Japanese oil suppliers testing solar carports for EVs under PPA model
Idemitsu Kosan is leading a four-year demonstrator to assess the viability of solar carports for EV recharging at Tanegashima Airport in Japan. The 54.7 kW solar facility will sell power to airport buildings via a power purchase agreement (PPA) and to EV users under a pay-as-you-go billing system.
Australian developer starts working on 240 MW/480 MWh battery
Renewables developer GMR Energy has started working on a 240 MW/480 MWh battery project in Victoria, Australia.
Storing renewables with aquifer thermal energy storage
US scientists have looked at how aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) could be used to store wind and solar power, while catering to heating and cooling energy demand during extreme hot or cold periods. They modeled a distributed energy system for a neighborhood in Chicago and found that ATES could reduce consumption of petroleum products by up to 40% at a slightly higher cost than other forms of storage.
NREL software models lithium-ion battery supply chain
The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has unveiled a tool that surveys how changes in costs, battery adoption scenarios, and international actions affect long-term trends in the battery supply chain.
Tesla to build new battery plant in China
Tesla has revealed plans to build a new Megapack battery factory in Shanghai, according to the Xinhua news agency.
High-efficiency electrodes with ultralight current collectors
Eight industrial and scientific entities in Germany have come together to pursue two key innovations in lithium-ion battery technology: the replacement of metal foils with a metallized fabric structure, and the use of silicon as anode material.
Battery hydrogen vs. battery flywheel
Scientists in Italy have looked at how flywheel storage and reversible solid oxide cells could be integrated with lithium-ion batteries in minigrids powered by solar. They found that flywheels combined with batteries could be the cheapest option for power smoothing.
Ireland signs 109 MW of storage, 232 MW of pumped hydro in capacity auction
EirGrid assigned 7.2 GW of capacity in its latest auction, with 5.4 GW to come from gas power plants. The auction clearing price reached €83.050 ($90.554)/MW per year.
IndiGrid commissions first solar-storage project
IndiGrid has commissioned a pilot project featuring a solar panel bank coupled with a battery energy storage system (BESS), at its Dhule substation in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
‘Least-cost’ model for compressed air energy storage
Stanford University researchers have created a model to assess how much compressed air storage capacity might be needed for the deep decarbonization of power systems, while compensating for the variability of wind and solar-based power systems. They applied the model to California’s energy system and found that compressed air could be very competitive on a dollars-per-kilowatt-hour basis.
