AllCell Technologies, LLC, a Chicago-based Lithium-ion battery pack manufacturer for smart-grid, autonomous and light electric vehicle applications, and LG Chem Ltd. have developed a high performance long lasting Li-ion battery for material handling applications.
A new study by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley shows quantitatively that EV batteries can continue to meet daily travel needs of drivers well beyond the 80% floor for remaining energy storage capacity that is commonly assumed. An open access paper on their work, which applied detailed physics-based models of EVs with data on how drivers use their cars, is published in the Journal of Power Sources.
NEC Energy Solutions, along with NEC Corporation, has announced production availability of the Li-ion ALM 12V35 product line of 12-Volt batteries utilizing Nanophosphate lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) technology from A123 Systems. With its EverSafe battery protection technology, the ALM 12V35 is immune to short circuit, overvoltage, undervoltage, and other common accidental battery abuse conditions, the company said. In addition, it can be assembled into battery arrays of 24V, 36V, or 48V for up to 350 Ah and 18 kWh systems with no additional BMS devices necessary.
Hydrogenics Corporation will supply a 1MW electrolyzer and provide engineering expertise to a consortium of companies working on the European project MefCO2 (methanol fuel from CO2) in Germany. The application will take excess electricity from intermittent renewable energy sources, generate green hydrogen, and then create methanol using a low-carbon footprint production plant and carbon dioxide emissions from an existing coal-fired power plant in Essen, Germany owned by STEAG Gmbh, which operates a number of regional power plants and distributed energy facilities.
The California Independent System Operator (ISO), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) unveiled a comprehensive roadmap to assess the current market environment and regulatory policies for connecting new energy storage technology to the state’s power grid. California envisions energy storage technology as a critical component in reducing global warming, improving air quality and promoting energy independence. The state currently has several pilot projects, and is working toward commercialization of energy storage.
Researchers at MIT have improved a proposed liquid battery system that could enable renewable energy sources to compete with conventional power plants. Professor Donald Sadoway and colleagues have already started a company, Ambri (initially Liquid Metal Battery Corporation), to produce electrical-grid-scale liquid batteries, which comprise layers of molten material which automatically separate due to their differing densities.
According to the agreement, Tesla will prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings and utilities. Panasonic will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the associated equipment, machinery, and other manufacturing tools based on their mutual approval. A network of supplier partners is planned to produce the required precursor materials. Tesla will take the cells and other components to assemble battery modules and packs.
The University of California, Riverside is opening its Sustainable Integrated Grid Initiative to research the integration of: intermittent renewable energy, such as photovoltaic solar panels; energy storage, such as batteries; and all types of electric and hybrid electric vehicles. It is the largest renewable energy project of its kind in California.
The E.ON Energy Research Center at RWTH Aachen University, E.ON electric utility company, battery manufacturers Exide and beta-motion and inverter manufacturer SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA) have joined forces to build the first multi-technology, modular large-scale 5MW battery storage system. The unique feature of the M5BAT (Modular Multimegawatt, Multitechnology Medium-Voltage Battery Storage System) storage system lies in its modular design, which combines different battery technologies for optimal use. It consists of lithium-ion batteries to meet short-term demand; high-temperature batteries to supply power for several hours; and lead-acid batteries when the average discharge time is one hour or less.
Ford Motor Company is expanding its MyEnergi Lifestyle program (earlier post), announced at last year’s CES, to include home energy storage. The program originally set out to demonstrate how a typical American family can significantly lower its electricity costs while limiting its impact on the environment.
Porous Power Technologies, LLC (PPT) launched Symmetrix NC2020, a new ceramic battery separator designed to improve significantly thermal stability and safety of large-format lithium-ion batteries. Applications include batteries for electric vehicles, flat-cell consumer electronics, utility-grade energy storage, and other high-power or high-energy applications.
In December, the Patrick Administration awarded grants and announced new investments in three programs to support alternative fuel vehicles and related infrastructure across Massachusetts, including the launch of an electric school bus pilot. The Clean Vehicle Project will further promote the adoption of electric vehicles in Massachusetts through publicly accessible charging stations and replace or convert more than 200 public and private fleet vehicles currently powered by gasoline and diesel with vehicles fueled by natural gas, propane, electricity, solar electric and hybrid technologies.
Honda has joined a demonstration project for experimental vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology aimed at providing a potentially valuable energy storage resource to the electrical grid while providing for more cost-effective ownership of plug-in electric vehicles.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) will award up to $30 million to fund a new program focused on the development of transformational electrochemical technologies to enable low-cost distributed power generation. ARPA-E anticipates making approximately 12-18 awards under this FOA, with individual awards varying between $250,000 and $10 million. (DE-FOA-0001026)
BASF Battery Materials will discuss its latest improvements in Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery technology for grid energy storage applications at the 8th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition (IRES 2013), being held 18-20 November 2013 in Berlin, Germany.
Solar Grid Storage selected AllCell Technologies as a preferred supplier of large lithium-ion battery systems for their PowerFactor solar + storage systems. The Solar Grid Storage PowerFactor™ system provides commercial solar project developers with a turnkey energy storage solution bundled with an inverter, reducing project costs.
The primary goal of this funding opportunity is to provide disruptive new solar conversion and storage technology options to enable a much higher penetration of solar energy generation into the US energy mix.
Williams Advanced Engineering ... has been awarded a grant from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund to develop flywheel-based energy storage systems for use in grid stabilization.
The Nikkei reports that Hokkaido Electric Power Co. will invest in a 60,000 kWh vanadium redox flow battery from Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. to bolster its grid capacity amid rapid growth in power generation using renewable energy.
Siemens and its partners are launching a large smart city project in Vienna, Austria. A living laboratory will be created in the next five years ... in one of the largest urban development projects in Europe. Power supply, building systems, intelligent power grids [including storage], and information and communication technologies will interact optimally.
A team at the University of Maryland has demonstrated that a material consisting of a thin tin (Sn) film deposited on a hierarchical conductive wood fiber substrate is an effective anode for a sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery, and addresses some of the limitations of other Na-ion anodes such as capacity fade due to pulverization.
Siemens is currently installing the first Sitras SES (stationary energy storage) Energy Storage Unit with supercapacitor technology in the US on the new TriMet Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Line.
Enough Northwest wind energy to power about 85,000 homes each month could be stored in porous rocks deep underground for later use, according to a new, comprehensive study. Researchers at the (DoE's) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Bonneville Power Administration identified two unique methods for this energy storage approach and two eastern Washington locations to put them into practice.
Researchers at the University of Missouri .. have further developed and validated the “convection battery” or “convection cell” technology ... The convection cell pumps electrolyte via a mechanical pump through porous electrodes to decrease diffusion overpotential losses and make the potential more uniform throughout the electrode.