Storage

A research team at China’s Soochow University has used hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks to make sodium-ion batteries even more sustainable and affordable while prolonging their lifespan to over 10,000 cycles.

An Italian company has developed a system that can store energy from wind, solar and grid electricity by compressing and using CO2 without any emissions. The system draws CO2 from an inflatable atmospheric gas holder, stores it, and uses it to produce power again, when demand for stored energy arises.

Sodium batteries, an increasingly competitive area of research, have emerged as a low-cost, lithium-free energy storage alternative based on abundant, more environmentally friendly materials. A pair of new research papers addresses some of the remaining hurdles to widespread adoption, such as the formation of dendrites on the anode.

Neoen has started operating a 300 MW/450 MWh big battery in Geelong, Australia. In spite of a fire during commissioning in July, the battery has been delivered in record time, taking less than a year to build and begin operations.

The International Energy Agency said the four nations are on track to contribute 85% of the 18 GW of global renewables capacity which is set to be dedicated to green hydrogen production by 2026. Elsewhere, the Port of Valencia has unveiled a plan to install a green hydrogen supply station in the new year.

EVLO has designed a new 1 MWh system that will make its debut by suppling power during transmission line upgrades in Canada.

A U.S.-Swedish research group has investigated the complex economic relationship between PV and heat pumps in cold climates under four different levels of electrification. It found that, compared to propane, solar heat pumps can reduce reduce costs by up to 20% and carbon emissions by 30%.

Meanwhile, on the Iberian Peninsula, H2 Green Steel (H2GS) and Iberdrola plan to establish a 1 GW green hydrogen production facility, and Acciona and Plug Power want to deploy green hydrogen facilities across Spain and Portugal.

Swedish scientists have developed a structural battery that purportedly offers “massless” storage, as its weight vanishes when it becomes part of the load-bearing structure. The device has an energy density of 24 Wh/kg and is designed for easy integration into solar-powered vehicles.

Tata Power Solar has secured the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a 100 MW solar field with a 120 MWh battery. The project, awarded by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, will be in the state of Chhattisgarh.