Utility Scale Storage

Alsym will produce its new batteries – made of readily available materials, without lithium or cobalt – for electric vehicles, stationary storage, and marine applications.

The futuristic Neom City will be powered exclusively by renewable energy, but a co-optimization approach with the water sector will be crucial for desalination and sustainable water supplies. Saudi scientists have assessed different system configurations and determined that solar-plus-storage would deliver the lowest levelized cost of energy.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority says its novel redox flow battery stack offers better electrolyte distribution, which could result in higher power densities and lower manufacturing costs.

A Chinese-US research group has designed a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with a hybrid electrocatalyst. The scientists said the device shows remarkable stability and low performance losses.

NextEra expects 3.5 TW of renewable capacity installations through 2050, worth $2 trillion.

Researchers from Australia’s University of Wollongong presented a study for alkaline electrolysis where the liquid electrolyte is continuously drawn up a separator, leading to bubble-free operation at the electrodes. Meanwhile, Korean researchers developed a novel heterostructured catalyst, Argentina’s province of Tierra del Fuego presented its hydrogen strategy, Lhyfe and shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique are working on the world’s first offshore renewable hydrogen production demonstrator, and Saudi Aramco outlined its hydrogen targets in its first sustainability report.

Taiwanese analyst TrendForce said it expects global energy storage capacity to reach 362 GWh by 2025. China is set to overtake Europe and the United States is poised to become the world’s fastest-growing energy storage market.

A couple of weeks ago, Goldman Sachs sent shockwaves through battery metals markets, issuing a prediction that cobalt and lithium in particular were due for a sharp price decline in the next two years. But London-based Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is loudly pushing back, outlining its reasons why it believes the call on lithium was wrong. Meanwhile, US analyst Wood Mackenzie says that the battery raw material chain will remain tight, but notes that recycling could help to ease the supply deficit.

Grid-scale and residential storage installations have set new records in the United States, despite supply chain concerns and pricing issues.

The government of the Australian state of Queensland has committed AUD 48 million ($33 million) to develop two pumped hydro projects.