Lithium News

The power industry is changing and leading companies are turning to digital technologies to revolutionize their operations. Monitoring and diagnostics centers are leveraging vast amounts of data from around the globe and employing machine learning tools to enhance performance and improve asset reliability for customers everywhere.

The world of energy is transforming before us. Take these compelling statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA): World energy demand is expected to grow 30% through 2040—the equivalent of adding another India and another China to today’s existing energy demand. Of this 30% increase, electricity is the rising force among end-users, making up 40% in final consumption to 2040. Electricity use will be driven by the growth of connected devices, more demand for cooling, and the digitalization of modern economies. Furthermore, the IEA expects global electricity generation to grow by 2.3% a year, reaching 30,500 TWh by 2026.

Clearly, to meet this growth, utilities face challenges, such as increasing government policies that vary by region, growing social preferences that lean toward cleaner energy, and emerging technologies that alter the way electricity is generated and consumed. These challenges are shifting the composition of electricity consumers—new customers are emerging with different needs and preferences. Combined, these challenges are causing the world to transition from an electricity system based primarily upon large, centralized generation, and conventional transmission and distribution (T&D) technologies to one that embraces distributed, digitally enhanced, and low-carbon technologies. Traditional and emerging, physical and digital, and large and small are all converging to create a new power network for the future of electricity—a true transformation of today’s energy landscape.

Digital Adoption Is Key to Innovation

To compete in this energy landscape of the future, utilities must evolve. They need to rapidly increase their use of digital technologies to improve and innovate traditional energy technologies and fully implement emerging technologies. As digital capabilities grow in use across the industry, they will help power producers innovate. Generators should seek capable partners to shape technologies, transform industrial models, and revolutionize the energy landscape.

Over the next decade, large, centrally located power plants will grow in efficiency and be supplemented by new, often smaller, energy hardware systems that are distributed across the T&D system. This will occur under pressure from government policies that will herd the industry to decarbonize, driving the transition from an electricity system centered upon traditional technologies to one that embraces emerging technologies.

The challenge over the next decade will be cultivating emerging technologies while improving traditional ones so they work together in the 21st-century global power system. As this unfolds, the industry will also experience greater adoption of digital tools that will integrate across existing traditional technologies throughout the electricity ecosystem—in generation plants, within fleet and system-wide control systems, in T&D systems, and even in human resource operations. Utilities will find that emerging technologies such as digital solutions will complement traditional ones—blending them together to create hybridization across technologies, projects, and networks.

Digital optimization, digital power, data security, additive manufacturing, and battery storage will all have a great impact on what the future of electricity looks like.

Digital Optimization

Digital technologies are helping utilities optimize their operations, giving them detailed, actionable insights, and more precise control over their assets. Utilities that use digital optimization will quickly improve power plant efficiency, reduce fuel costs, and increase power capacity, ultimately driving more profitability. They can also extend turndown while maintaining emissions compliance to improve availability, expand fuel flexibility and responsiveness, and decrease start times.

Tesla in July released more details of its virtual power plant (VPP) project in South Australia (SA), outlining the initiative as well as its resources and the benefits it will bring to the region. The company said the plant will include 50,000 homes fitted with solar panels and Powerwall 2 home batteries, adding the project will be the world’s largest VPP system when completed.

Tesla said the system is designed to lower residential power rates and provide grid stability. The VPP began taking shape in May after Tesla’s plan was approved by the ruling Liberal party. Energy Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan reiterated the government’s support for the project at the Australian Energy Storage Conference in Adelaide in late May.

“It’s very important to be clear about this—we are honoring the existing commitments around the Tesla [VPP]. The VPP project is currently proceeding with the two trial phases as planned. The trial phases involve installation of home energy systems on 1,100 Housing SA homes. These are supported by a $2 million grant and a $30 million loan from the State Government. Subject to private finance, and the first two phases’ success, the third phase could grow to up to 50,000 home batteries connected to new solar installations, and this is in addition to our government’s 40,000 home election commitment,” van Holst Pellekaan said.

