| From: Eric | 2/3/2024 7:03:34 AM | | | | | | Home battery storage now costs 20% less for everyone in the UK – here’s why
Michelle Lewis | Feb 2 2024 - 1:36 pm PT
7 Comments
 Photo: Tesla
The UK slashed value-added tax (VAT) to zero for folks installing battery storage in their homes from February 1, 2024.
UK battery storage cost drops 20% This is a big deal because VAT is 20% in the UK, so this makes battery storage much more wallet-friendly. Buildings used solely for charitable purposes also qualify for the tax-free battery storage benefit. (Rooftop solar is already VAT-free.)
Previously, domestic battery storage was only VAT-free if combined with solar. From yesterday, the VAT-free rate will also apply to retrofitted residential battery storage, meaning that more than 1.2 million homes with rooftop solar can now benefit from the tax cut.
The law also extends the same VAT exemption to water-source heat pumps and smart diverters that transfer solar power into hot water tanks when generation exceeds consumption.
Chris Hewett, chief executive of solar and battery storage trade association Solar Energy UK, said, “The cut in VAT is exceedingly welcome, and we have every expectation that it will increase demand for home battery energy storage. Allowing solar power to be used after dark can double the savings offered by home solar power systems. There has never been a better time to upgrade than today.”
The zero VAT rate on the installation of energy-saving materials, including solar panels, is set to last until March 31, 2027.? This tax break is part of the UK’s plan to reach the Paris Agreement goal of net zero by 2050.
Electrek’s Take
If you’re unfamiliar with how goods and services are taxed in the UK, here’s how it works: Something that costs £100 is actually £80 plus £20 tax, because the tax is already included in the gross cost, unlike the US, for example, which adds it to the price at checkout.
UK folks purchasing solar and storage will get 20% off upfront. It’s less than the 30% tax credit Americans get, but the US tax credit must be filed with the IRS after installing solar and storage.
Read more: The world’s largest EV battery maker will build its own $1.83B offshore wind farm
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| From: Eric | 2/5/2024 7:28:11 AM | | | | | | Victoria to get huge big battery park as UK developer advances “multi-gigawatt” Australian plans
Sophie Vorrath
Feb 5, 2024
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UK energy storage developer Pacific Green has proposed its second grid-scale energy storage project in Australia in a matter of months, unveiling plans for a massive 1GW, 2.5GWh big battery project in Portland in Victoria’s south-west – the state’s biggest such precinct.
Pacific Green says the Portland Energy Park, which is in the early stages of planning and approvals process, will combine four 250MW batteries of varying storage duration capacites, a 500/33kV collector, and a 500kV terminal station and grid connection to the existing 500kV transmission line.
The company says the energy park will be developed as four stand-alone projects, each with their own connection point. Three of the batteries will be have two hours of energy storage duration (250MW/500MWh each) and one energy park will be four hours (250MW/1,000MWh).
And while the projects will be standalone, they will all occupy the same site, and could be built all at once or through a staged process – Pacific Green says the development approach will be informed by the offtake requirements, which it is currently in the process of securing.
The project will be among the biggest batteries in the state – alongside Equis Renewables’ 1,200MW, 2.400MWh Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub, backed by the state government-owned State Electricity Commission and being built near Melton in Melbourne’s outer west, holds that title.
Once operational, Pacific Greens says the 2.5GWh project will provide “critical support” for existing and proposed renewable energy projects in the region, which takes in the Southwest Renewable Energy Zone.
“More broadly, it will strengthen energy supply and price stability for households across Victoria and support the state’s net-zero transition,” the company said on Monday.
Joel Alexander, Pacific Green’s Australian managing director says the Portland Energy Park the new big battery is also strategically positioned within the Portland industrial zone, close to the energy intensive Portland Aluminium smelter and Portland Water Treatment Plant.
“We are thrilled to announce our second battery energy storage project in Australia. Our mission is to deliver critical storage infrastructure to support the grid network and enable the decarbonisation of the energy market,” Alexander said.
