| From: Eric | 12/1/2024 8:27:03 AM | | | | | | Eyes of the energy world on Australian vanadium battery tech
Horizon Power Executive General Manager – People, Safety and Governance Jennie Milne, Minister for Energy Reece Whitby, Member for Kimberley Divina D’anna, CEO Australian Vanadium Graham Arvidson
Marion Rae
Dec 1, 2024
4
Battery
Storage
A deep-storage battery being trialled in Kununurra in the Kimberley region of Western Australia could solve the clean energy challenge for some of the nation’s most remote communities.
As well as being a challenging environment to live or work in, hot and humid Kununurra is not connected to the state or national electricity grid.
“A lot of our communities are remote and do struggle with the cost of living and we don’t want them to miss out on the energy transition,” Horizon Power’s executive general manager for business development and strategy Vi Garrood told AAP.
“And we don’t want to compromise on safety – that’s why small-scale trials are really important,” she said.
The vanadium flow battery won’t power cars, laptops or fit into a mobile phone, but it can store energy for 10-12 hours and help homes and worksites to displace diesel and gas with clean, safe and reliable power.
As the state’s regional power provider, Horizon is using the trial to learn how to provide safe, affordable, reliable off-grid power during extreme temperatures and major weather events.
“It’s one of the technologies we need to get us to net zero and running on 100 per cent renewables for periods of time,” Ms Garrood said.
After stress-testing the technology in Kununurra, it could be rolled out across Horizon’s microgrids and other systems.
“Each battery design is examined on the basis of what application we need it for – so what is the problem it’s solving,” she said.
With a 78-kilowatt capacity and 220 kilowatt hours of storage, WA Energy Minister Reece Whitby says the vanadium battery is well suited to Kimberley conditions, where energy storage must cope with extreme temperatures and deliver energy over a long period of time.
“Here in Kununurra, where it was 44 degrees the other day, you need a battery that’s tough … and these, we hope, will do the job very well,” Mr Whitby said.
“We know that the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow so batteries are the answer in terms of capturing that energy when it’s available and dispatching it when it’s really needed.
Horizon is also trialling Redflow’s zinc bromine flow battery (100 kW/400 kWh) on Nullagine’s microgrid and BASF’s sodium sulphur battery (250 kW/1450 kWh) at Carnarvon.
“The eyes of the energy world are looking at Kununurra to see how this goes.”
The various technologies can shift rooftop solar electricity produced in the middle of the day to evening hours and operate alongside existing lithium-ion batteries in Horizon’s network, to provide longer-duration storage.
Most of Horizon’s systems are microgrids, for remote communities and mining operations, and involve generation, network and retail components all within the particular community they are supporting.
Ms Garrood said deep-storage batteries can cover periods of “renewable drought” when there is minimal generation, including for night-time loads.
“Long-duration energy storage is important for us because it’s predicted to be cost-effective when compared to lithium-ion batteries,” she said.
“It could open the door to taking our small, microgrid communities to 100 per cent renewable energy – that’s the plan.”
“Our best chance of success at decarbonisation is to throw everything at it, and deep storage is one of many solutions in our toolkit,” she said.
As the technology is based around a tank of liquid electrolytes, they are less likely to catch fire. They can be scaled up and save space by adding more tanks rather than shipping in container-sized lithium batteries.
It’s also very important to have local support and gain experience when trialling new technology, especially for systems that are in remote locations and typically automated, Ms Garrood said.
The technology supplied by VSUN Energy, an offshoot of mining company Australian Vanadium Ltd (AVL), can charge and discharge energy at the same time and the units have a life span of more than 25 years.
With most of the world’s vanadium supply coming from Russia, China, and South Africa, AVL intends to provide an ethical supply of vanadium to battery, steel and metals markets.
Their electrolyte manufacturing facility in WA is part of a “pit to battery” strategy that could support the rollout of vanadium flow batteries in Australia, according to chief executive Graham Arvidson.
While it’s a first for Horizon, the 40-year-old technology was invented in Australia at the University of NSW and has been grid-connected for 20 years in other countries.
“It’s really coming into its own with the energy transition because we’re looking at long-duration batteries to enable renewable energy like solar to be shifted from day to evening,” Mr Arvidson.
“Now that this battery is commissioned, we’re looking forward to a true test of what it can do for communities like Kununurra,” he said.
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| From: Eric | 12/2/2024 8:47:00 PM | | | | | |
| Victoria adds new big battery with Rangebank switched on
One of the biggest battery energy storage systems built in Victoria has been officially switched on, providing essential system services for the electricity grid and helping to increase the state’s renewable energy hosting capacity.