The 50,000 homes in the proposed 250-MW/650-MWh project are low-income and what Australia calls “social” housing units. Each home would be fitted with a 5-kW solar panel system and a 13.5-kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 battery storage unit (Figure 1). The VPP is expected to provide grid stability by shifting demand away from the larger grid during peak-use hours, functioning in much the same way as Tesla’s 100-MW/129-MWh Powerpack Hornsdale Power Reserve wind farm near Jamestown in South Australia, north of Adelaide.

Tesla has said the VPP project would take about four years to complete. The project is designed so that energy generated from the solar panels is stored in the Tesla batteries. Excess energy is sent to the grid and available for use elsewhere in SA. An initial trial of the system began a few months ago, with the 5-kW solar panel system and 13.5-kWh Powerwall 2 installed in 1,100 public housing sites.

Residents are not charged for the equipment; the sale of electricity to the grid covers that cost. Tesla said the next phase is installation of the system in an additional 24,000 public housing units. The company has said it could make the system available for private homeowners as early as next year, depending on the outcome of the trial phases. Tesla has said the VPP could provide as much generation capacity as a gas-fired turbine or coal-fired power plant, and could solve the problem of power outages. Its VPP literature says, “Powerwall can detect an outage, disconnect from the grid, and automatically restore power to your home in a fraction of a second. As long as the battery has storage in it at the time, you will not even notice the power went out.”

Government officials in SA have said the VPP can provide as much as 20% of the state’s average daily power requirement. Tesla will maintain a service hub at Adelaide’s innovation district in Tonsley, allowing technicians to monitor and service the Powerwall installations, the Powerpacks at the Hornsdale site, and Tesla’s supercharger electric vehicle charging stations across SA.

While she may not be in favor of supporting renewables on her doorstep, with the U.K. currently proposing to end both feed-in and export tariffs next April, U.K. Prime Minister, Theresa May has said the country will make £56 million (US$72 million) available for the development of battery storage technologies in South Africa, in order to support the uptake of renewables there.

The news was announced during her trip to Africa, where she is working on strengthening business, trading, diplomatic and research ties.

The money will be contributed via the Clean Technology Fund, and as part of the $500 million investment in battery storage, developed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, in partnership with the government of South Africa. The aim is to fast-track the region’s access to clean energy.

The Clean Technology Fund is part of the Climate Investment Fund (CIF), which also comprises the Strategic Climate Fund. Overall, the U.K. is the largest contributor to the CIF, having paid in $1.6 billion since 2009.

“Battery storage involves storing electricity so that it can be used later- important in filling in the gaps when its overcast or no wind. These batteries are a very real alternative to fossil fuels like coal and gas, making energy supply secure,” wrote the U.K. Government in a statement released.

In apparent contradiction to the actions of the government at home, which in addition to ignoring the solar industry, has also recently invested in fracking amidst stark opposition from the people and local council, Business Secretary Greg Clark said, “Investing in research, developing the skills of tomorrow, and tackling the global threat of climate change are key commitments of this government and are at the core of our modern Industrial Strategy.”

In Nigeria, meanwhile, the U.K. Government unveiled the next phase of the U.K.-Nigeria Climate Finance Accelerator.

Here, the aim is to match the Nigerian government and local project developers and finance market players, with experts in climate finance and green project investment from London. “The UK can share expertise with Nigeria on how to invest in green projects, from increasing the country’s renewable capacity to improving the resilience of food chains,” read the statement.

In recognition of the fact that Africa is set to be “disproportionately” affected by climate change, the government announced a further £1.5 million for African researchers to study the effects of this change, specific to the region.

“Climate change is the most critical challenge facing the next generations – and Africa will be disproportionately affected … with temperatures likely to rise faster than anywhere else in the world,” it said, adding “That is why, as part of the UK’s new and distinctive offer to work alongside, invest in and partner with African nations, the government is bringing in even more of the UK’s world-leading climate experts to build on our existing partnerships – working with African governments to build climate resilience, cut emissions and ultimately, ensure we all meet the international climate commitments made in the historic Paris Agreement.”

