Utility Scale Storage

Scientists in the U.S. discovered a promising new battery chemistry based on chlorine and table salt. Batteries based on this chemistry can achieve at least six times the energy density of today’s lithium-ion batteries, according to the group that created it. The prototype battery could already be suitable for small devices such as hearing aids, and with further work could be scaled up to larger applications.

Origin Energy, Australia’s biggest energy retailer, has agreed to team with Japan’s largest oil refiner, Eneos, to explore the potential for a commercial-scale green hydrogen supply chain between their respective home markets.

Scientists have demonstrated a zinc-ion battery that overcomes many of the challenges for this technology. By working with a highly-concentrated salt solution as the electrolyte, the group was able to achieve stability over more than 2,000 cycles combined with a strong electric performance. The group says that its work opens up “a viable route to developing aqueous batteries for emerging electrochemical energy storage applications.”

Hevel Energo Servis has developed a new solar+storage project under Russia’s energy service scheme to help independent power producers to sell power to municipalities with diesel power plants via a competitive bidding scheme.

The solar-plus-storage facility will be built by Ecuadorian developer Gransolar and French renewable energy company Total Eren on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos National Park.

Furthermore, the Indian government is proposing to mandate using green hydrogen in fertilizer and refining and Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota wants to assemble integrated dual fuel cell (FC) modules in the United States.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers have studied which tech offers the lowest levelized cost of energy to provide the US Western Interconnection grid with electricity when wind and solar are not available. They assumed 85% renewables penetration and determined that geologic hydrogen storage and natural gas combined-cycle plants with carbon capture storage are the cheapest options for 120-hour discharge applications. 


A number of Fraunhofer institutes in Germany want to make green hydrogen more cost-competitive and are working to identify the best and most economical processes for the production of electrolyzers. They intend to build a digital library of future-proof electrolyser manufacturing processes with which the investment costs and even the return on investment can be determined in advance depending on the planned production volume.

Spanish energy giants Repsol and Enagás are planning to build an electrolyzer based on photoelectrocatalysis at an industrial complex owned by the oil company in Puertollano in 2024. The device receives direct solar radiation and with a photoactive material it generates the electrical charges that cause the separation of the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen.

Australia’s newest planned renewable energy zone has been “swamped” by investors, with the New South Wales government revealing that 34 GW of new solar, wind and energy storage projects have already been proposed.