December 3, 2024 David Carroll
Image: Eku Energy
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Less than 18 months after the start of construction, the 200 MW / 400 MWh Rangebank battery energy storage system (BESS), which was first energised in August, has officially commenced full operations, now helping to stabilise Victoria’s electricity supply by providing additional storage capacity that can be discharged at times of peak demand.
Jointly developed by Macquarie Group’s battery platform Eku Energy and oil major Shell, the battery is located in the Rangebank Business Park at Cranbourne on Melbourne’s southeast. Victorian real estate company Perfection Private, which developed the industrial estate, is a minority shareholder in the project.
Shell holds the rights to charge and dispatch 100% of the battery’s capacity through a 20-year tolling agreement.
Shell Energy Australia Chief Executive Officer Tony Keeling said the agreement strengthens the company’s growing battery portfolio with the 200 MW Rangebank system capable of powering 80,000 homes for an hour during peak periods.
“Rangebank BESS is an important addition to Shell Energy’s battery portfolio being our first grid-scale battery investment in Victoria and Shell’s first direct equity investment in a utility-scale BESS globally,” he said, adding that it will help deliver a more reliable energy supply for customers as the energy market continues to evolve.
“This project demonstrates how dispatchable power like battery storage complements renewables, in this case being located in one of Victoria’s fasting growing population corridors,” Keeling said.
The Rangebank battery is part of a growing portfolio for Eku which was established in late 2022 and now has three operational assets and more than 50 projects in the development pipeline across Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy.
“Rangebank BESS represents a significant achievement for Eku Energy and further demonstrates our commitment to advancing battery storage solutions worldwide,” Eku Chief Operating Officer Tom Best said.
Eku’s Australian projects include the 150 MW/150 MWh Hazelwood and 300 MW / 1,200 MWh Tramway Road batteries in Victoria, and the 250 MW / 500 MWh Williamsdale battery being developed in the Australian Capital Territory.
The Rangebank BESS features Fluence’s latest Gridstack energy storage technology. Image: Eku Energy
The Rangebank battery was built and will be serviced and maintained by United States-based storage technology company Fluence, which supplied 640 of its Gridstack cubes for the project.
Eku said the Rangebank battery is the second largest in Victoria – a behind Neoen’s 300 MW / 450 MWh Victoria Big Battery – but it is sure to be soon overtaken.
Among the projects in the pipeline are an approved 350 MW / 700 MWh project being developed in western Victoria by Melbourne-headquartered ACEnergy while Chinese solar giant Trina Solar has announced plans to build a 500 MW / 1 GWh battery in the state’s northeast. Also on the drawing board is a 1 GW / 2.5 GWh battery being developed by British-owned energy company Pacific Green in Victoria’s southwest.
Victoria is targeting 2.6 GW of renewable energy storage capacity by 2030, and 6.3 GW by 2035.
The Rangebank battery is one of a further 12 utility scale battery projects under construction or in commissioning in Victoria. The state government said these will add another 1.4 GW of additional output capacity and 3.2 GWH of storage.
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| From: Eric | 12/3/2024 7:14:24 AM | | | | | | Big battery summer: AEMO says new storage capacity to play key role in keeping lights on
The Rangebank Battery in Victoria. Source: Eku Energy
Sophie Vorrath
Dec 3, 2024
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AEMO Battery Policy & Planning
More than 3 gigawatts (GW) of new solar, wind and big batteries will help power Australia through another hot and potentially wet summer, with a nearly 60% jump in available storage capacity expected to play a particularly important role in the reliable supply of electricity over the period.
The 2024-25 summer readiness report published by the Australian Energy Market Operator on Tuesday says weather conditions and synchronous generation availability – coal, gas and hydro power – are both expected to be fairly similar to the 2023-24 summer.
What is different this summer is that 3,175 megawatts (MW) of new generation and storage projects have been
commissioned to full output in the NEM since September last year, including more than one gigawatt of grid-scale solar (1,010 MW), 940 MW of wind and 750 MW of batteries (with various levels of storage).
AEMO says a further 750 MW of projects are on track to reach full capacity in December, providing further generation for when the grid “needs it the most.”
The story is much the same for the separate Western Australia grid, called the WEM, where the Collie and Kwinana 2 batteries will have a capacity of around 425 MW now that they are fully operational.
“In the last week of spring, challenging operational conditions emerged in New South Wales, with limited localised issues and no widespread customer impacts,” says AEMO’s executive general manager of operations, Michael Gatt.
“Batteries played an important role in managing that situation, so it is pleasing that ahead of summer available battery generation has grown by 58% across the NEM,” Gatt says.
Indeed, in a first, AEMO last week called on two big batteries in NSW – including the newly connected but not yet fully commissioned Waratah Super Battery – to stand ready with a certain level of charge in case they were needed.
This is likely to be repeated this summer. The Waratah battery – at 850 MW and 1680 MWh – will be the biggest in Australia once commissioned, and in fact will be the biggest unit in terms of capacity ever connected to the Australian grid, including coal, gas and hydro plants.
Of course, the summer period will not be free from risks, which – as illustrated in the AEMO graphic below – range from the impacts of extreme weather, to generator and/or network outages, reduced weather-related generation (including the risk of plant coal plant cut-out or capacity derating due to extreme heat), and high demand.
There is also a list (below) of network and generation assets – mainly fossil fuel plants – being watched for the potential for their maintenance and commissioning activities to extend beyond target completion dates.
Further, there is also the risk of too much solar in the system, as a result of sunny days with mild temperatures and low demand – a combination more common in spring, when air conditioners are less likely to be running full tilt.
AEMO says it has prepared procedures for managing minimum system load conditions on such days as these – as has been widely reported already this week – and might need to take action if outage conditions and low system load conditions happen to collide.
All told, the reliability gaps already forecast by AEMO for the summer period remain very manageable, at 265 MW in New South Wales, 200 MW in South Australia and just 10MW in Victoria (10 MW).
AEMO says it is tendering for Interim Reliability Reserves (IRR) to address the gaps in New South Wales and South Australia and has emergency reserve providers are on standby to address short-notice requirements across the NEM.
In Western Australia, AEMO is tendering for up to 285 MW in supplementary capacity, with contracts to take effect from 1 December 2024.
“We’ve had a strong response to the supplementary capacity tender, and once we have finished negotiating those contracts, AEMO will publish the amount procured,” Gatt said.
On gas generation, the report says that while this will be “crucial” in providing peak generation capacity to the NEM over summer, the increase in renewables has meant increased uncertainty around forecast demand for the fossil fuel.
“This will depend on weather, [variable renewable energy] performance, operational demand and the utilisation of new large-scale battery storage,” the report says.
Interestingly, the chart below forecasts slightly more gas use than the past two summers for January, 2025, but then quite a bit less for February and March than previous years.
=AEMO this year has also provided a handy Fact Sheet on Lack of Reserve (LOR) notices, presumably to stem the tide of blackout hysteria that has carried away the mainstream media over the past two weeks.
As it notes, there is a big difference between a “forecast LOR” – the three-stage process where AEMO alerts the market to a reduced amount of electricity reserves – and an “actual LOR,” when low reserves become a reality and load shedding needs to be activated.
The market operator quite often issues LOR 2 notices, which have been known to trigger news reports of imminent or barely avoided blackout notices when this is not technically the case.
“At this level, there is no impact to the power system,” the sheet says, “but supply could be disrupted if a large incident occurred.
“Once an LOR2 is declared, AEMO has the ability to direct generators or activate reserve mechanisms to improve the supply-demand balance,” it says.
It’s all about managing the risks – both ahead of time and as they arise.
“While we’ve undertaken extensive preparation ahead of summer, risks remain and AEMO will continue to monitor the situation and take the necessary actions if required,” Gatt says.
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| From: Eric | 12/4/2024 4:19:31 PM | | | | | | Recycling
Battery recycling: How advanced materials science is changing the game
The future of battery recycling is promising and continuous advancements in materials science are driving the development of more efficient, sustainable processes.
By
Manikumar Uppala
Dec 03, 2024
Industry
Recycling
A scanning electron microscope image of a cobalt and nickel metal mixture powder extracted by Metastable Materials by recycling lithium ion batteries. | Image: Metastable Materials
The growth of electric vehicles and energy storage solutions has led to a rapid rise in the demand for batteries and, consequently, for efficient and sustainable battery recycling methods. Traditional recycling techniques have downsides such as efficiency and environmental drawbacks, even though they do the job. Advancements in materials science are changing the scenario and ushering in a new era of battery recycling, making it more environmentally friendly and economically viable.
Materials science studies the properties of solid materials and the behavior of their constituent materials, which affect said properties and structure. It can play a crucial role in innovating recycling methods and overcoming the limitations of traditional techniques. By understanding the properties of battery materials at a molecular level, new processes are being developed that enhance the recovery of metals from spent batteries.
Integrated carbothermal reduction is a promising recycling technique that uses the physical properties of battery materials to extract them from batteries. It generates no waste and is highly energy efficient compared to the currently prevalent methods.
