Battery Metals

Batteries and renewables take centre stage in Brisbane

March 14, 2018 By Editor

THE potential of Australia to help usher in the global renewables and batteries revolution is in the spotlight at the inaugural Australian Energy & Battery Minerals Investor Conference in Brisbane today just as AOG2018 kicks off in Perth.

The two-day event brings together leading speakers and companies in what is a fast-growing sector: organisers highlight that Australia has the potential to unlock A$2 trillion in value from lithium alone.

More than 500 attendees and 32 ASX-listed companies have registered to hear from keynote speakers including Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian Macfarlane and Adani Renewables CEO Jennifer Purdie.

As well as technology providers and miners of battery minerals and more traditional metals, representatives from the energy industry will include Brisbane and Perth juniors Armour Energy, Buru Energy, Norwest Energy and Triangle Energy and solar developers such as Adani, Genex and Greatcell.

Purdie said the conference would highlight progress in Australia’s billion-dollar renewable sector.

“Adani Renewables has 300 megawatts (MW) of solar projects currently under development, comprising Rugby Run near Moranbah, Queensland, and Whyalla in South Australia,” she said.

“These projects are helping us reach our goal of becoming a leading supplier of renewable energy, generating 1,500 MW of renewable power for Australia by 2022.”

Event organiser Phil Dickinson said Australia’s energy revolution was only just underway, with the potential to unlock trillions of dollars in wealth and create a sustainable low-carbon future.

“With demand for energy resources, both renewable and non-renewable, now at a premium worldwide, we look forward to exploring how we can help shape our national response to the opportunities in this sector,” Dickinson said.

The conference will also look at opportunities for Australia’s estimated $86 billion mining equipment, technology and services sector, including emerging opportunities in an industry-led research program in energy materials.

Li-Ion Batteries Eke Out Performance Gains As Demand Surges

March 14, 2018 By Editor

You gotta love Elon Musk—the man is everywhere. Current Musk projects include Tesla Motors, PowerWall, and SpaceX. Take a look at the drawing board, and things get interesting. Hyperloop promises to speed passengers from LA to SF in 35 minutes; the Boring Company wants to cut costs of building tunnels by 75 percent, and recently made 20,000 flamethrowers available as a publicity stunt.

As ECN readers know very well, Tesla’s vehicles and PowerWall both rely on batteries to store and supply electrical energy. The market for batteries is on a roll as HEV/EV adoption rates continue to increase and utilities look for a way to balance supply and demand, as well as store the intermittent production from alternative energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) cells and wind turbines.

According to GTM Research (Figure 1), the annual deployment for energy storage devices will total almost 1 GW in 2019; installations that capture energy from residential or commercial PV (solar) installations—commonly known as “behind-the-meter” deployments—will comprise half the annual market by 2021. The U.S. energy storage market will be worth an estimated $3.1 billion by 2022, a nine-fold increase from 2016 (and seven-fold from 2017).

Figure 1: U.S. annual energy storage deployment forecast 2012–2022. (Image Source: GTM)

The rise in battery-based energy storage is intimately linked with lithium-ion (Li-ion) chemistries: according to GTM analysts, they made up at least 97 percent of all storage capacity deployed in 2016. Li-ion also rules the roost in electric and hybrid vehicles, especially since Toyota, the last major holdout, switched most models of its flagship Prius hybrid from nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) to Li-ion in the 2016 model year.

Reflecting the increase in demand, production volumes have ramped up, while Li-ion battery cell prices have fallen by about 60 percent in five years to around $139 per kilowatt-hour. Global battery manufacturing is forecast to double from 2017 to 2021 and reach 278 GWh per year, accompanied by a further price reduction of more than 40 percent.

Tesla is casting a long shadow over the Li-ion market. To protect against potential shortages, they’re moving to secure their own source of batteries. Their Gigafactory 1 in Sparks, NV, began production of Panasonic’s Li-ion design in 2017. When completed in 2020, the factory will produce 35 GWh of batteries yearly, primarily for in-house use. The company is already planning up to five Gigafactories.

Inside the Li-ion Battery

In spite of worldwide efforts to find better alternatives, why is Li-ion still slaying all comers?

One reason is the hurdles any challenger must surmount to make it to the finish line. There’s no shortage of candidates, and researchers regularly claim breakthroughs in battery chemistry, energy density, or charging time. So far, they’ve all been hobbled by some combination of high production costs, reliance on rare materials, problems with recycling or disposal, or limited number of charge/discharge cycles.