In the off-grid sector, the U.K. has also offered aid, aimed at helping 11 million people who live without access to clean energy. It will take the form of: supporting early stage businesses in designing innovative household solar technologies via £16 million of funding for Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Senegal and Ethiopia; £15.5 million to enable African solar companies to grow by removing current market barriers, like lack of finance and high tariffs on components; and increasing support by £1.6 million for the Energise Africa impact investment platform, in order to help “1,500 new U.K. small investors provide financing to connect 125,000 more African people to affordable, reliable and clean solar energy.” According to the government, Energise Africa has raised £4.8 million to date.

“Strengthening the solar market in Africa is opening up opportunities for the UK’s own pioneering solar industry to access the untapped potential offered by African markets. Proven examples of this include Sollatek, a Slough-based firm which, working in partnership in Africa and with investment via Energise Africa, has become one of the leading providers of specialist solar electronic equipment in East Africa,” it said.

Utility storage deployments to date have been limited in geography and type, with most resources operating in fast-responding frequency regulation markets. PJM’s frequency regulation market, for example, has become the largest U.S. market for energy storage, with about 250 MW of cumulative deployments since 2013.

That is all about to change now that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on February 15, 2018, approved an historic Order — No. 841. This order affects grid operators who manage the generation and transmission of about two-thirds of U.S. electricity. It directs regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) to develop and implement market rules for energy storage to participate in the wholesale energy, capacity and ancillary services markets, and to recognize the physical and performance characteristics of the resource. This decision will create significant growth in utility energy storage projects in the coming years.

As is often the case, regulatory and policy frameworks do not always keep pace with technological progress — though FERC Order 841 is a huge step in the right direction. FERC’s new rule will expand the scope of energy storage’s participation beyond frequency regulation and into larger ancillary services and wholesale energy and capacity markets. Its impact will be felt across all ISOs, not just the handful such as PJM and those in California that have taken the early lead.

A recent Morgan Stanley report on energy storage market growth reveals that utilities are expected to drive most of the sales. Unlike merchant developers, utilities are positioned to pay for multiple uses of batteries for the grid — integrate intermittent renewables, defer transmission upgrades and more — that improve economics. This “multi-mode” capability of energy storage, which in part led FERC to open the market and level the playing field, requires intelligent software to maximize its potential.

Six states now have energy storage mandates in place, with three (Massachusetts, Nevada and New York) enacting theirs within the past year. Other states such as Hawaii, which has a goal to be 100 percent renewable by 2045, will not be far behind. In fact, in 2017, 21 states planned or had energy storage projects of at least 20 MW.

It’s important to note that although they capture the “Li-ion’s” share of headlines, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries aren’t the only energy storage technology available. Indeed, storage encompasses a variety of other chemical, mechanical and thermal technologies. Pumped-hydro facilities, for example, have been around for decades and still account for most domestic storage capacity. Commercial HVAC systems and water heaters use thermal energy storage to increase energy efficiency. In certain configurations, such resources can be aggregated for utility use to reduce peak demand.

In these cases as well, intelligent control software plays a critical role in optimizing performance across mixed storage resources performing multiple services.

In addition to the basic function of providing backup power, well-optimized energy storage systems have the potential to:

• Allow integration of greater amounts of intermittent renewable energy, including support for standalone microgrids to boost resilience.

• Compensate for capacity shortfalls during peak usage periods, enabling deferral of costly T&D infrastructure upgrades.

• Enhance reliability, safety and security, by improving frequency and voltage control caused by intermittent generation.

• Support efforts to meet consumer and regulatory demands for cleaner energy options and enhanced services, such as electric vehicle charging stations.

INTELLIGENT SOFTWARE’S ROLE

While basic energy storage management software (ESMS) was sufficiently capable in the industry’s early days, it is not adequate for today’s mission-critical, multi-use systems. To handle the variety of applications for which storage can be called upon by utilities, most grid-scale systems now use advanced ESMS platforms. The software optimizes system performance, extends battery life, supports more applications and plays a key role in integrating new technologies.

PERFORMANCE

A properly designed intelligent ESMS helps ensure fast, accurate and dependable real-time operation at all times, taking into account system-wide performance dependencies over the lifetime of the asset. It constantly works to maximize operational efficiency and minimize total cost of ownership of the storage asset, preventing operations that may damage or prematurely degrade assets.

