Energy Storage

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the U.S. used x-ray imaging to observe cracks forming in a solid state lithium battery, a discovery they say changes the understanding of performance of solid state batteries and which could lead to more durable systems.

The Chinese lithium-ion battery producer has taken significant stakes in two U.K. entities associated with a mine which could hold up to 8.8 million tons of the raw material in clay deposits.

The energy services firm will use software from California’s AutoGrid to develop a VPP which will draw on PV generation, energy storage and demand response technology. ENERES wants businesses to come on board and burnish their renewables credentials.

The city’s municipal utility is readying a 25-year power purchase agreement for 400 MWac of solar at $0.01997/kWh along with up to 200 MW/800 MWh of energy storage at $0.013/kWh.

Four Nigerian universities are in the final stages of abandoning the country’s main grid to be fully powered by mini-grids. Nigeria aims to use more mini-grid technology to power its people by tapping a $550 million World Bank loan.

Scientists from China and the United States have developed an additive for electrolyte materials they say could improve the operating temperature range for lithium-ion batteries, allowing them to operate down to minus 40 degrees Celsius without compromising performance at temperatures up to 60 degrees Celsius.

The German battery manufacturer will make products for electric trucks and buses at the facility, which is expected to employ 200 workers and produce 400 megawatt-hours of batteries annually.

Singapore’s Sun Cable is eyeing up what would be the world’s biggest solar project by some distance. Australia’s Northern Territory government is on board with the plans and an environmental approval application is in the works. Project plans include deployment of the 5B pre-assembled array concept.

In our series of renewable energy and geopolitics interviews, Indra Øverland – head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs – explains why hydropower can be the perfect match for intermittent renewables such as solar and wind. Hydropower assets are one of the biggest geopolitical stories of the energy transition but receive almost no attention. Nations with strong hydro potential may become linchpins of regional renewable energy.

After earmarking €3 million last year and €4 million in 2017, the Italian region of Lombardy has decided to further support residential and commercial storage projects linked to renewables.