Lithium (Li) is also a formidable opponent. With atomic number 3, it’s the lightest metal. Li has the greatest electrochemical potential and largest specific energy per weight, both highly desirable in a battery. A Li battery is non-rechargeable, while the pure metal is unstable, flammable, and potentially explosive when exposed to air or water, so research has concentrated on Li compounds that offer greater safety at the cost of slightly lower energy density.

Several Li compounds are in use for the positive electrode (cathode). Lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC), lithium iron phosphate (LFP), and lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂) are three examples, each with characteristics optimized for different applications.

In current Li-ion batteries, the negative electrode (anode) is most commonly made of graphite.

The liquid electrolyte consists of Li salts in an organic solvent such as ethylene carbonate or dimethyl carbonate. During operation, Li ions move from the anode to the cathode during discharging, and in the reverse direction during charging.

Figure 2 shows the internal construction of a Li-ion battery in the popular cylindrical 18650 form factor. This cell measures 18 mm in diameter and 65 mm in length: Tesla uses over 7000 Panasonic 18650 cells in its 85 kWh battery pack.

Figure 2: The internal construction and materials in an 18650 Li-ion battery. (Image Source: Bloomberg )

Better Performance? Not So Fast.

Li-ion is steadily moving down the cost curve, but improvements in performance have been harder to come by. Li-ion is a mature technology without a version of Moore’s Law: industry researchers such as Stanford’s Mike Toney estimate the rate of improvement at around three percent per year.

What are some improvements that are likely to see production soon? Improving the anode by allowing it to absorb a greater number of ions is one in particular.

The hexagonal carbon structure of a graphite anode has only limited sites to store Li ions: a graphite anode can absorb only one Li atom for every six C atoms to form the compound LiC₆. This results in a theoretical battery capacity of 372 mAh per gram. Each silicon atom, in contrast, can bind up to 4.4 Li atoms to form Li_4.4Si, giving a theoretical capacity of 4200 mAh/gm. Paired with a LiCoO₂ cathode, a Si anode gives a 34 percent increase in capacity versus a LiCoO₂/graphite combination.

Silicon is seen as the most encouraging candidate for next-generation anodes, but silicon’s ability to absorb large numbers of ions brings with it a significant drawback: a volume expansion in the anode of up to 400 percent during the charging process. The mechanical stress caused by charging, plus the corresponding contraction during discharging, can cause the Si anode to fracture, and degrade the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI)—the passivation layer between the anode and electrolyte. Solutions being investigated include formulating anodes from silicon nanowires, or encasing the silicon in a graphene coating.

Silicon Anodes Make Their Appearance

Numerous start-ups are working on silicon anode technology. Enevate (Irvine, CA) is promoting their HD-Energy Li-ion battery that uses a composite anode containing more than 70 percent silicon. The company claims a utilized capacity of 1500 mAh/g and ability of charging to 90 percent capacity in fifteen minutes.

You’ll be able to benefit from this technology soon: Enevate and Sonim Technologies (San Mateo, CA) have announced the adoption of HD-Energy batteries in Sonim’s ruggedized smartphones, designed for use in military, first responder, and harsh environment applications.

How about Tesla? They’re already using up to 10 percent silicon in their anodes to tweak performance in their 100 kW battery pack, and partner Panasonic is offering increased silicon levels in other Li-ion products.

Elon Musk has stated that the overarching purpose of Tesla Motors is “to help expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy toward a solar electric economy,” and Li-ion batteries are a key part of his vision.

Florida fires Babcock battery

March 13, 2018 By Editor

Florida Power & Light (FPL) Company has added a 10MW energy storage system to the 74.5MW Babcock Ranch solar farm in the US state’s Charlotte County.

The batteries will store electricity generated when the sun is shining for dispatch at times when Babcock Ranch’s output dips – such as during cloudy weather.

Power will also be supplied to the grid from the storage system at peak demand periods, FPL said.

The solar plant has been operational since 2016.

FPL has already implemented a 4MW battery plant at the 74.5MW Citrus solar energy center and plans to develop about 50MW of storage over the next few years.

Powershop to tap customer battery storage in new virtual power plant

March 13, 2018 By Editor

Renewable energy retailer Powershop and Canberra-based energy management company Reposit Power have joined forces to create yet another virtual power plant, that will tap customer battery storage capacity at times of peak demand.

The VPP, called Grid Impact, will give Powershop customers guaranteed quarterly payments for allowing the retailer activate their solar charged batteries at designated times.