Pacific Green made its debut on the Australian energy market in late November last year, with plans for one of the nation’s biggest battery project’s yet – a 500MW, three-hour battery energy storage system on South Australia’s Limestone Coast.
As RenewEconomy reported, the 0.5GW/1.5GWh Limestone Coast Energy Park stands to be biggest big battery in South Australia – and trumps the previous “biggest” battery project just a day after that was unveiled by Denmark’s CIP.
Pacific Green says the location of the proposed Limestone Coast Energy Park means it would be able to charge and discharge excess renewable energy to and from Victoria, via its access to the interconnector.
“Our Limestone Coast Battery Energy Park can act as a load during the day, increasing the viability of even more solar and wind generation, whilst shifting energy to the times it is most valuable in the evening peak,” said Joel Alexander, Pacific Green’s managing director of Australia.
Again, the location for the battery was carefully selected, across from an existing substation that feeds into the Heywood Interconnector – the transmission line that links South Australia and Victoria.
“Our Limestone Coast Battery Energy Park can act as a load during the day, increasing the viability of even more solar and wind generation, whilst shifting energy to the times it is most valuable in the evening peak,” said Alexander, at the time.
Pacific Green says the bigger Portland Energy Park is currently going through its regulatory approvals process and is scheduled to be constructed in the first half of 2025.
More to come.
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| From: Eric | 2/15/2024 6:22:41 PM | | | | | | 
Bright Arrow. Image courtesy of RWE.
RWE Supercharges U.S. Battery Storage Platform With 3 New Projects Totaling 190 MW & 770 MW Under Construction
1 day ago
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- 14 GW of BESS projects in RWE’s U.S. renewables development pipeline
- Globally, RWE’s battery storage capacity now stands at about 700 MW, with more than 1 GW of battery storage projects under construction
Austin, Texas — RWE continues to deliver on its Growing Green Strategy, further expanding its green energy portfolio in the U.S. with the recent completion of three new battery energy storage systems (BESS) totaling 190 MW (361 MWh), and 770 MW (2280 MWh) BESS under construction. The three new BESS — Bright Arrow, Big Star and Mesquite 4 — bring RWE’s total U.S. battery storage capacity to about 512 MW (1370 MWh). Additionally, at 14 GW, BESS comprises more than a third of RWE’s 36 GW onshore wind, solar and battery storage development pipeline in the U.S. Globally, RWE’s battery storage capacity now totals about 700 MW, with more than 1 GW of battery storage projects under construction.
Mesquite 4. Image courtesy of RWE.
“Battery storage is growing even more critical to enable the rapid deployment of wind and solar projects, help stabilize the U.S. power grid and better ensure that enough electric supply is available to meet demand,” said Andrew Flanagan, CEO of RWE Clean Energy. “As part of our Growing Green Strategy, we’re planning to increase our battery portfolio globally to 6 gigawatts by 2030, and these three new systems are contributing to that goal.”
Big Star. Image courtesy of RWE.
Battery energy storage systems supply flexible and affordable electricity when it is needed most, making them an ideal partner for renewables. The three new BESS are paired with solar, allowing them to store excess electricity that is generated and send it back to the grid at a later time. They include:
- Bright Arrow: 100 MW (200 MWh) battery storage with 300 MWac solar PV project in Sulphur Springs, Texas. The project came online in December, with an additional 200 MWac of solar scheduled to achieve commercial operation in spring 2024. The BESS will participate in the ERCOT market and the solar PV electricity output will be provided to an affiliate of NRG Energy, Inc.
- Big Star: 80 MW (120 MWh) battery storage and 200 MWac solar PV project in Bastrop County, Texas. Big Star is completing testing and is scheduled to achieve commercial operation in March 2024. The BESS will participate in the ERCOT market and the solar PV electricity output will be provided to a third party.