The magnetic separation technique is another innovation being developed by researchers. This technique enhances the purity of recovered battery materials. Magnetic fields are used to separate battery materials from battery waste, maintaining their structural integrity and functionality.
Hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy were the prevalent methods for battery recycling. Pyrometallurgy is highly energy intensive and results in a lot of loss of battery materials as waste. Hydrometallurgy is energy intensive as well and uses a lot of chemicals, meaning there is generation of toxic waste. Hydrometallurgy, the more widely used recycling method, has seen some significant advancements in recent times. The process leeches out metals from battery waste using chemical solutions. Chemical solutions and processes are being innovated to selectively extract valuable metals including lithium, cobalt, and nickel with lower environmental impact. Solvent extraction techniques are also being refined to selectively bind specific metals to enhance the separation of metals from leaching solutions and enhance the purity level of recovered metals.
Advanced materials science in battery recycling enables the consideration of recycling as a method of “mining” batteries. It can solve gaps and pitfalls that are currently faced by battery recycling entities and can offer significant economic and environmental benefits. With increased efficiency and purity of recovered materials, the need for costly and unsustainable virgin mining is reduced.
Extracting a ton of lithium from spent devices requires about 28 tons of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, compared to 250 tons of ore or 750 tons of brine needed for the extraction of virgin material. It also takes several months to a few years to refine virgin lithium, along with the use of huge amounts of water.
Recycling consumes much fewer resources and takes less time, translating to lower environmental impact. Economically, there is a great case for recycling as recycled materials with high purity levels (and that purity is consistently getting higher thanks to innovations in materials science) are at par with mined materials in terms of price. Companies in North America are scaling their operations, demonstrating that advanced recycling technology is economically viable.
The future of battery recycling is promising and is being spurred by continuous advancements in materials science which are driving the development of more efficient and sustainable processes. As demand for lithium-ion batteries continues to rise, these innovations will play an important role in meeting the world’s energy needs while minimizing environmental impact, promoting circularity of resources as well as energy efficiency.
ess-news.com
About the author:
Manikumar Uppala is the co-founder and chief of industrial engineering at India-based lithium-ion recycling company Metastable Materials |
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| From: Savant | 12/7/2024 10:43:14 AM | | | | | | Burnt rice hull skyrockets battery power to 700 mAh, doubles storage capacity Rice hulls, often discarded as waste, can be used as a sustainable energy source.
It turns out that properly processed rice hull ash can yield a carbon form, which could outperform graphite in battery applications.
This “hard carbon” has a unique nanostructure that allows it to store more energy than graphite — the current standard in lithium-ion batteries.
Hard carbon from burned rice hull University of Michigan researchers made this discovery by producing hard carbon through the combustion of rice hull ash.
Rice ash boasts 700 mAh storage capacity, double battery power |
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| From: Eric | 12/10/2024 4:46:57 PM | | | | | | Tesla first in global battery energy storage system financial strength rankings
The latest financial stability ranking from Sinovoltaics keeps Tesla, Mustang Battery, Kung Long Batteries, Hyundai Electric and Eaton, in the top five spots in a report that includes 55 manufacturers.
December 10, 2024 Valerie Thompson
Image: Tesla
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From pv magazine Global
Sinovoltaics, a Hong Kong-based technical compliance and quality assurance services provider, has released its Q4 PV Energy Storage Manufacturer Ranking Report. Global in scope, it provides financial stability scores tracked over the past three years. It covers 55 battery energy storage suppliers, a figure that has remained unchanged since t he last edition published in July,
The report, which is available to download for free, recorded some shifts in the rankings, according to the analysts who highlighted improved scores for three Chinese manufacturers. Specifically, Sacred Sun (Shandong Sacred Sun Power Sources Co Ltd) moved from spot 15 to number 10, while CATL jumped from 26 to 21 and BYD climbed up to 28 from spot 30.
The top ten segment of the ranking lists U.S.-based Tesla at the top, followed by China’s Mustang Battery, Taiwan-based Kung Long Batteries, Hyundai Electric of Korea and Eaton, based in Ireland, China-based Sinexcel, Yuasa Battery and Sanyo, both based in Japan, U.S. based Enersys, and China’s Sacred Sun.
The latest edition covers December 2021 to September 2024 and is meant to provide insight into the changes in the scores over time, according to Sinovoltaics.
The financial stability analysis of the publicly traded battery producers uses the so-called Altmann Z-scores. It is a balance sheet-based model using publicly available financial information to track financial strength over the past three years. It assesses a company’s financial strength through a credit-strength test based on profitability, leverage, liquidity, solvency, and activity ratios, according to Sinovoltaics.
