Li-ion battery prices fell almost 50% in 2013 to $500/kWh and may half again to $230/kWh in the next 5-7 years, leading to mass adoption by 2020. Two-thirds of the 62-MW storage in the US was for PJM frequency regulation, but BTM (behind the meter) apps will outpace FTM by 2020. Combination storage and generation is also growing, easing arbitrage.
November 23, 2017CNN Business
| Australia | storage: renewables
The South Australia government announced that Tesla had "fully installed" the world's largest Li-ion battery, which CEO Elon Musk had promised to deliver within 100 days or free. The new battery helps stabilize the state grid by storing power from a nearby windfarm after 1.7 million people were regularly subjected to power outages.
With vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, electric vehicles can charge from and give back power to the grid (“bi-directional”), smoothing fluctuations as numerous small systems (e.g., car batteries) add up to act as a virtual power plant (VPP). Employing Nuvve software and Enel chargers, 10,000 Nissan EVs could be hooked up by 2019.
Electric storage beyond batteries is needed in a 100%-renewable power grid. An ANU study showed 530,000 sites for pumped storage hydro (22 million GW!) that raises water during low demand and releases it as needed (potential to kinetic energy) improving grid reliability (no new power is produced). In 2014, only 24 GW PSH operated at 40 US sites.
April 17, 2019Common Dreams
| United States | storage: mining
The Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) published a report entitled Responsible Minerals Sourcing for Renewable Energy, highlighting the need for 100% renewable energy without dirty mining. 14 metals were analyzed: aluminium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, dysprosium, gallium, indium, lithium, manganese, neodymium, nickel, silver, selenium, and tellurium.
June 6, 2019New York Times
| United States | storage: science
American households use roughly 50 batteries per year (4 billion shipped annually to the US). Is it better to use primary batteries (non-rechargeable, mostly Zn-Mn alkali) or secondary batteries (rechargeable, mostly nickel-metal hydrid, NIMH)? Rechargeables pay for themselves after 6 recharges.
A leading renewables company has started up a novel electrothermal energy storage (ETES) pilot plant in Hamburg-Altenwerder, capable of holding 130 MWh for 1 week in rock. The storage system electrically heats 1,000 tonnes of volcanic rock to 750 °C, reconverting the heat to electricity via a steam turbine as needed at high demand.
November 4, 2019Bloomberg
| Global | storage: renewables
Swedish scientists in Gothenburg have stored sunlight in energy-trapping CHN molecules for future release by a catalyst. The molecular solar thermal (MOST) process could outperform chemical batteries for heating, be used in a transparent window- or fabric-coating for warmth, and may eventually generate electricity.
July 25, 2020CleanTechnica
| Global | storage: renewables
Elon Musk announced a mass-produced Li-ion battery with 50% more energy density by 2024, aiding electric flight. Tesla's Model 3’s Panasonic 2170 batteries are about 250 to 260 Wh/kg, suggesting 400 Wh/kg is doable soon. Aviation GHGs are significant (5%), while U.S. transportation emissions from domestic flights alone have increased by 17% since 1990.
November 9, 2020Bloomberg
| Global | storage: renewables
Hydrogen is generated via electrolysis in water to split H and O atoms, but is hard to store and must be compressed 700x atmospheric pressure or cooled to -253 C. A fuel-cell EV has more moving parts, costing more to maintain than a battery EV and half as efficient (45%/86%), but may be okay for long-haul aviation and shipping because of higher energy density.
May 20, 2021Common Dreams
| Global | storage: mining
As wind turbines, PV panels, and EVs increase, more cobalt, lithium, nickel, and REEs are needed. Wind and solar power is 7% of electric power and EV adoption less than 1%, but lithium demand may rise 50x and cobalt 30x by 2040, leading to possible resource wars in the DRC (80% of cobalt) or Argentina and Chile (80% of lithium). EV share could be 15% by 2030.
February 7, 2023Electrek
| United States | storage: mining
Mining at the largest known US-lithium source, Thacker Pass in northern Nevada, was approved after a 2020 legal challenge by locals. In a $650-million deal, GM and Lithium Americas will develop the site, estimated to hold 1.3 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent. With increased EV adoption, lithium sales are projected to double by 2030.
Lithium is the lightest metal, but too reactive on its own and separated after hard-rock mining or evaporated brine deposits, although extraction impacts the environment and depletes water supplies. The top producers are Australia (mining) and Chile (brine) at over 10,000 tons annually (>30 million tons available in the "lithium triangle").
August 3, 2023PV Magazine
| China | storage: gravity
Energy Vault will grid-tie a commercial-scale gravity-energy storage system in 2023. The world’s first non-PSH gravity-based storage plant located by a wind farm near Shanghai will provide 25 MW/100 MWh via solar-powered electric lifting. Large blocks are raised and lowered to dispatch electricity as needed with 75% round-trip efficiency.
A 2030 EU goal of 20 megatons of GH2 (400 times current production) is doomed at €7/kg for trucks without subsidies and mandates (45 cents/km vs 31 diesel and 18 electric). €2/kg is okay in Namibia, but needs converting to shipable fuel such as green ammonia and reconverted. Ammonia, methanol, and e-kerosene are easy to transport.
Stanford chemists are developing a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) battery, where protons (H) are released through electrolysis and hydrogenation to be stored as acetone or isopropanol. Dehydrogenated LHOC is later absorbed in a fuel cell to generate power, helping to smooth the intermittency of wind and solar power and stabilize the grid.
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