrictive, IDTechEx argues, forecasting the share of non-lithium batteries will double to 10% in the stationary market by 2025.
Developers and US power plant operators expect to add 85 GW of new capacity to the grid through to 2023 with almost two-thirds, or 51 GW, to be made up of solar power and battery storage. Tax credits and falling technology costs – especially for lithium-ion batteries – prompted a surge in new projects, often hybrid ones.
Saft, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, has been contracted to provide and install an energy storage system at Longyearbyen in Svalbard, the island group in the Norwegian Arctic. The 6 MW/ 7 MWh lithium-ion system, housed in six containers, will run on Saft’s Intensium Max High Energy technology and is due to start operations in late 2022.
Sembcorp Energy UK has secured a 15-year contract for 150 MW of two-hour duration battery storage – equivalent to 300 MWh – in the latest T-4 2025/26 capacity market auction. Due operational by 2023, this tranche is part of a 360 MW battery energy storage built on Teeside to stabilize the grid in the face of fluctuating supply from renewable power sources.
Rapid renewables build-out will drive up demand for energy storage systems to an estimated 402 Gigawatt by 2028, up from currently 211 GW. The Asia Pacific region accounts for more then 45% market share which is bound to rise driven by rapid industrialisation, while growth in the US focuses on pumped hydro and lithium-ion batteries.
General Electric’s renewable energy arm has opened a new factory near Chennai, India. The 250 people employed today are manufacturing battery energy storage, power electronics and a containerized solution, called FLEXINVERTER, that delivers power conversion for utility-scale solar and storage applications. The aim is to offer dispatchable, green MWhs.
Lithium-ion batteries have hit their performance ceiling, but a shift in the anode material used to silicon or lithium-metal could improve their energy density. Start-up companies rush to develop anodes based on silicon which could double cell-level energy density, compared to commonly used graphite – expanding the range of electric vehicles and energy storage.
Spanish multinational utility Iberdrola has commissioned two of three units at its €1.5 billion ($1.7bn) Tamega/Gouvães hydroelectric power plant, meaning 220 MW of the entire project are now grid-connected. Once fully operational, the reservoirs will add 1,158 MW to the Portuguese grid and help balance fluctuating supply from wind and solar power.