Utility Scale Storage

If Solar Energy Corp. and NTPC can successfully execute tenders for standalone energy storage systems, it could drive investment, support domestic manufacturing, and facilitate the development of new business models, according to a newly released report.

Haryana-based Sanvaru is expanding its lithium battery production capacity to 400 MWh per year by setting up a new factory in Haridwar.

A new report recommends a differential pricing mechanism for pumped-hydro energy storage (PHES) projects in pumping (off-peak operation) and generating mode (peak operation). The pricing mechanism for PHES should be based on specific use cases like peak load shaving and the smoothing of renewable energy generation.

Vikrant Singh, co-founder and CTO of BatX Energies, told pv magazine that the company would use the funds to scale up its capacity, with plans to launch material production from end-of-life lithium batteries on a commercial scale. It will also set up recycling units in different geographies to locally produce black mass – a mixture of battery anode and cathode materials – and ship it to its India facility for battery material extraction.

Hinduja Group, an Indian multinational, has invested GBP 15 million (($18.4 million) with four other investors in Connected Energy, a developer of energy storage systems based on second-life electric vehicle batteries. The investment will help Connected Energy to scale up its operations and move into utility-scale project development. 

The selected developers shall set up grid-connected solar, wind or hybrid wind-solar projects on a ‘build-own-operate’ basis along with required energy storage systems for assured peak power supply. Bidding closes on July 30.

A couple of weeks ago, Goldman Sachs sent shockwaves through battery metals markets, issuing a prediction that cobalt and lithium in particular were due for a sharp price decline in the next two years. But London-based Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is loudly pushing back, outlining its reasons why it believes the call on lithium was wrong. Meanwhile, US analyst Wood Mackenzie says that the battery raw material chain will remain tight, but notes that recycling could help to ease the supply deficit.

Hiren Pravin Shah, the executive director and CEO of Replus, told pv magazine that the company aims to scale its lithium battery factory in Pune to 5 GWh by 2025-26. It also plans to recycle end-of-life batteries.

The US multinational will expand the solar and battery energy storage manufacturing capacity at its factory in Tamil Nadu to 9 GW per annum by the end of 2022. The factory manufactures FlexInverter power conversion solution and FlexReservoir utility-scale energy storage solution.

The investment needs to more than double to $30-$40 billion annually for India to reach the 2030 renewables target of 450 GW.