VALUE STACKING

Intelligent software enables a storage system to handle a variety of services using a multi-mode priority stacking feature. The system operator determines which functions are most valuable and intelligent optimization sets up an automated control hierarchy to determine real-time operation according to grid conditions and market requirements. The software can be quickly and easily adapted as new applications emerge.

INTEROPERABILITY

Intelligent ESMS platforms can facilitate interoperability between multiple storage system components by integrating non-proprietary industry-standard protocols, such as DNP3, Modbus, CAN bus and IEC 61850. They can also enable a seamless external communication interface with existing distributed energy resources (DERs), customer SCADA systems and other external devices.

More advanced ESMS platforms offer technology neutrality, meaning they have flexibility to integrate new and multiple types of batteries, even within a single system. This hybrid functionality offers significant benefits, as different applications call for different chemistries and future battery innovations can easily be adopted.

WHERE WE’RE HEADED

The energy sector both in the U.S. and internationally is undergoing fundamental change by sweeping away established business models and creating new opportunities. While predicting the outcome of this ongoing disruption is notoriously difficult, it’s a safe bet that intelligent energy storage will be a key building block of Grid 2.0.

A major reason centers on the primary drivers of this transition. Three trends are driving the reshaping of the utility landscape: decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization. As the landscape evolves, charting a safe course requires understanding each of these three Ds, as well as how intelligent energy storage can help utilities adapt and thrive in this new environment.

Decarbonization is driven by a powerful combination of policy and market forces. Most of the world’s countries have committed to keeping global warming below 2˚C, which implies a massive ramping up of clean energy technologies. We’re only at the beginning of the technology learning curve for wind and solar. Current trends indicate their costs will go down by at least 20 percent each time global deployments double. That means renewables will reach parity with most fossil fuels within years not decades.

According to a report from the Lloyd’s Register 2018 Technology Radar, China will be the first country to achieve grid parity (in 2022), followed by Spain and the United Arab Emirates two years later in 2024. That same year, Germany and the UK are expected to see grid parity for wind power, followed a year later by Denmark and the U.S. Moreover, the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA’s) recent report Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2017 predicts that clean energy sources will be cheaper than fossil fuels by 2020.

Decentralization is becoming the rule for clean technologies like wind and solar, which are distributed by their nature. Even larger installations, like offshore wind parks, are relatively spread out compared to conventional generation. While offshore wind will play its part, most clean energy will be generated on land, often near where the power is needed. This decentralized nature presents advantages and challenges. More distributed resources make for a more resilient system and enable small and large consumers to produce much of the electricity they need locally. Decentralized resources also, however, must be “synched” both with each other and to overall system demand.

Digitalization has an important role in keeping the decentralized energy system harmonized. Advanced energy management software and control algorithms will keep grids in balance and optimize deployment of various decentralized resources according to market needs. Such software will also allow customers to lower their energy costs by becoming partially self-sufficient. It will also give rise to completely new business models, even generating revenues that offset at least part of their cost. It is in large part thanks to smart software that the line between consumption and production can be blurred, enabling the creation of prosumers at all usage levels.

WHERE BATTERIES FIT

Where does energy storage enter into this? It seems clear that each of the three Ds presupposes smart storage. Wind and solar are cheap and clean, but as is well known they’re also intermittent, requiring storage to provide a balanced output.

Decentralization has many advantages, but will create both regional and temporal imbalances that cannot be met by expanding the grid alone. In fact, batteries are often already the more economical choice, allowing existing power line infrastructure to be used more effectively and deferring additional investment. Projects in Arizona, New York, and elsewhere are already proving the economics. In its report, Energy Storage for Transmission and Distribution Deferral, released in October 2017, Navigant forecasts global installed storage capacity for T&D deferral to grow from 332 MW to 14.3 GW by 2026.

The smartest software algorithms will not help control an electron if there is no place to store it. Indeed, all the emerging business models that are upending traditional markets hinge on controlling the increasingly cheap energy that is being digitally supplied by decarbonized, decentralized resources. Energy storage provides that control.

As electric vehicles are becoming more of a hot commodity, it is important to understand how their batteries are recycled.

The most common battery in standardized/internal combustion engine vehicles is a lead acid battery, which is typically used as the car’s starter batter. However, electric vehicles (e.g. hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or full battery EVs) are typically powered by lithium-ion batteries.