- Mesquite 4: 10 MW (40 MWh) battery storage and 52.5 MWac solar project in Maricopa County, Arizona, which is expected to come online later this month. The addition of Mesquite 4 brings the total operating capacity of the Mesquite Complex to approximately 530 MWac. The solar PV electricity output and BESS services will be provided to Modesto Irrigation District (MID).
Big Star. Image courtesy of RWE.
RWE has leveraged its in-house solid technical battery energy storage experience and project design, modeling and system integration capabilities to ensure the operation of safe, high-performing and reliable assets. Additionally, the company markets its energy storage assets through its proprietary dispatch and optimization algorithms to extract maximum market value from its battery and renewable asset portfolio.
Battery storage@RWE
As a driver of the energy transition, RWE develops, builds and operates battery storage systems in Europe, Australia and the U.S. RWE is planning to expand its battery storage business to 6 GW worldwide by 2030.
At the start of 2023, RWE commissioned a battery system in Lingen and Werne with a capacity of 117 MW. In March, the company acquired UK solar and battery developers JBM Solar with an advanced battery project development pipeline of 2.3 GW. RWE is planning, building and operating innovative combined solar and storage plants in its German opencast mining sites. In addition, the company has won the bid for a long-duration battery storage system (50 MW / 400 MWh) in Australia. In the U.S., the company connected its first utility-scale battery storage system to the California electric grid in 2023. The 137 MWac (548 MWh) installed capacity BESS — the company’s largest storage facility in operation to date — is collocated with a 150 MWac solar PV array at the Fifth Standard complex in Fresno County, California.
For more information, visit americas.rwe.com.
Courtesy of RWE.
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| From: Eric | 2/19/2024 1:41:01 PM | | | | | | Concrete pours and modules arrive for South Australia’s biggest battery storage project
Giles Parkinson
Feb 19, 2024
Battery Storage
The Blyth battery, which will be the biggest battery project in South Australia when completed this year – at least for a time – is rapidly taking shape with concrete pours completed and the first of the CATL battery modules arriving on site.
The Blyth battery is sized at 238.5 MW / 477 MWh – up from an initial 200 MW/400 MWh – and its primary reason for existence is its role in providing a supply of “baseload renewables” to BHP’s giant Olympic Dam mine.
French renewable and storage develop Neoen signed the contract last year, and will primarily feed the dam’s electricity needs from the first stage of the Goyder South wind farm, now under construction, and the Blyth battery.
It is also likely to be a prominent player in the grid services market and the growing demand for energy arbitrage, taking advantage of market volatility and excess wind and solar to store for later use.
South Australia currently has the highest share of wind and solar in its grid in the world, reaching an average of 71 per cent over the last year, and 82 per cent in the December quarter, which underlines the technical feasibility of the federal government’s 82 per cent target for the country by 2030.
Neoen revealed last week that the first of the CATL battery packs had arrived at the Blyth site, which is located near the town of the same name in the mid-north region of the state. The project is being built by Elecnor and NHOA.
The Blyth battery will be bigger than both Neoen’s Hornsdale Power Reserve and the newly completed 250 MW, one hour (250 MWh) Torrens Island battery near Adelaide. But it could be pipped by other big battery projects in the state currently in the development pipeline.
Meanwhile, Neoen is advancing works on its first four-hour battery, the 219 MW / 877 MWh of the Collie battery in Western Australia, the first stage of what could be a 1GW, 4 GWh battery project, as well as working on the 270MW, 540 MWh Western Downs battery in Queensland.
Neoen already owns and operates the 300 MW, 450 MWh Victoria Big Battery in Victoria, the 150 MW, 193.5 MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, the first big battery in Australia, as well as the Bulgana battery located next to the wind farm of the same name in Victoria.
See also RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Map of Australia.
reneweconomy.com.au |
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| From: Eric | 2/21/2024 4:28:17 PM | | | | | | Ascend Elements raises additional $162 million for Kentucky battery recycling facility
Ascend Elements has raised a total of $1.2 billion toward construction of its Apex 1 facility, said to be the first factory in North America to recycle cathode precursor and cathode active materials for electric vehicle battery use.
