Energy Storage

After it deployed a record $1.3 billion into the clean energy sector in a 12-month period, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation said it will sharpen its focus on energy storage and other technologies to support the stability of the national grid.

The Palo Alto company says it has improved its large scale battery offering with the new product in the wake of the success of its Powerpack-driven big battery in Australia. The Megapack can be deployed at a 250 MW/1 GWh clean energy plant four times faster than a fossil fuel alternative, claimed the business in a blogpost.

The U.K. is leaping ahead in its deployment of EV charging infrastructure. Box Energi has chosen Australia’s Tritium Veefil-RT technology to ramp up the number of refill sites around the U.K. in a move which will boost not only accessibility and driving range but confidence in emissions-free driving.

Previously known for its automotive activity, CATL is turning to another promising sector to generate demand for its battery cells. With the first few hundred thousand Japanese solar households seeing their 10-year FIT contracts expire, demand for small scale storage is on the rise

Batteries of the type have traditionally been used for long-duration storage applications. Now though, it seems vanadium is making an entry into the fast-paced world of ancillary grid services.

Corporations are buying up batteries and investing in their companies like it’s going out of style.

Elon Musk’s EV and energy company is becoming increasingly irrelevant in the rooftop solar market, but battery sales are booming.

Rather than helping electric vehicle take-up by driving down costs to parity with traditional engines, the low price of nickel at the moment is deterring investors and could cause a supply shortage that holds back electromobility in a few years’ time.

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara who are working with sodium-ion batteries have found that the unintended presence of hydrogen is to blame for many of the technology’s shortcomings in terms of degradation and performance loss. Keeping hydrogen out of the materials throughout production could allow sodium-ion batteries to achieve performance levels competing with their lithium-ion counterparts.

… and it will be quite an effort. The U.K.’s grid operator, National Grid, released a new report on possible energy system transformation pathways, amidst growing public concern over climate change. Ramping carbon emissions reduction targets up from 80% to 100% prompts technical challenges. These can be overcome but will require full alignment of policy effort and individual awareness and decision making.