Using Reposit’s technology, Powershop said Grid Impact will allow the up-and-coming gen-tailer to harness more renewable energy, to bring stability to the grid – and to grid prices.

Powershop CEO Ed McManus told RenewEconomy that the capacity of the VPP was, at this stage, “open ended,” but that initially the company hoped to gather together a couple of megawatts in Victoria and another couple in NSW.

McManus said that Powershop customers that didn’t already have solar and battery storage would have to weigh up the pros and cons of making that investment – with the added incentive of a quarterly payment via the VPP – and decide whether it worked for them.

He said Powerhsop currently had “lots of solar customers” – a little above the national average of 25 per cent – but a relatively small amount of customers with battery storage.

“I think the key message about the (Grid Impact program) is that solar and a battery can reduce your neighbours bills as well as your own,” McManus told RE.

“If, over time we get lots of batteries, it’s going to mean lower use of gas generation, and that will have the impact of bringing down prices across the board,” he said.

In this way, the new program mimics the company’s business model of investing in large-scale renewable energy generation to help increase competition in the wholesale market, and bring down the costs at the power point.

Just last month, Powershop revealed that it had been able to cut its retail electricity rates by 5.5 per cent, off the back of the NZ-owned company’s investments in hydro, wind and solar generation.

Grid Impact also builds on Powershop’s demand response initiative – “Curb Your Power” – which calls on customers to reduce their electricity consumption when instructed, by at least 1kW an hour, for each hour of a forecast “event.”

Registered to be a part of Curb Your Power and wondering when the next event will take place? Today is your lucky day – we’ll be conducting an Event between 5 pm and 7 pm this eve. If you can help, see how you can reduce your usage here: https://t.co/BQPlIUsMd9

Happy Curbing!

— Powershop Australia (@PowershopAus) March 8, 2018

“We have been talking to Reposit for a number of years now and are big fans of their technology,” said Powershop CEO Ed McManus in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are thrilled to be able to partner with them, meaning our customers that use their technology can both help take pressure off the grid at peak times, and also be financially rewarded.”

For Reposit, the partnership with Powershop builds on a growing portfolio of joint venture projects, including the Canberra 1MW VPP with ActewAGL, and the ground-breaking 2016 trials with SA Power Networks in South Australia, and with TasNetworks on Bruny Island.

“A low power bill comes from a smart solar battery matched with a great electricity plan,” said Reposit CEO Dean Spaccavento.

“This is exactly what this partnership achieves. Grid Impact is a great plan that could see customers reduce their bills by up to 90 per cent in the first year. We’re proud to be partnering with Powershop.”

The creation of virtual power plants has been a major focus on the NEM, as networks, industry players and the market operator AEMO work to harness otherwise “invisible” solar and storage installed by consumers behind the meter.

Just last month, the South Australia Labor government unveiled plans to partner with battery giant Tesla to build a 250MW “virtual power plant” – claimed to be the world’s biggest.

The project aims to connect at least 50,000 households, beginning with low-income Housing Trust (social housing) properties, which will be each fitted with 5kW of rooftop solar and one 13.5kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 battery system.

The $800 million project (see more details here) will ultimately bring together 250MW of capacity and 650MWh of storage, allowing the combined resource to be pooled to help provide grid stability and extra capacity when supply is short.

As we reported at the time, the project easily dwarfs the 5MW AGL virtual power plant in South Australia – which has finally got back underway after announcing battery storage makers Tesla and LG Chem and inverter provider Solar Edge as its new technology partners – and the 250-home Reposit Power-led project in the ACT, mentioned above.

The Latest Challenger To Lithium-Ion Batteries

March 13, 2018 By Editor

The race for cheaper, better batteries has never been more intense and more interesting. The latest contender comes from Australia, from RMIT University. It is a hybrid between a chemical battery and a fuel cell that combines cheap resources—carbon and water—and promising efficiency.

The battery works by breaking down water in the fuel cell with the help of electrons from an electric circuit. The protons resulting from this breakdown pass the cell membrane and bond with the carbon electrode where they are stored as hydrogen ions. That’s the charging part of the process.

The power generation part reverses the process: the hydrogen is released from the carbon electrode and passes back through the fuel cell, shedding an electron, which turns them back into protons. These exit the cell to join the oxygen and electrons from the external circuit to become water again.

It seems the great thing about this battery is that it does not release hydrogen gas, which would have compromised its effectiveness. Also, it is being improved already, with the team behind the invention planning to utilize the superconductive graphene to boost the battery’s efficiency.

