Batteries

Minister for road transport, Nitin Gadkari drops plans to introduce national policy to support growth of electric vehicles in surprising reversal on earlier ambitions.

Despite hitting a record 1.17 GW of new grid-scale storage capacity in 2017, growth was a mere 4.6% on 2016 having surged 61% the year prior. Industry’s reliance on policy support means foundations for growth remain uneven, report finds. Average costs, however, fell by 24% last year.

London has launched a £34 million Energy for Londoners scheme, which includes goal of generating 1 GW of energy from solar by 2030. Shirley Rodrigues, deputy mayor for the environment and energy, presented parts of London’s energy vision this week at the Energy Storage Connected Systems conference.

Large-scale battery energy storage system will be supplied by GE and tap into U.K.’s growing demand for stationary storage solutions.

U.K. battery distributor, DBS and China’s Leoch create new company, DBS Leoch, to pursue new battery market opportunities. Sum of agreement undisclosed, but it is understood partnership will deliver positive sales boosts for both firms.

The truck maker is to partner with Northvolt on developing and commercializing battery cells for use in heavy commercial vehicles.

China was the global leader in 2017 clean energy investment, says a new report. On the solar front, the country accounts for 60% of all cell production; and will continue to lead installation developments for at least the next five years. New 2020 targets are expected to be set. In the battery arena, Chinese companies are also set to dominate.

The most recent contracts, which still need to be approved by California regulators, are part of a state-mandated goal of adding 580 MW of storage by 2020.

German PV equipment manufacturer to team with Kiel University to develop scalable production of silicon anodes to boost lithium-ion battery performance.

Global cumulative storage deployment will double six times between 2017 and 2030 to reach 125 GW/305 GWh, with as much as $103 billion pouring into the sector, finds new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.