Austria

Burgerland Energie has deployed a redox flow storage battery from German battery manufacturer CMBlu in the immediate vicinity of a PV-wind power hybrid power plant.

US researchers have developed new integrated halide perovskite photoelectrochemical cells, while Fortescue Future Industries has revealed plans to acquire a hydrogen project from Nikola in Arizona.

Researchers in Austria have analyzed the crack propensity of backsheets made of polypropylene (PP) and have concluded these may be potentially used in solar module manufacturing, unlike co-extruded polyamide backsheets, which caused many headaches to the PV industry in the past. Furthermore, PP backsheets are claimed to have lower stiffness and higher flexibility than their laminated counterparts.

PV Austria says that 1,009 MW of PV systems were installed in Austria last year, enabling solar to meet approximately 6.6% of total electricity demand.

NEOM Green Hydrogen Company has secured an exclusive 30-year off-take agreement with Air Products for what they claim will be the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, while Germany’s EEX has launched the world’s first market-based hydrogen index.

Around 90,000 of the accepted applications in the latest round of Austria’s rebate scheme came from homeowners, and approximately 30,000 include the installation of battery storage.

Austria’s new incentive program will support the deployment of residential batteries with storage capacities of 4 kWh to 50 kWh.

RWE has revealed that it has received alkaline electrolyzers from Sunfire for a pilot project in Germany, while the European authorities have reached a deal on the continent’s renewable energy directive.

iDM has developed a modular air-source heat pump that uses propane (R290) as the refrigerant. It can produce between 2 kW and 24 kW of heat and domestic hot water up to a temperature of 70 C. A larger version can produce between 10 kW and 50 kW of heat.

Austrian scientists have created a lab-scale, solid-state, oxygen ion battery based on mixed ionic electronic conducting (MIEC), which is a special class of non-flammable electroceramic materials. The battery has around 30% of the energy density of lithium-ion batteries but can purportedly achieve a longer lifespan.