Tesvolt starts commercial storage system production at gigafactory despite Covid-19
The German manufacturer has started to produce its first commercial storage systems at its new plant under strict safety precautions due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The facility’s current annual capacity is set at 255 MWh, but the company aims to eventually expand that to 1 GWh.
EU research group agrees to back controversial Spanish lithium mine
Australian company Infinity Lithium has signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Battery Alliance to promote its lithium mine project in San José, Extremadura. It would be the first lithium project to obtain European financing but has already raised the hackles of local environmentalists and residents.
Policy, policy, policy: BloombergNEF’s path to hydrogen uptake
A hot energy topic with little coordinated analysis, green hydrogen has finally attracted the number crunchers of BloombergNEF.
Australian researchers make lithium extraction breakthrough
Researchers led by Monash University have made a discovery that will dramatically reduce lithium-from-brine extraction times. The innovative breakthrough is as simple as a sieve.
A power-to-gas system integrating co-electrolysis and methanation
Researchers in Italy extensively analyzed four different configurations of their proposed system to assess its potential, including under non-optimal, ‘off-design’ conditions and concluded that, for now, subsidies would still be required for the commercial production of synthetic natural gas.
A stable potassium-ion storage with new cathode material
Scientists in China claim to have identified a special cathode material that could be utilized in more stable potassium-ion storage systems. According to the group, this new material could enable the development of storage systems able to retain 94% of their capacity after 2000 cycles, with 0.003% capacity fade per cycle.
Panasonic suspends work at Tesla’s Nevada fab as carmaker’s California and New York gigafactories pause
Tesla’s Nevada operation is still open for business, though. The EV and battery maker has assured the market its cash position is strong enough to weather an “extended period of uncertainty”.
Analyst expects recovery for PV and storage supply chains
U.S.-owned analyst Wood Mackenzie expects solar demand to decline but predicts the market will recover, with the prospects for the energy transition remaining intact.
Cheaper flow batteries with new membrane
US scientists claim to have discovered a membrane which could lead to cheaper large scale flow batteries. The material is an ion-selective, aqueous-compatible polymer with intrinsic microporosity known as AquaPIM and is said to have tunable thickness and high conductivity in aqueous electrolytes.
France’s largest storage project
Total is building a 25 MW/25 MWh lithium-ion storage system in Mardyck, northern France. The oil giant plans to commission the facility by the end of the year.