February 21, 2024 Jerusha Kamoji
Ascend Elements' building under construction in Kentucky.
Image: Ascend Elements
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Ascend Elements, a Massachusetts-based manufacturer of recycled battery materials raised $162 million in new equity investments to complete the construction of what it says is the first factory in North America to recycle electric vehicle (EV) battery components.
The capital will go toward completing the construction of Ascend Elements’ Apex 1 cathode precursor (pCam) manufacturing plant in Hopkinsville, Ky., . The facility is expected to begin operation at the end of 2025 and will produce repurposed pCam and cathode active materials (CAM) for up to 750,000 EVs annually.
The majority of global pCam and CAM are produced in China from finite, mined metals. However, Ascend Elements reports that it generates these materials from black mass, a dark, powdery mixture of metals, including lithium, cobalt and nickel.
Ascend Elements patented the hydro-to-cathode direct precursor synthesis process leeches out impurities from a spent battery and keeps the valuable metals in a solution, as opposed to procuring the necessary metals out of a spent battery. Ascend Elements’ says its method reduces costs associated with pCam and CAM recovery by 50% and greenhouse gas emissions by 90%.
 Ascend Elements’ recycling process.Image: Ascend Elements
A study published in ScienceDirect, found that battery cells with recycled anode and cathode materials had the best lifecycle result, enabling 4,200 and 11,6000 cycles at 80% and 70% capacity retention, respectively. Researchers report that the durability and performance of battery cells with recycled anode and cathode materials perform 33% and 53% better than cells made from state-of-the-art commercial anode and cathode matter.
“Ascend Elements’ Hydro-to-Cathode technology provides a sustainable option for production of critical battery materials, championing circularity in an industry that is poised to scale significantly,” said Aruna Ramsamy, a managing director at Just Climate.
Ascent Elements says it can also deliver intermediate commodity metals for producing battery materials or use in other applications through its lithium-ion battery recycling process. They include cobalt sulfate, manganese sulfate, nickel sulfate, and lithium carbonate.
“With its first pCAM facility in construction in the United States, Ascend Elements has the potential to unlock the supply of critical battery materials to accelerate the roll out of electric vehicles,” said Ramsamy.
Climate change solution investor Just Climate, venture capital firm Clearvision Ventures and global investment firm IRONGREY are the primary financiers.
The $162 million adds to the $542 million Ascend Elements raised last year, receiving equity investments from Decarbonization Partners, a venture capital and growth equity platform launched by BlackRock and Temasek that supports proven decarbonization technologies. The Qatar Investment Authority also provided funds and the Department of Energy provided two grants totaling $480 million.
“This diverse group of leading climate investors and industry partners underscores the confidence that the market has placed in our business,” said Mike O’Kronley, CEO of Ascent Elements.
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| From: Eric | 2/21/2024 6:40:13 PM | | | | | | Australian researchers make water battery breakthrough
Image: Distinguished Professor Tianyi Ma (left) and Dr Lingfeng Zhu at RMIT University with the team’s water battery. Carelle Mulawa-Richards, RMIT University
Rachel Williamson
Feb 22, 2024
1
Battery Storage Storage>Battery
Researchers at RMIT University have found a way to replace the electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries with water, an innovation that could remove the fire risk from the devices entirely.
So far, the team has created button-sized batteries that have achieved an energy density of 75 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh kg-1), or 30 per cent of the latest Tesla car batteries.
“We use materials such as magnesium and zinc that are abundant in nature, inexpensive and less toxic than alternatives used in other kinds of batteries, which helps to lower manufacturing costs and reduces risks to human health and the environment,” says lead researcher, distinguished professor Tianyi Ma.
“What we design and manufacture are called aqueous metal-ion batteries – or we can call them water batteries.
“Addressing end-of-life disposal challenges that consumers, industry and governments globally face with current energy storage technology, our batteries can be safely disassembled and the materials can be reused or recycled.”
Image: RMIT. The RMIT team isn’t the only Australian group looking at aqueous batteries.
