Utility Scale Storage

The business intelligence firm has projected storage costs will continue their downward trajectory on the back of product and process optimization. That will favor a higher adoption rate in automotive and grid applications, the analysts say. Elsewhere, discoveries of lithium in the U.S. and the U.K. have raised hopes for lower raw material costs and more supply chain diversity.

‘Lithium Valley’, south of Perth, is set for two new faces after U.K. battery manufacturer Amte Power and Perth-based infrastructure firm Infranomics signed an agreement to explore the possibility of establishing lithium-ion cell manufacturing facilities in the state of Western Australia.

International researchers have analyzed the potential of sodium-based energy storage and found recent technical advances have arrived faster than those for the lithium-ion batteries which have been studied for three decades. Issues remain, however, before sodium constitutes a complementary option to lithium.

The Portuguese and Dutch governments want to connect the hydrogen project of Sines to the Port of Rotterdam and to develop a strategic export-import value chain to ensure the production and transport of green hydrogen to the Netherlands and its hinterland.

The Spanish energy company, which has hydrogen projects under way in its homeland and the United Kingdom, says it will allocate new resources to position itself at the forefront of the supply of renewables-powered hydrogen.

A new research paper looks at the membranes used for applications in vanadium redox flow batteries. It outlines various membrane technologies and the obstacles to bringing batteries to mass production.

Victory in the economic realm (increasingly the case with solar, solar-plus-storage and wind) is no guarantee of market victory if the regulations are stacked against renewables.

Scientists in Switzerland say power-to-hydrogen is particularly promising for coupling electricity and heating and offsetting seasonal variation in renewables generation in sector-coupled energy networks. Their analysis indicated the technology may be especially useful in areas with a high ratio of seasonal thermal-to-electric demand.

The electronics giant is building two PV plants with a combined generation capacity of 58 MW owned by U.S. module manufacturer First Solar. Toshiba is also extending its hydrogen research project in Fukushima for another two years.

Tesla battery day is next week. Earlier this year, Elon Musk told analysts that what he had to say “will blow your mind. It blows my mind.” Here’s a list of battery hyperbole and terms you’re bound to hear at the event.