The Texas battery boom
With two new projects clocking in at 100 MW each, the Texas storage market is demonstrating that California isn’t the only U.S. state that can do big batteries.
Simpliphi predicts cobalt-free battery takeover sooner than expected
pv magazine spoke with Catherine Von Burg, CEO of the Californian battery company, to discuss why she believes lithium-iron-phosphate is the chemistry of the near future.
Free batteries for low-income households to fight California blackouts
Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich says storage is “critical for equity” – and putting more standalone storage on the grid means less electricity going through wires in wildfire-prone areas.
How standards can ensure battery safety
There’s no understating the importance of maintaining a safe battery system, and that maintenance will become only more important as battery adoption grows exponentially in the coming years. Fortunately, new standards are being developed alongside existing protocols to make safety management uniform and manageable.
French start-up plans 16 GWh battery factory
Verkor intends to set up a battery fab, with production to start in 2023. The scale could reach 50 GWh, depending on the dynamism of the stationary storage and electric vehicle markets.
World’s largest battery storage system now operational
It’s a title that is becoming more contentious by the day, but for the time being, LS Power’s 250 MW Gateway project in San Diego, California, is the biggest storage battery in the world.
Lithium battery equipment makers buffeted by Covid
Grid scale lith-ion batteries may be multiplying Stateside, but an expected recovery in the production line segment will be put on hold until next year because of the pandemic, according to one analyst.
Plans for Norwegian graphite battery factory
Norwegian polysilicon maker and silicon business Elkem is planning to build a manufacturing facility in Herøya.
Energy storage and network reinforcement
As renewables penetration increases, transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure will require significant reinforcement. Battery storage is becoming a key alternative to traditional ways of reinforcing network infrastructure, because it is fast to deploy, can provide multiple services, and often comes at a lower capital cost. IHS Markit analyst Oliver Forsyth delves into the additional value streams that strengthen the case for grid-connected batteries.
“Capacity deferral is the primary source of storage value”
Big batteries derive most their value from replacing gas peaker plants and averting the installation of excessive amounts of transmission and generation infrastructure. However, batteries cannot replace all gas plants, MIT researchers found. From a holistic economics perspective, there is a certain share of storage that is considered cost-efficient. With battery costs declining, that share is constantly increasing.