In January, UNSW researchers made a breakthrough with aqueous rechargeable zinc battery (AZB) technology, after they too found a way to solve the dendrite problem.
Lithium-ion batteries have long dominated the market, from the tiny devices that run the smallest electronics right up to grid-scale energy storage systems.
But for all of the pros, which include excellent energy density and known, mature chemistry, they used expensive materials and when they catch fire can create a thermal runaway, which is where the heat from the flames creates a chemical reaction that creates even more heat and ever more chemical reactions in a disastrous spiral.
Ma says the so-called water batteries are at the cutting edge of an emerging field of aqueous energy storage devices, with breakthroughs that significantly improve the technology’s performance and lifespan.
Water replaces the usual organic electrolytes in metal-ion batteries, a process that came with its own challenges including the formation of dendrites, or spiky crystal growths on, in the case of this particular research, the zinc anode.
Dendrites can cause batteries to short circuit.
To cure this problem, the team coated affected battery parts with a metal called bismuth and its oxide (otherwise known as rust) as a protective layer to prevent dendrite formation.
“Our batteries now last significantly longer – comparable to the commercial lithium-ion batteries in the market – making them ideal for high-speed and intensive use in real-world applications,” Ma says.
“With impressive capacity and extended lifespan, we’ve not only advanced battery technology but also successfully integrated our design with solar panels, showcasing efficient and stable renewable energy storage.
“The next step is to increase the energy density of our water batteries by developing new nano materials as the electrode materials.”
Ma believes that magnesium-based water batteries could replace lead-acid storage in the space of one to three years, and give lithium-ion a new rival within five to 10 years, for applications from the smallest to the largest version of energy storage.
reneweconomy.com.au |
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| From: Eric | 2/26/2024 8:02:37 AM | | | | | | Heatwave smashes grid demand records as batteries come out to play
Underlying demand hits 5GW for first time in WA. Source: AEMO.
Giles Parkinson
Feb 26, 2024
0
Battery Chart of the day
South Australia attracts a lot of attention for its world-leading share of wind and solar, and its ambitious and mostly bipartisan energy transition plans.
But Western Australia is particularly fascinating because it is grappling with climate and energy changes while managing the world’s most isolated grid, which has no connection to other states or geographic areas.
How that transition is managed as the state adds up to 50 GW of new wind and solar, replaces its coal fired generators with storage, and manages ever falling minimum demand levels because of the growth of rooftop solar is going to be fascinating to see.
While spring is often the season for minimum demand levels on the grid, a new engineering challenge in itself, this summer has seen more challenges at the other end of the demand scale.
Over the last month, a record heatwave that has made parts of the state the hottest place on the planet at times, grid demand levels have been smashed. So much so that the top six operational demand peaks ever recorded in the state’s main grid all happened between January 31 and Feb 19 this year.
Source: AEMO
The Australian Energy Market Operator, whose job is to keep the lights on while managing the increasing pace of the transition from coal and gas to renewables and storage, has released some fascinating data about the events of the past month.
The first to note is that six biggest demand peaks all occurred in that three week period as the state was buffeted by a string of heatwaves that pushed temperatures well above 40°C.
That put pressure on the grid as temperature remains above 35°C as the sun sets and the output of rooftop solar declines rapidly, forcing the grid to turn to other options to maintain supply to keep the air-conditioning on.
The role of rooftop solar is significant, because sandwiched in between the two record days of “operational demand”, which does not include rooftop solar, was the first ever peak above 5 GW of “underlying demand”, which includes rooftop solar.
The AEMO charts presented to a webinar last week indicate that rooftop solar was accounting for well over one gigawatt of that underlying demand. But, as the rooftop PV wound down its output in the late afternoon, underlying demand eased but operational demand rose, requiring peaking plants to swing into action.
What was interesting about the hottest day on the grid, Sunday, February 18, when operational demand hit a record 4..2 GW, was the role played by the state’s first bit battery at Kwinana – 100 MW, 200 MWh – whose output in that dispatch interval (87 MW) was three times that of diesel generators (35 MW).
