Highlights

Scientists in the U.S. developed a new cathode design for lithium-ion batteries that they say could open up a range of different materials for further research. The group has high hopes that the discovery can quickly be brought to scale, easing some of the growing concerns around supply chains for battery materials.

Green hydrogen demand and electrification could drive a solar boom in the nation, according to the chief executive of a developer sitting on 4 GWp of photovoltaic projects.

The use of ultrasonic sound waves has been applied to battery recovery. Researchers from the ReLiB project at the U.K.’s Faraday Institution say the process has already proven to be 100 times faster than conventional approaches. It is also much more sustainable and less energy intensive.

LNJ Bhilwara has set up a joint venture with India’s Replus Engitech to create lithium battery solutions for e-mobility and stationary applications. The venture aims to have 1 GWh of capacity operational in the city of Pune by mid-2022, with plans to eventually scale it to 5 GWh by 2024.

The bloc’s latest two bonds were oversubscribed more than 11 times yesterday as the European Commission announced the results of a second fundraising round which already puts the EU almost halfway to the €80 billion it intends to generate through such instruments this year.

Innovations in green hydrogen are developing at a fast pace. This presents new questions like where are the markets, how fast will they come, how can we ensure hydrogen is green and cost-efficient, and what needs to be considered by project developers when planning related business models? And, at the end, will there be an opportunity for market players coming from the solar sphere? Watch our final Roundtable Europe video to find out.

Researchers from Hong Kong have applied a novel charge-reinforced, ion-selective (CRIS) membrane to a polysulfide-iodide redox flow battery they had built in 2016. The redox flow battery showed a capacity decay rate of just 0.005% per day for 1,200 cycles, and a lifetime with over 2,000 hours’ cycling, which the academics said corresponds to approximately three months.

Arevon’s new project in California uses 142 Megapacks, which is Tesla’s utility-scale battery storage product.

And that figure is based on a less ambitious climate change policy than the one Ottawa has committed to since the North American Renewable Integration Study started, in 2018.

German project developer Svevind Energy and Kazakh Invest wants to build a 45 GW green hydrogen complex in Kazakhstan. Norwegian companies Equinor, Aker Group and Saga Pure announced separate plans to further develop their green hydrogen solution.