Distributed Storage

Wider use of electric heat pumps to heat buildings creates a larger market for renewable energy, but also presents challenges, which can be met through building insulation and weatherization, cold climate heat pumps, thermal energy storage systems, and higher-voltage distribution grids, a report says.

The latest findings from Taipei-based intelligence provider TrendForce show that all-solid-state battery production volumes could have GWh levels by 2027. The rapid expansion will lead to cell price declines, reaching CNY 0.6-0.7/Wh ($0,084-$0,098) level by 2035.

Each expansion unit adds another 13.5 kWh of storage capacity to the original installation with a maximum of three such units connected to a single Powerwall. Now available in the US, the new product comes at a lower cost and slashes installation time by roughly half to 22 minutes.

The ThermIon project is intended to take into account the entire process chain from the pretreatment of the brine to lithium extraction and lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide crystallization to the controlled return of the brine. The new process is intended to be both environmentally friendly and economical.

MEAG, the asset manager of Munich Re and Ergo Group, has acquired all shares in the ready-to-build storage project in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. SMA Altenso is to provide the full EPC and O&M services for the battery park, which is scheduled to go online in the second half of 2025.

Solinteg has developed the IntegOne HSH, a residential solar storage system that combines a single-phase hybrid inverter with one or two batteries. Up to 10 systems can connect in parallel, offering a maximum efficiency of 97.6%.

Part of mining company POSCO Argentina’s Sal de Oro integral lithium project, the plant was inaugurated at the General Güemes Industrial Park in the city of Salta. It is estimated to produce 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per year.

The method developed at the Technical University of Munich is intended to make several hundred thousand charge and discharge cycles possible in the future instead of a few thousand. A special protective layer for the zinc anodes of the batteries is crucial.

US-based Bluetti has developed a new energy storage system (ESS) that offers up to 154.8 kWh of storage and 60 kW of output by connecting up to three systems in parallel. It includes an inverter and a voltage controller with up to seven batteries.

The company said in a statement that it was “firm in its commitment to the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley and will continue to invest to create value and employment in the municipalities of San Juan del Puerto and Gibraleón.”