That’s a new thing with the W.A grid, and it is expected to become a more dominant feature in coming years, as another four big batteries – the 200 MW, four hour Kwinana 2 extension, the 100 MW (two hour) Wagerup battery, Neoen’s 219 MW, four hour battery at Collie, and Synergy’s 500 MW, four hour battery, also in Collie – come on line.
All have been commissioned with the specific task of capturing excess rooftop solar in the middle of the day and storing it for the evening peak. The addition of the four new batteries will increase the potential battery output 10-fold in some dispatch intervals, and over a longer time frame.
That is important. Rooftop solar has certainly succeeded in reducing operational demand on the grid in the middle of the day, and pushing the operational demand peaks into the early evening.
But the events of the last few weeks underline that in a changing climate, and with ever intense heat waves, the W.A. grid will need more flexible assets to fill in those gaps, not less.
reneweconomy.com.au |
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| From: Eric | 2/26/2024 8:34:36 AM | | | | | | Demand sites join big batteries in making most of new FCAS markets
Big batteries now dominate the provision of the frequency control ancillary services required to maintain power system security in Australia’s main grid but demand side services company Viotas says there is room for more players in the increasingly lucrative market.
February 26, 2024 David Carroll
Image: Viotas
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Smart grid technology company Viotas said commercial and industrial demand sites like cement mills, cold stores and data centres can play a key role in the contingency frequency control ancillary services (FCAS) market as Australia deals with the flexibility issues that can arise from more renewables.
Contingency FCAS services have traditionally been provided by generators such as coal and gas plants but Paul Moore, Managing Director of the Australian arm of Ireland-headquartered Viotas, said demand response is perfectly suited to help address the challenge of keeping the power grid balanced as variable generation increases.
“In the traditional grid you had more seconds to respond to a contingency event (such as a generator tripping) but these days, with more renewables, the frequency changes very quickly,” he said. “This is due to a reduction in the rotating mass in the grid as thermal plant close down.”
To address the need for speed, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) introduced two new contingency services into the National Electricity Market (NEM) during Q4 2023, with the Very Fast Raise Contingency (R1S) service and the Very Fast Lower Contingency (L1S) markets commencing operation on 9 October 2023.
“Providing increasingly faster response required for these new markets to support increasingly renewable energy based grid is inherently hard,” Moore said.
“So far it’s only been big batteries and demand response that are capable of doing it.”
AEMO’s latest quarterly analysis of the Australian energy markets shows that batteries and demand response were the main providers of the very fast services, increasing their shares of FCAS market supply to 50% and 12% respectively in the December quarter. Virtual power plant (VPP) was the only other technology supplying this service.
Moore said the introduction of the new very fast markets – which require a one-second response time – has been a game-changer for the demand response sector, opening up new avenues of revenue generation.
In the first quarter of the very fast FCAS markets operation, the NEM-wide average price for one-second contingency raise was $18.3 per MWh, the highest out of all the FCAS services for the quarter, followed by one-second contingency lower at $18.1 per MWh. This trend has continued into Q1 2024 with even higher prices in R1S.
Moore said most of the value of the FCAS market has already shifted into that one-second response time.
“It’s following the trend that we saw in Ireland,” he said. “As more and more renewable energy comes into the grid, the value in the stability services moves to the faster-acting services.”
“About 95% of value is now in R1S, there’s another 2% in R6S, and the remainder sits across the slower two markets.” The slower markets being R60s and R5m.
Moore said Viotas, which opened its first international office in Melbourne in 2020, has just over 40 MW registered in the one-second markets and approximately 40 MW registered in each of the other three FCAS markets.
“All of our MWs are on-demand sites, industries like cement mills, data centres, cold stores and so forth,” he said, noting that the interconnected and locally controlled sites are able to respond within milliseconds of a change in grid frequency being detected.
“Our proprietary kit will detect that frequency drop locally and automatically trigger the response.”