A score that is 1.1 or lower indicates a higher probability of bankruptcy within the next two years, while a higher score of 2.6 or greater. The reports include a chart that groups manufacturers into those with scores that put them in the safe zone, those with lower scores in the grey zone, and those with scores that indicate distress. In the safe zone this quarter there were 21 companies, compared to 20 in the last quarter.
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| From: Eric | 12/11/2024 12:17:33 PM | | | | | | Supply chain
BNEF: Lithium-ion battery pack prices drop to record low of $115/kWh
Battery prices continue to tumble on the back of lower metal costs and increased scale, squeezing margins for manufacturers. Further price declines are expected over the next decade.
By
Marija Maisch
Dec 11, 2024
Industry
Manufacturing
Supply chain
Image: BNEF
Battery prices saw their biggest annual drop since 2017, with lithium-ion battery pack prices down by 20% from 2023 to a record low of $115/kWh, according to analysis by BloombergNEF (BNEF).
Factors driving the decline include cell manufacturing overcapacity, economies of scale, low metal and component prices, adoption of lower-cost lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, and a slowdown in electric vehicle sales growth.
Currently, overcapacity is rife, with 3.1 TWh of fully commissioned battery-cell manufacturing capacity globally. That is more than 2.5 times annual demand for lithium-ion batteries in 2024, according to BNEF.
“The price drop for battery cells this year was greater compared with that seen in battery metal prices, indicating that margins for battery manufacturers are being squeezed. Smaller manufacturers face particular pressure to lower cell prices to fight for market share,” said Evelina Stoikou, the head of BNEF’s battery technology team and lead author of the report.
The figures represent an average across different geographies and multiple application areas, including different types of electric vehicles, buses and stationary storage projects.
On a regional basis, average battery pack prices were lowest in China, at $94/kWh. Packs in the US and Europe were 31% and 48% higher, reflecting the relative immaturity of these markets, as well as higher production costs and lower volumes, BNEF finds.
The price differences for North America and Europe compared to China were higher than in other years. THis indicates that the drop in prices was more accentuated in China forcing many battery manufacturers to enter new markets, including energy storage, while also eyeing overseas markets willing to pay more for batteries.
Meanwhile, prices for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) came in at $97/kWh, crossing below the $100/kWh threshold for the first time. While EVs have reached price parity in China, they are still more expensive than comparable combustion cars in many markets but this is expected to change in the years ahead.
The industry has also benefitted from low raw material prices. BNEF expects metal prices to rise in the next few years, as geopolitical tensions, tariffs and low prices stall new mining and refining projects.
“One thing we’re watching is how new tariffs on finished battery products may lead to distortionary pricing dynamics and slow end-product demand. Regardless, higher adoption of LFP chemistries, continued market competition, improvements in technology, material processing and manufacturing will exert downward pressure on battery prices,” said Yayoi Sekine, head of energy storage at BNEF.
BNEF expects pack prices to decrease by $3/kWh in 2025, based on its near-term outlook. Looking ahead, further price drops are expected over the next decade on back of continued investment in R&D, manufacturing process improvements, and capacity expansion across the supply chain.
In addition, the analysts expect next-generation technologies, such as silicon and lithium metal anodes, solid-state electrolytes, new cathode material, and new cell-manufacturing processes, to play an important role in enabling further price reductions in the coming decade.
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| From: Eric | 12/13/2024 3:09:07 PM | | | | | | U.S. adds 3.8 GW of storage in Q3, residential battery storage hits all-time high
In the third quarter of 2024, the U.S. installed 3.8 GW of storage across all segments, 80% increase from Q3 2023.
December 13, 2024 Blathnaid O'Dea
BESS deployment is on the rise in Canada.
Image: Bureau of Land Management California via Flickr
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From ESS News
The United States’ residential energy storage market set an all-time quarterly growth record, with 346 MW of residential storage installed in the third quarter of 2024. This is a 63% increase over the previous quarter.
The growth was led by California, Arizona, and North Carolina. They installed 56%, 73%, and 100% more residential storage in quarter three than in quarter two respectively – despite residential battery supply shortages.
These figures come from the latest edition of the US Energy Storage Monitor. The report was released by Wood Mackenzie and the American Clean Power Association (ACP).
The United States’ grid-scale energy storage market has also set a new growth record, with 3.4 GW and 9.1 GWh of capacity deployed in the third quarter of 2024. These figures represent an 84% and 58% increase compared to last year’s statistics.
Image: Wood Mackenzie
Read the full article on pv magazine’s ESS News
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