Distributed Storage

Developed by researchers in Spain, the battery uses renewable electricity to melt low-cost metals such as silicon or ferrosilicon alloys to produce and store latent heat, which is in turn used by a thermophovoltaic generator to produce power. According to its creators, the device may store electricity at a cost of €10 per kilowatt-hour for a 10MWh system.

A US-German research group has used above-bandgap light to improve ion mobility in ceramic materials used in lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells. It found that the grain boundary conductance of gadolinium-doped cerium oxide, which is a ceramic used as a solid-state electrolyte in fuel cells, can be improved by a factor of approximately 3.5 at 250 degrees Celsius, by applying the proposed light technique.

Analyst Wood Mackenzie has predicted soaring demand for electric vehicle devices will ensure supply will not keep pace with demand until some point in 2023.

The first Model Y electric cars have rolled off the assembly line at the US electric car manufacturer’s first European factory.

Elsewhere, the Fraunhofer ISE research institute has unveiled a new tool for high-resolution power-to-X kinetic analysis, and German entities have signed partnership agreements with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Scientists in Germany have identified the main challenges that are preventing aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) from becoming a mainstream storage technology for power grid applications. According to their analysis, the two main hurdles that must be overcome in future research are the increase of the specific energy of the full Zn-ion cell and the prevention of the parasitic hydrogen evolution reaction occurring during the Zn electrodeposition step.

Vattenfall, SSAB and LKAB have reached the halfway point in the construction of a rock cavern storage facility in a coastal city in northern Sweden. The 100-cubic-meter facility is being constructed 30 meters below ground and will begin storing green hydrogen next year.

An international research group has developed a solid oxide fuel cell that may be used in vehicles. The monolith device has an active cell area of around 18 cm2 and was built through common manufacturing processes. It was found to achieve a high power density of 5.6 kW/L, which the scientists said is comparable with that of the best performing fuel cells based on ceramic anodes.

Australia’s biggest power producer AGL has secured planning approval for a 500MW/2GWh grid-connected utility scale battery to be developed at the site of its coal-fired Liddell power plant in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

In other news, Ford has accelerated its EV push in Europe with seven new models, Samsung SDI is building a pilot line for solid state batteries, Northvolt is planning its third battery gigafactory in northern Germany, whereas Porsche has unveiled new electrification plans.