ROUNDUP: UK Capacity Market, W Australia revenue surge, Moixa’s AI software joins EV chargers
This week's news-in-brief stories come from across Solar Media's publishing channels.
Articles tagged with: R&d
ROUNDUP: Saft JV pilots EV batteries, Gravity storage demonstrator, Honolulu microgrid ‘Sandbox’
News in brief from around the world in energy storage.
India’s national budget: IESA makes recommendations to support both industry and policy aims
Recommendations made to the government of India as it prepares to publish its union budget for 2020 from industry group India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) include measures to support both the upstream of industry and the downstream of clean energy deployment.
Manz and Shenzhen Yinghe Technology sign cooperation deal on lithium battery-making
Manz AG has signed an agreement with China’s Shenzhen Yinghe Technology for strategic cooperation in lithium-ion cell and module production.
US energy storage R&D legislation receives approval in ‘another milestone’
A legislative package for energy storage research and development has been welcomed by the US Energy Storage Association after receiving approval from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Charge and discharge cycles are a meaningless metric, SolarEdge founder says
The way the industry talks about batteries needs to change, SolarEdge founder Lior Handelsman has said, arguing that knowing the number of cycles of charge and discharge a battery can perform in its lifetime is essentially “meaningless”.
India invites proposals for gravity-based energy storage projects
India is looking at gravity-based energy storage to take advantage of the technology's short response times and flexibility when it comes to grid integration of clean energy sources.
24M claims energy density breakthrough with semi-solid lithium batteries
24M, a startup battery company founded as a spin-off from MIT, claims it has made a breakthrough in creating semi-solid lithium-ion battery cells with an energy density exceeding 350Wh per kg.
Tesla acquires Maxwell Technologies, rival warns of ‘R&D hell’
Tesla will acquire Maxwell Technologies, it was announced this week, although it is not clear yet which of Maxwell’s product lines, including ultracapacitors, are of most interest to the Silicon Valley automaker and new energy company.
Panasonic, Toyota to work together on automotive batteries ‘of the future’
Automotive giant Toyota and electronics firm Panasonic have announced a joint venture which will look to lead the field in EV battery technology.
US-Israel gov’ts invest in US$12m of solar, storage, microgrids and efficiency innovations
BIRD Energy, a foundation jointly created by the US Department of Energy (DoE) and Israel’s Ministry of Energy (MoE) will invest around half the amount required to fund US$12 million of solar, storage, energy efficiency and microgrid projects in Israel.
Aggreko invests £33 million in R&D
UK-based power, heating and cooling equipment manufacturer Aggreko is investing £33 million in research and development.
ROUNDUP: Alfen IPO, Fraunhofer’s battery centre, Executive changes at ENGIE and Manz
News in brief from around the world of energy storage.
India’s Vikram Solar in PV and energy storage R&D partnership with France’s CEA
India-based solar manufacturer and EPC player Vikram Solar has signed a collaboration agreement with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), while at the founding ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Floating wind farm battery could teach lessons for ‘renewables as baseload’
The real-world performance of batteries paired with “Hywind” - the world’s first floating wind farm - will be analysed by the wind project’s owners, Masdar and Statoil.
Hydro-redispatch, energy trading trial for New Zealand’s 2MWh Tesla Powerpack
New Zealand’s small handful of advanced energy storage systems will be added to with the NZ$2 million (US$1.45 million) trial deployment of a grid-scale Tesla Powerpack 2 by energy generator and retailer Mercury.
Consumer confidence needed to capture Australia’s ‘enormous opportunity’ for energy storage
While energy storage can be considered “critical” to Australia’s transformation to a distributed, low carbon energy mix, a lack of investment and planning for the technology could have negative consequences for the network.
US Senators introduce bill to accelerate energy storage deployment with targeted funds
Two US Senators introduced a bill in Congress at the beginning of this week that would require the national Secretary of Energy to establish research and demonstration programmes and deployment strategies for energy storage, if passed.
Analysis
Britain’s flexibility strategy: A game changer or simply warm words?
In the UK, a new, quarter of a billion-pound innovation competition for batteries has been launched, while plans for overhaul of the energy sector promising a “determined, joined-up, far-sighted and deliberate approach from government” appear to have been met with relish by the industry. Consultant Robert Ede goes beyond headlines to look at what this might really mean in practical terms.
LG&E and KU install 3MW energy storage research centre at Kentucky power plant
Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU), arms of US firm PPL Corporation, have developed a research centre for energy storage at a power plant in Kentucky.
QOS provides energy management system for pumped hydro and renewables R&D project
O&M analytics software provider QOS Energy has delivered its energy management system to an R&D project run by French aggregator Sun’R Smart Energy’s examining grid integration of renewables using pumped hydro storage.
South Africa’s Eskom opens battery demo facility for 2000MW energy storage need
South Africa’s main utility Eskom said it has identified a need for as much as 2,000MW of energy storage on its networks, and has opened a testing facility to find the technologies most suitable.
New York seeks ‘next wave of innovation’ with US$15.5m funding for energy storage
Projects that demonstrate how energy storage can benefit a wide range of stakeholders and the electric grid can compete for US$15.5 million of funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
Powin Energy to supply battery system for University of Washington research labs
Powin Energy will supply a 30kW/40kWh battery system for the University of Washington’s Clean Energy Institute.
Kodak and Polaris team for battery tech accelerator
Kodak and Polaris Battery Labs have collaborated on a support system for new battery manufacturers and products.
Brazil promoting energy storage linked with renewables
Brazil’s energy agency ANEEL has approved the creation of a strategic report on how to integrate energy storage systems into wind and solar applications in the country.
BNEF: Innovation, scalability and reputation are keys to disrupting storage tech industry
While seeming “tech breakthroughs” garner a great deal of media attention, the three key factors in determining the likely impact of storage tech companies are innovative technology, scalability and a proven track record, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst has said.
ABB and India’s IITM partnering on battery storage development for rural electrification
ABB has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chennai-based engineering and research organisation, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) to partner on building microgrids and develop R&D in the battery energy storage area.
IEA energy storage roadmap highlights need for R&D, not ‘silver bullet’ hype
Energy storage technologies are not the “silver bullet” they have sometimes been hyped as, but nonetheless have a crucial role to play in a decarbonised electricity system, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).