Energy Storage

While the current policy regime supports the adoption of flexible resources like batteries, grid flexibility and resilience require more focus and a range of calibrated efforts, including due acknowledgment as a sector priority and robust planning at the central and state level. The upcoming union budget provides an opportunity for the government to develop flexible and resilient grids.

Batteries are set to drive the energy and mobility transitions. Worryingly, when they degrade early or excessively – particularly because of misuse – it can be costly. Claudius Jehle, the CEO of volytica, explains how a better understanding of batteries can prevent expensive mistakes.

Kore, an energy startup in California, has developed a new way to produce hydrogen from biogas, and is now poised to build a commercial-scale demonstration facility in Los Angeles. It said half of the carbon in the feedstock can be converted into gas, while the other half can be converted into solid elemental carbon char.

GAIL, India’s largest state-owned natural gas company, has awarded a contract to an undisclosed company to install and commission a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis unit in Madhya Pradesh. The system will be powered by 10 MW of renewables, to produce around 4.3 metric tons of hydrogen per day.

A new report from IEEFA says green ammonia could help India significantly reduce its trillion-rupee fertilizer subsidy bill and cut dependence on liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports for fertilizer production. The report looks at leading green hydrogen to green ammonia projects worldwide and reviews the cost competitiveness of producing green ammonia using various electricity inputs – grid electricity, round-the-clock renewable power, and solar power plus batteries. It also looks at the policy interventions required for green hydrogen and ammonia projects.  

Nitin Gupta, chief executive officer and co-founder, Attero Recycling, speaks to pv magazine about the supply chain concerns for lithium battery storage manufacturing in India, current battery recycling scenario and Attero’s capacity.

Analyst Wood Mackenzie has predicted soaring demand for electric vehicle devices will ensure supply will not keep pace with demand until some point in 2023.

Players in the electric mobility sector call for a reduction in goods and services tax on electric vehicle (EV) batteries, easy access to low-cost finance for EV buyers, and expansion of FAME Scheme subsidy to ICE-to-EV conversion kits. They also expect the government to enhance the manufacturing capacity and financial layout under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced-chemistry battery cells.

Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with ProLogium to integrate solid-state battery technology into a range of passenger vehicles; Panasonic and Toyota have launched an industrial-academic collaborative research program concerned with battery resources and recycling; and LG Energy Solution plans to spend $2.1 billion with General Motors to build another electric vehicle battery plant in the U.S.

As India ramps up renewable capacity, there will be a higher requirement for substations, transmission corridors as well as battery energy storage. There is tremendous potential in technology localization in areas such as remote power monitoring, predictive maintenance, EV charging, green hydrogen, and energy storage.