“We are also looking at the viability of large-scale solar farms (1 MW and greater) at demand sites also participating in the market.”
It is that rapid response time that is paving the way for demand sites to participate in the very fast FCAS market.
“A lot of industrial customers have a perception of demand response as needing to shut down equipment for the afternoon, minutes to hours at a time, but Very Fast FCAS is very different,” Moore said. “The outage is actually a very short duration, and very infrequent. With most of the revenue in the 1-60 second timeframe, you can leverage the service without any interruption to your plant operation in many cases.”
The success of the very fast FCAS services has prompted speculation that the market operator will introduce even faster markets, something that Moore said is possible.
“We’ve seen it happen in other jurisdictions, even from the time they announced the new market to actually implementing it, it got faster,” he said. “So it’s not a giant leap to suggest or speculate that there’s likely to be faster responses in future.”
pv-magazine-australia.com |
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| From: Eric | 2/26/2024 8:32:00 PM | | | | | | 
Strengthening USA’s Domestic Lithium-ion Battery Manufacturing Base & Supply Ecosystem
2 hours ago
US Department of Energy Tell Us What You're Thinking!
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LPO Announces Conditional Commitment to ABS to Strengthen America’s Domestic Lithium-ion Battery Manufacturing Base and Supply Ecosystem
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced a conditional commitment to American Battery Solutions (ABS) for a $165.9 million loan to help finance the expansion of an advanced battery pack assembly facility to support light-, medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle (EV) and industrial equipment applications at its Springboro, Ohio, and Lake Orion, Michigan, facilities. If finalized, the loan will help enable ABS’s production of approximately 4.2 GWh of lithium-ion battery packs annually at full capacity by 2026. At that level of battery production capacity, the project could support enough EVs to displace approximately 71,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions each year from gasoline-powered vehicles. Upon completion, the project would create or support 460 high-quality, good-paying operations jobs in Springboro, Ohio; Lake Orion, Michigan; and surrounding communities.
This project supports President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing of technologies that are critical to achieving the clean energy and transportation future. Onshoring battery manufacturing is critical to reducing America’s reliance on our economic competitors, like China, which currently dominates the industry and supplies many American companies with materials to resell non-domestically produced batteries. LPO, leveraging additional loan authority provided by the President’s Inflation Reduction Act, is spurring hundreds of billions in new private sector investments that are boosting the nation’s competitiveness, strengthening supply chains, and creating good-paying jobs in communities across the nation.
This project also reinforces President Biden’s deep commitment to growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out—from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
ABS is seeking to expand its lithium-ion battery pack assembly capacity to capitalize on rapidly growing demand from the EV market, which saw unprecedented progress in 2023. The project will finance the construction of four high-voltage (HV) and four low-voltage (LV) battery pack assembly lines in Springboro, Ohio. ABS will also upgrade its existing battery cell testing and quality control equipment at its existing facility in Lake Orion, Michigan.
The project will support ABS’s goal of delivering standardized and customized battery packs for various EV and other battery market segments, including smaller or lower-volume markets, such as startups, or medium- and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers, such as the makers of electric delivery vans, trucks, and buses. Applications in HV market segments include electrified fleet and commercial vehicles, and other EV applications; while LV market segments include industrial applications like low-speed electric vehicles and industrial equipment, as well as auxiliary batteries for EVs. ABS has existing customers and offtake agreements in both market segments.
Battery packs are an integrated system consisting of many components including cells, battery management, safety systems, and enclosures. Since ABS procures cells from third parties, ABS can remain adaptable and responsive to advancements in battery chemistry cost and performance. For example, if a new or improved chemistry comes to market, ABS can begin to acquire that type of cell and pass on improvements to its customers. This enables ABS to focus on the other critical steps in the manufacturing process—such as design, assembly, and integration. ABS has existing agreements for supply of essential components, including the lithium-ion battery cells, that it then assembles. DOE performs rigorous due diligence related to all aspects of a potential deal, including supply agreements, for all projects.
