Europe’s gigafactory boom – 25 by ‘25
A gigafactory, as the name indicates, is a facility that aims to produce Li-ion cells at a gigawatt-hours scale of total capacity, so they can then be used in electric vehicles or stationary storage applications. The global production capacity of Li-ion cells is expected to reach 740 GWh by the end of 2021 – almost a threefold increase from 2017 – and Europe will account for 8% of the total. João Coelho, an analyst at Delta-EE, looks at how Europe plans to catch up.
Final thought: What’s in store?
Perhaps the most dramatic and urgent challenge we face today is how we generate and consume energy. The energy transition is well underway and as installed capacity of solar and wind increases, so too does the demand for storage to provide a flexible and reliable energy network.
First Solar goes to India
First Solar has announced plans to establish a new 3.3 GW manufacturing facility in India. Representing an investment of $684 million, the move demonstrates the thin-film PV manufacturer’s confidence in India’s solar growth and the increasingly favorable policy environment for domestic solar PV production.
Moorabool burning
At approximately 10:30 a.m. on July 30, 150 firefighters responded to a fire at Neoen’s 300 MW/450 MWh Victorian Big Battery in Moorabool, which is due for completion this year. The fire crews arrived to a 13-ton lithium battery ablaze in a shipping container, and the fire wasn’t brought under control until three days later, on the afternoon of Aug. 2. With a widescale investigation now underway, pv magazine asks how such failures can be prevented, and whether we should be better prepared for the inevitability of battery failure.
No dummies as Chase cuts through solar’s jargon
There’s more to read in the solar world than pv magazine alone, as much as we may hate to admit it. Looking back across some of the industry’s seminal works, leading analyst Jenny Chase’s 2019 book is too valuable, and entertaining, to be ignored.
Zero Plus for cheaper, cleaner communities
A recently completed, EU-funded applied research project has proven that significant cost reductions can be achieved when designing entire communities, rather than individual buildings, on a Net Zero Energy (NZE) basis. Elad Shaviv, the chair of the Energy Innovation Leaders Group and the head of the Israeli Smart Energy Association, reports on the findings – including how an overall energy cost reduction of almost 27% can be achieved.
More than just a pipe dream
When coupled to gigawatt-scale solar and wind generation, green hydrogen could be the clean fuel to unlock hard-to-electrify sectors of the economy. But first it must be transported cost-effectively to where it’s needed.
10 GW is just the beginning
Giant PV and wind projects are taking shape in Australia’s north, with the aim of supplying Asia with the clean energy it needs for decades to come. The Asian Renewable Energy Hub is one such project, as it targets green hydrogen production at a cost of $1.50/kg. Sacha Thacker, chief strategy officer at InterContinental Energy – one of the companies trying to the get the ambitious initiative off the ground – says that while the scale of projects today boggles the mind, the coming demand is more boggling still.
Age of green hydrogen causes co-location rethink
The regions where the desert meets the sea have long been thought the most desolate and unproductive areas of the world, fruitful solely for those clever cultures who call them home. However, in the 21st century, that fiscal notion is turning on its head, and turning as rapidly as a wind turbine in a tornado.
pv magazine test: March 2021 results
We are pleased to present the next batch of energy yield results from the test field in Xi’an, China. In this issue, we look at the March 2021 results, alongside additional analysis from George Touloupas, director of technology and quality at CEA.