The leader of the team that developed the battery, Professor John Andrews, says that with the improvements made possible by graphene, the proton battery could become a real challenger for lithium-ion batteries and advance efforts for energy storage solutions that pave the way for a renewable energy future.

The battery is the result of years of hard work, as scientists overcame challenges such as the reversibility of the process and the rechargeability, both of which were initially too low. As a result of their efforts, they managed to store some 1 wt% (weight per cent) in the carbon electrode. This, according to the RMIT University press release, is comparable to the energy per unit mass capacity of lithium-ion batteries.

The battery has just stepped on the road to optimization, so there is considerable space for improvements, it seems. For now, the battery is small, just 1.2 V, and the next challenge for the team would be to make it scalable.

Perhaps some would be getting bored by this point. It’s been breakthrough after breakthrough in batteries these last couple of years, with none so far living up to the promise fast enough to challenge the dominant lithium-ion technology.

What’s more, lithium-ion battery developers are constantly improving their products. They are not waiting for the challengers to catch up. In most of the cases, scalability while keeping costs down and efficiency high has been the main obstacle for the viability of non-Li-ion contenders. Yet, with the amount of interest in lithium-ion battery alternatives, it is probably only a matter of time before one of these proves scalable and hence commercially viable.

Meanwhile, there are advancements being made on the emission-free power generation, too. MIT researchers say they have brought the world a step closer to nuclear fusion—a technology notoriously joked about that it is always 30 years too early for it. The researchers found a way to contain superhot plasma more successfully, which could make its actual use—to produce more energy than it consumes—a reality at some point. This could make a lot of batteries unnecessary, but it is way too early to make such predictions.

With Govt’s EV Policy In Jeopardy, Ministries To Release Their Own Electric Mobility Action Plan

March 13, 2018 By Editor

Various ministries in India such as the Road Transport and Highways, Heavy Industries and the Ministry of Power will soon release their action plans pertaining to the electric mobility adoption in India.

Speaking to Inc42, a Sr. NITI Aayog officer closely working on the development stated, “The adoption of electric vehicles requires coordination among various ministries. Each ministry is doing its task. We are coordinating with the ministries to ensure that the tasks get released in the required shape and frame.”

Explaining it further, he added, “Action plan will be different for different things. For instance, for batteries, charging infrastructure, financial assistance and other components; there will be a different set of action plans. It will be the ministries that have to perform these tasks.”

The decision of dropping an EV policy plan and adopting an action plan instead has been taken owing to the fact that lithium and cobalt, that constitute as key components of the battery for electric vehicles, are largely imported from China. Any hardcore EV policy such as going all-EV by 2030 will only increase the dependency on China, if the alternatives are not explored further.

On FAME India scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India), he stated that the scheme was actually launched by the Ministry of Heavy Industries and there is possibility that after March 31, the Ministry will come up with another phase of the same scheme.

The ministries that have been asked to formulate guidelines for the EV adoption are those of heavy industries, power, new and renewable energy, road transport and shipping and highways, earth sciences, urban affairs and information technology, reports Mint.

As per the report, while the road transport ministry has been asked to form guidelines on non-fiscal incentives, public transportation and last-mile connectivity in the context of EVs and sustainable mobility solutions, the power ministry has been tasked with framing rules for charging infrastructure.

The Electric Vehicle (EV) Action Plan and Policy have been moving back and forth like a pendulum in the recent years. There appeared a change of vibe after the then Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal had boldly stated that no petrol or diesel cars will be seen running on the road after 2030.

However, the ‘golden balloon’ of going all electric by 2030 soon burst as the automobile companies found out that the government had no plans pertaining to fuelling the golden balloon.

Speaking of the loopholes Mercedes-Benz India MD and CEO Roland Folger had earlier stated, “Can the government invest hundreds of billions of dollars into setting up charging stations and associated infrastructure? If not, then who will foot the bill? Definitely not the private sector. If at all the government manages to raise funds, is it worth the effort in terms of meeting the key objective of bringing down pollution?”

Amid huge backfire from automobile companies, Babul Supriyo, Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises stated, “There are, at present, no plans under consideration of the Department of Heavy Industry to make all vehicles in the country powered by electricity by 2030.” In fact, last month, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari averred that there is no need to have an EV policy.

Going all-electric was an important part of the PM Modi government’s promise at the Paris climate change summit 2016. Lack of policy, delay in plans and shooting lofty canons in the air to attract more eyeballs certainly indicate otherwise. Amid all this, newly-released white paper by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has predicted that going all-EV might not be possible before 2047.