Energy Storage

The Spanish renewables company is offering up two of its solar and wind power sites in Spain for the testing of energy storage systems. The call for companies to take part is open until the end of next month.

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.

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.

Amid an uptake in EV sales, researchers are examining battery material supply chains. A report has indicated policy-driven circular economy strategies must be introduced in Europe if the bloc is to strengthen its resilience to volatility in the cobalt market.

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.

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 Korea Aerospace Research Institute has conducted a battery-powered test flight of solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle EAV-3. The aircraft is powered by solar cells on its wings and body and an LG Chem lithium-sulfur battery.

The U.K. utility is a partner in the Green Hydrogen for Scotland initiative which aims to be fueling commercial vehicles with sustainable hydrogen within two years, starting with a 10 MW electrolyzer on the outskirts of Glasgow.