Energy Storage

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.

Enovix has shown that its US-made silicon anode lithium-ion batteries can charge from 0% to 80% in just five minutes.

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

US-based H2 Industries plans to produce hydrogen from organic waste and non-recyclable plastic. pv magazine recently spoke with its executive president, Michael Stusch, about the main technologies behind the project.

There is enormous demand for renewables to enter the grid, and for power purchase agreements to make use of them. However, as more renewables feed into the grid at intermittent periods, the risk of “revenue cannibalization” increases. Swiss consultancy Pexapark’s latest report looks at the “cannibalization effect” and how the solar PPA market can adapt.

UK scientists have compared the performance of lithium-ion storage systems and vanadium redox flow batteries for a modeled 636 kW commercial PV system in southern California. They have found that both technologies, coupled with an oversized PV array, could achieve a levelized cost of electricity of less than $0.22/kWh, while offering a self-sufficiency ratio of 0.95.

Japan’s Arth has designed an autonomous habitation module that produces water in places without energy and water infrastructure. The company said the residential unit could also be used as an emergency evacuation site.

In other news, Plug Power revealed plans to build a 35-ton-per-day green hydrogen generation plant at Belgium’s Port of Antwerp-Bruges and UK researchers developed an artificial leaf device made from bismuth oxyiodide that is able to harvest sunlight to produce hydrogen fuels.

Italian solar panel manufacturer Sunerg has developed an integrated photovoltaic water heater solution based on two resistances. The system relies on a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller and can work with a PV module with a power output of up to 450 W.

The project, planned at a council-owned commercial development, is expected to be connected to 2 MW of storage.