The lion’s share of new funding announced this week to help scale-up potentially disruptive technologies by the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) of the US government Department of Energy (DOE) will go to battery and smart grid technologies.
‘Liquid metal’ battery technology developed as a potential low-cost competitor for lithium-ion looks set to be used at a data centre under development near Reno, Nevada.
While lithium-ion continues to dominate big project announcements worldwide, three providers of long-duration non-lithium battery technologies have claimed various milestones in commercialisation.
Nilar, a Sweden-headquartered producer of nickel metal hydride chemistry batteries aimed to compete with lithium-ion and lead acid, will receive €47 million (US$55.45 million) in funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Whatever technology or strategy announcements come from Tesla’s Battery Day, speculation that the company will reduce purchases of battery cells from partners as a consequence is incorrect, CEO Elon Musk has said.
More news in brief from around the world in energy storage.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that a new recycling facility for lithium-ion batteries helps create quality jobs and support clean energy as the state “builds back stronger” from the COVID-19 crisis.
Update 1 September 2020: EnerVenue CEO Jorg Heinemann got in touch with Energy-Storage.news post-publication of this story to give a few extra pieces of detail on the company and its commercialisation plans for the metal-hydrogen batteries.
Accelerator selected the maker of an organic flow battery among a group of “startups with the potential to dramatically alter the future global energy landscape”.
Australia’s government-owned green bank, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), has pledged AU$300 million (US$192 million) of existing funding towards “building investor confidence in renewable hydrogen”.
Duke Energy latest utility to test the technology, while manufacturer's partnership aims to introduce UK version next year.
24M, spun out of an MIT laboratory, claims its latest semi-solid battery ‘breakthrough’, Dual Electrolyte technology, heralds a new era to come for advanced lithium batteries. Andy Colthorpe spoke to some of the company’s leadership team to find out more.
24M, a start-up angling to disrupt the already-disruptive lithium-ion battery industry with the design and production of semi-solid lithium cells, has raised US$21.8 million in a Series D funding round.
Energy Vault, a Swiss maker of energy storage systems based around gravity, has made its technology commercially available, with India’s Tata Power expected to be the first customer.
First developed by NASA, flow batteries are a potential answer to storing solar – and wind – for eight to 10 hours, far beyond what is commonly achieved today with lithium-ion. In the second of a two-part special report, Andy Colthorpe dives deeper into questions of bankability, market segmentation and manufacturing strategies with four very different providers of flow energy storage technology.
A mining operation in South Africa will start managing the cost of its consumed energy with the deployment of eight flow batteries from Primus Power.
It’s been predicted for some time that the redox flow energy storage space will, after some turmoil and rapid consolidation, find success in providing energy storage at durations of more than four hours. This past couple of weeks have been a tale of both turmoil and success.
Flow battery manufacturer VIZn Energy has confirmed that nearly all its employees have been “furloughed” amid financial difficulties, but denied that the company has exited the business altogether.
Primus Power is among a handful of makers currently commercialising their flow batteries, with rivals that include RedT, VIZn Energy and Redflow. Early customers have included Microsoft, which installed a Primus battery at its corporate HQ in a pilot project. Andy Colthorpe spoke with Primus Power CEO Tom Stepien to learn more.
Nuclear generation company Exelon and chemical company Albemarle, which has lithium mining facilities, are investigating opportunities in the energy storage space, having partnered with battery energy storage investor Volta Energy Technologies to do so.
A new solid state electrolyte for lithium batteries developed by Panasonic and nano-electronics and digital tech innovation hub imec has achieved “exceptionally high” ionic conductivity at room temperature.
Aquion Energy, maker of energy storage batteries and whole systems based on a novel electrolyte with a chemical composition similar to saltwater, is back in business.
Axion Power International, focusing on “hybrid battery technology” that combines lead acid with the properties of carbon-based supercapacitors, has warned that it is in financial trouble after failed attempts to commercialise its devices.
Kodak and Polaris Battery Labs have collaborated on a support system for new battery manufacturers and products.
An analyst has hailed the work of a University of Cambridge team developing the “ultimate” lithium-air battery for overcoming some of the technology’s limitations, but has expressed doubts as to its prospects for commercialisation.
The UK’s Renewable Energy Association (REA) has launched two new trade groups to represent the solar and storage industries respectively.