Irish ESB to add 100 MWh of Fluence storage to its portfolio
State-owned utility ESB is working with energy storage solution company Fluence and EPC service providers Powercomm Group and Kirby Group on its first battery projects in Ireland.
Sweden issues €5m call for battery studies
Researchers have just under four weeks to apply for backing for their projects, in areas including battery reuse and recycling, circular manufacturing and supercapacitors.
Solar among the options as Moldova gets €5m credit line
The loan will be supplied by the EBRD and includes €1.25 million of concessional lending provided by the global Green Climate Fund.
‘Water battery’ a winner for Australian university
In the first year of operation, the thermal energy storage tank saved 4,232 tonnes of CO2 emissions – with 3,082 tonnes saved by the University of the Sunshine Coast through using solar power instead of grid electricity, and the rest by feeding solar energy into the grid.
‘Europe’s battery recycling quotas are blunt and a decade too late’
Last week, the European Commission announced it plans to implement sustainability standards for Europe’s growing battery industry. Consultant Circular Energy Storage published a report on lithium-ion battery life cycle and recycling economics this month and its findings ask tough questions of the commission’s proposals.
DNV GL’s Battery Scorecard 2020 sees manufacturers focus on LFP and fire safety
The third annual scorecard published by the consultant has tested 22 batteries with different chemistries for cycling stability and temperature-dependent behaviour and identified significant product trends.
UK installs 5 MW ultracapacitor as ‘sonar’ to detect power grid inertia
Electricity system operator National Grid is planning for a fully decarbonized power network in five years. Following a power outage last year, the operator has taken a pioneering role in finding solutions to the issues of running a grid using only power-electronics-interfaced resources. One key aspect of grid stability, inertia, can be detected using an ultracapacitor.
Scaling up solid-state batteries
U.S. battery developer Solid Power has begun pilot production of lithium metal all solid-state batteries at its Colorado facility. The company says it has also sent out prototype battery cells for independent evaluation, and expects to begin formal testing to qualify its batteries for integration into electric vehicles by early 2022.
A silver-oxide zinc battery — flexible, screen-printed and with 20 times the capacity of Li-ion
A team comprising researchers from the University of California San Diego and micro battery developer ZPower have developed been busy in the lab. The result is a flexible battery with highly competitive electrochemical features and the option to manufacture at low cost with screen-printing.
European Commission proposes minimum sustainability thresholds for batteries
The world’s second largest battery market is mulling strict regulation of what type of products can be sold within it. The bloc wants to tighten rules on using hazardous materials and would encourage circular economy approaches. The scope of the commission’s proposal would also affect the design of devices, with phones, laptops and other portable gadgets without removable batteries set to be prohibited.
