Utility Scale Storage

India’s energy storage juggernaut is on a roll with the country discovering the cheapest renewables cum storage tariff in history, anywhere in the world. The technology chosen is pumped storage. And by setting up an enabling environment, the government has signalled its commitment to boosting the market!

The government has been quick to announce major infrastructure projects for Ladakh, realizing the union territory’s potential for production of solar energy, which could be a boon for the entire country.

U.S.-owned analyst Wood Mackenzie expects solar demand to decline but predicts the market will recover, with the prospects for the energy transition remaining intact.

US scientists claim to have discovered a membrane which could lead to cheaper large scale flow batteries. The material is an ion-selective, aqueous-compatible polymer with intrinsic microporosity known as AquaPIM and is said to have tunable thickness and high conductivity in aqueous electrolytes.

Demand for batteries is going nowhere but up, as new factories seem to appear almost every week with promises to power electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and grid-connected storage. But the lithium-ion technology that all of these rely on is not without drawbacks, and a whole host of new storage solutions is eager to get out of the laboratory.

A report by Norwegian energy consultant DNV GL has considered the opportunity for long-term energy storage to play a role in balancing annual supply and demand fluctuations in a renewables-led grid. Using 58 years of Dutch weather and energy consumption data, the study found long-term solutions such as green hydrogen could make a valuable contribution – but perhaps not as much as some analysts believe.

Developers are also expected to drag their heels over project completion during the first half of the year as the safeguarding duty applied to imported Chinese and Malaysian solar products is due to expire at the end of July.

Researchers in China have ranked some of the most commonly used battery chemistries according to parameters deemed important for grid-level storage. The team gave a score in each category and determined a winner – and it wasn’t lithium-ion.

As the contagion continues to spread, its impact is beginning to be felt on the solar industry outside China with the cancellation or postponement of major trade shows and conferences that were set to take place over the next few weeks.

As the sector continues to grow rapidly, delays in manufacturing scale-ups, difficulties sourcing raw materials and a separate path taken by the electric vehicle sector could all chuck ‘sand in the gears’, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie.