Utility Scale Storage

NREL researchers developed a system that uses heated silica particles for thermal energy storage. The baseline technology is designed for a storage capacity of up to 26,000 MWh and is claimed to have a cost of of between $2 and $4 per kWh.

The Indian auto-components manufacturer will set up a semisolid lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in Chennai under a technology licensing agreement with American startup 24M. The first phase of the planned 10 GWh fab would start production in the second half of 2023.

An international research team has conducted a techno-economical comparison between lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries for stationary energy storage and has found the former has a lower LCOE and net present cost. Through their analysis, which was performed assuming the use of the batteries in connection with a 10 kW, grid-tied PV system, the scientists concluded that lithium-ion batteries are the most viable solution.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers have studied which tech offers the lowest levelized cost of energy to provide the US Western Interconnection grid with electricity when wind and solar are not available. They assumed 85% renewables penetration and determined that geologic hydrogen storage and natural gas combined-cycle plants with carbon capture storage are the cheapest options for 120-hour discharge applications. 


Scientists have demonstrated a zinc-ion battery that overcomes many of the challenges for this technology. By working with a highly-concentrated salt solution as the electrolyte, the group was able to achieve stability over more than 2,000 cycles combined with a strong electric performance. The group says that its work opens up “a viable route to developing aqueous batteries for emerging electrochemical energy storage applications.”

Thermal energy storage is dense, efficient, and suitable for greenfield and brownfield projects, with a potentially long lifespan. It can also be built with recyclable or low-impact storage materials. So why is it taking so long to achieve widespread commercial success? Tristan Rayner explores the latest developments.

Currently, the cost of producing green hydrogen ranges from 3.6 to 5.8 USD/kg depending on the renewable energy mix and electrolyzer technology. Scaling the electrolyzer production globally will help drive down green hydrogen costs. 

Scientists in Bangladesh have evaluated how a 50 MW floating PV plant could be integrated with the 230 MW Karnafuli Hydroelectric Power Station, located at the Kaptai Dam on the Karnaphuli River. They found that the two energy sources can be perfectly optimized and that PV can compensate for the reservoir’s shortage of water storage during the winter season while hydropower can compensate for the poor yields of the floating array during the monsoon season.

Energy Vault secured $100 million in Series C funding for its EVx tower, which stores gravitational potential energy for grid dispatch.

A new study provides a first-of-its-kind assessment of grid-scale energy storage deployment in India both in the near term and the long term. The researchers conducted scenarios-based capacity expansion modeling to assess when, where and how much energy storage can be cost-effectively deployed in India through 2050. In all scenarios, energy storage was found to play a significant role in India’s power system.