Energy Storage

Research institutes in Germany and Chile are investigating the potential of extracting lithium and other minerals, as well as drinking water, from brines used in geothermal energy. The concept could greatly reduce the environmental impacts of mining in northern Chile. The project has set up a demonstration of the technology at a geothermal power plant in western Germany, and is working to identify optimal sites in Chile for further development.

Urban Electric Power has been accepted into EPRI’s Incubatenergy Labs program to prove the value of its new battery tech to some of the top utilities in the United States.

Scientists in the U.S. developed a new cathode design for lithium-ion batteries that they say could open up a range of different materials for further research. The group has high hopes that the discovery can quickly be brought to scale, easing some of the growing concerns around supply chains for battery materials.

LNJ Bhilwara has set up a joint venture with India’s Replus Engitech to create lithium battery solutions for e-mobility and stationary applications. The venture aims to have 1 GWh of capacity operational in the city of Pune by mid-2022, with plans to eventually scale it to 5 GWh by 2024.

Researchers from Hong Kong have applied a novel charge-reinforced, ion-selective (CRIS) membrane to a polysulfide-iodide redox flow battery they had built in 2016. The redox flow battery showed a capacity decay rate of just 0.005% per day for 1,200 cycles, and a lifetime with over 2,000 hours’ cycling, which the academics said corresponds to approximately three months.

Arevon’s new project in California uses 142 Megapacks, which is Tesla’s utility-scale battery storage product.

France’s Revolt Energy Green has developed a flexible solar+storage solution for one-off events, construction sites, and different kinds of off-grid applications. It has also developed a mobile hydrogen solution.

The device has a maximum power output of 6 kW and a storage capacity of 8.2 kWh. The product comes with IP65 protection and its operation is guaranteed for 10,000 cycles.

State-run power producer NTPC has more than 65 GW of installed capacity, including gas, coal, hydro, and renewables-based power stations.

Underwater gravity energy storage has been proposed as an ideal solution for weekly energy storage, by an international group of scientists. The novel technology is considered an alternative to pumped-hydro storage for coasts and islands without mountains that are located close to deep waters, and may also be interesting for PV if used to store green hydrogen.