Energy Storage

Separating generation from storage usually delivers higher value, but it may also deliver higher costs, the report said.

A prototype of a cement-based battery has been developed in Sweden for potential applications in buildings. Its creators claim it could become a solution to store electricity from rooftop PV and they do not exclude that it could also be used for the storage of large-scale renewables.

The nation maintained the highest score of 62.7 for solar in the latest edition of Ernst & Young’s renewables attractiveness index. It ranked third for overall renewable energy investment. 

Spanish PV project developer Gransolar is planning to build a large-scale green hydrogen production plant in the Port of Almería, in southern Spain.

US scientists have created a new design for lithium-metal, solid-state batteries that should avoid the formation of dendrites that grow into the electrolyte. Their multilayered battery could potentially recharge electric vehicles within 10 to 20 minutes.

With South Africa holding 63,000 of the world’s estimated 69,000 metric tons of platinum reserves – according to the Statista.com website – and Russia and Zimbabwe a further 5,100 between them, the European Commission has cited the metal as an example of a potential supply chain bottleneck that could handicap its grand plans for renewables-powered hydrogen production.

Hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels will not be able to move forward fast enough to replace fossil fuels and tackle climate change, according to a German-Swiss research team that claims direct electrification alternatives are cheaper and easier to implement. The scientists cite too-high prices, short-term scarcity and long-term uncertainty, as the main reasons for their skepticism.

The US electric car manufacturer is reportedly shifting to cobalt-free lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for its utility-scale battery.

A new report says the Indian States must develop plans to incentivize investments into the deployment of utility-scale battery storage—just as they did for solar. 

American Resources Corporation is developing a process to separate pure rare earth metals from lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles or power plants based on renewable energy. The technique is described as a two-zone ligand-assisted displacement chromatography (LAD) that is able to produce metals with high yields and purity of over 99%.