Currently, the majority of battery production for the U.S. market occurs in Asia; however, the President’s Investing in America agenda has laid out a whole-of-government approach and provided key incentives necessary to establishing strong battery supply chains right here in America. This project is one of many projects benefitting from these efforts, and it will strengthen the domestic lithium-ion battery manufacturing base and supply ecosystem.
The project will directly benefit Springboro, Ohio, and Lake Orion, Michigan, as well as several surrounding communities. ABS is dedicated to building a diverse, local workforce, leveraging state and local, non-profit, and academic partners in Ohio and Michigan. In addition, LPO works with all borrowers to create quality jobs with strong labor standards during construction, operations, and throughout the life of the loan including developing strong Community Benefits Plans. The project site is near disadvantaged communities and is expected to benefit local communities and local workers, aligning with the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
The announcement is a conditional commitment issued under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program. Through the ATVM program, LPO finances U.S. manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles, qualifying components, and materials that improve fuel economy and helps to achieve the Biden–Harris Administration’s goal that half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 are zero-emissions vehicles.
While this conditional commitment demonstrates the Department’s intent to finance the project, several steps remain for the project to reach critical milestones, and certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions must be satisfied before the Department issues a final loan.
Courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy.
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| From: Eric | 2/27/2024 7:48:03 PM | | | | | | Collie Battery to get slice of Neoen’s $1.1 billion finance pie
The 219 MW / 877 MWh Collie Battery Stage 1 project being constructed in Western Australia’s southwest is the first new asset to be financed through a landmark $1.1 billion deal completed by French renewables developer Neoen.
February 27, 2024 Ev Foley
Image: Neoen
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Neoen says it has raised more than $1.1 billion (USD 720 million) in new debt finance that covers a significant portion of its Australian portfolio of clean energy projects that exceeds 3.75 GW of assets currently under construction or in operation.
The debt package, described by Neoen as “one of the largest for a renewable energy portfolio in Australia,” spans seven solar, wind and battery storage assets across five states with a combined generation capacity of 1.5 GW.
This includes the Numurkah Solar Farm in Victoria, the Western Downs Green Power Hub in Queensland and the Coleambally Solar Farm in New South Wales, as well as four wind farms – Bulgana in Victoria and the three stages of the Hornsdale wind complex in South Australia.
The finance deal, which includes $55 million from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), will also help finance the development of the Collie Battery Stage 1 that is due to be completed later this year.
The four-hour battery, currently being constructed near the town of the same name about 200 kilometres south of Perth, is Neoen’s longest-duration battery project so far and its first major project in the state.
The project is also the first WA big battery to be financed by the CEFC, with Chief Investment Officer Monique Miller saying long-duration storage has an important role to play in decarbonising the WA energy network and transitioning to a grid powered by renewable energy.
“Running from Kalbarri in the north to Albany in the south and Kalgoorlie in the east, the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) network is vital to a stable energy supply across this vast state so it is fitting that the CEFC’s first long-duration battery in WA is supporting the SWIS in delivering clean energy to West Australian homes and businesses,” she said.
Stage one of the project, which has been contracted by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to help strengthen the South West Interconnected transmission system, involves less than a quarter of the project’s eventual capacity with approvals in place for the battery to scale to 1 GW /4 GWh.
When complete, the Collie Battery will provide bulk energy transfer services for power in WA, soaking up solar during the day when energy demand is low and dispatching it into the SWIS to support the network during peak evening demand.
The CEFC is one of 11 Australian and international lenders that took part in the debt financing package. Other lenders include Bank of China, China Construction Bank Corporation, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), ING, Mizuho, MUFG Bank, and Societe Generale.
Neoen Australia Chief Executive Louis de Sambucy said The financing package provides the company with further flexibility to grow its portfolio into the future.
“This transaction demonstrates the unique combined value of our portfolio and strengthens our business model of long-term owner and operator,” he said. “It provides a solid foundation for future growth and for achieving our ambition of 10 GW in Australia by 2030.”
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