Utility Scale Storage

The switch from fossil fuels and nuclear will bring a jobs dividend thanks to the greater labor-intensity of renewables plants, according to a paper published by Finland’s LUT. However, the jobs dividend is unlikely to be evenly spread around the world, with Europe set to be a big winner.

The prime minister said green hydrogen would play a significant role in achieving India’s decarbonization goals. He also announced the nation’s ambitions to become a global hub for green hydrogen production and export.  

India’s solar module makers have built a strong track record, and now the country is set to see vast battery facilities developed. A look into ambitious manufacturing projects and the wider enabled ecosystem.

Japanese scientists have developed a new lithium-sulfur battery by using titanium oxide and titanium nitride to prevent the formation of polysulfides during the fabrication process. This allows the battery to retain 85% of its capacity after 500 cycles at 2 C.

The company’s arm Tata Power Solar has received the notice of award to build a 50 MW (DC) solar plant integrated with a 50 MWh battery energy storage system at Phyang village in the Leh district. The project’s order value is approximately ÌNR 386 crore (US$ 52 million). 

The clean energy arm of Reliance Industries Limited will invest US$ 50 million in MIT-incubated Ambri. As part of the transaction the two companies will also partner to develop and manufacture liquid metal batteries in India.

The battery operates at 230 degrees Fahrenheit, opening what researchers said could be “a whole cascading cost savings” including everything from less expensive materials to less insulation.

Scientists in India fabricated a redox flow battery based on zinc and iron that showed strong storage characteristics and no signs of degradation over 30 charge-discharge cycles. The battery also showed no signs of dendrite formation, overcoming one of the key hurdles for redox-flow batteries based on these low-cost, abundant materials.

A new report projects Lithium-ion technology to lead the Indian battery energy storage systems market by 2030 as prices for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery technologies fall.

A British-Australian research team has assessed the potential of liquid air energy storage (LAES) for large scale application. The scientists estimate that these systems may currently be built at a cost between €300 and €600 per kilowatt-hour and that a positive business case could be favored by certain conditions, including a determined price structure in the energy market and the presence of a grid unable to support high levels of renewable energy penetration.