Li-Cycle Corp. is a closed loop lithium-ion battery recycler based in North America and with a global focus. CEO of Li-Cycle, Ajay Kochhar, said one of their company’s objectives is to act as a connector across the lithium-ion battery supply chain – from manufacturers to auto recyclers.

“The electric vehicle landscape and lithium-ion batteries are continuously developing,” Kochhar said.

He explained that in Canada, EV batteries can typically end up with one of two types of parties. If someone takes their car back into the dealership, then the dealer typically coordinates with the OEM to have the EV battery pack picked up and transported to a processing facility for suitable recycling. Kochhar said that this works “quite well and is continuing to develop further as EVs become much more common.”

The other type of party that it could end up with are groups outside the dealer, for instance, the collision repairers and auto recyclers. The possible challenge with this type of party is the current lack of specialized knowledge pertaining to high voltage lithium-ion batteries from EVs, including safe handling and transportation, Kochhar explained.

It’s a fact that everyone in the industry is used to the standardized (i.e. internal combustion engine) vehicles – the ones that have been on the road for over a century. But the big difference between the two is not only the type of batteries used but also the battery weight and power. EV batteries can weigh up to 500 kg and be up to 200 volts.

In order for the whole recycling supply chain to be the safest and most efficient, dealerships and the groups outside dealerships require training and increased awareness about the unique requirements for handling high voltage batteries.

Kochhar said that Li-Cycle actively collaborates with a broad range of stakeholders to meet this goal, so that the appropriate controls and training are in place in a number of years when many EV batteries require recycling.

Kochhar stressed the topic of safety. Many of the safety hazards are most prominent before EV batteries even reach recycling facilities – specifically, during transportation and handling (e.g. removal of high voltage batteries from EVs).
“Lithium-ion batteries are dangerous goods; when they are transported within Canada, requirements under Transport of Dangerous Goods Canada regulations must be abided by”.

Collaboration with OEMs to ensure that lithium-ion batteries are safely transported and handled across the supply chain is one of the suggestions he made. In order to improve the overall recycling rate of electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries, end-of- lifecycle value was emphasized as another focus area.

In the case of lead acid batteries, approximately 99 percent are recycled in North America, which is one of the highest recycling rates for any product. This high recycling rate has been driven by regulation and economics. Few lead acid batteries are lost through the supply chain, primarily due to the positive end-of-lifecycle value associated with the product.

One of the challenges to enabling value positive spent EV batteries is improving resource recovery/recycling technology. Right now, the way that most lithium-ion batteries are recycled is through traditional processing plants, typically involving a smelter (i.e. a high temperature process). Smelting typically only recovers 30 to40 percent of lithium-ion batteries and is often a relatively high cost process. This ultimately costs more money for the whole supply chain.

Mirroring the lead acid example, financial value/incentive would go a long way in promoting high recycling rates. This is a goal that Li-Cycle is focusing on through its closed loop recycling technology that can recover 80 to 100 percent of all lithium-ion batteries. Li-Cycle aims to transform the value of spent lithium-ion batteries over the next five to ten years. Of course, this will be driven by numerous factors, including the inherent residual value of spent lithium-ion batteries.

“When there is a higher end-of-lifecycle value there is often a higher recycling rate,” he said.

There are other uses for these batteries once they are deemed no good to power a vehicle. Kochhar mentioned that one of them is repurposing. An example of the repurposing would be Nissan’s “The Reborn Light” initiative in which they used lithium-ion batteries from EV’s to power Japan’s street lights.

Other end-of-lifecycle pathways include Repair, Refurbishing or Remanufacture.

Many of the current drawbacks of electric cars stem from how batteries work. Batteries rely on chemical reactions, which means when using or charging a lithium ion battery, you have to wait for the lithium to shuffle through an electrolyte and then shuffle back.Lithium batteries also degrade and can be very expensive to replace in electric cars.

Alternatively, capacitors store static electricity and can be as simple as two metal plates separated by air. As a result, a capacitor can be fully charged almost instantly and can deliver that energy quickly, meaning they can provide more power and degrade slower than lithium batteries. The problem is, the amount of energy our best capacitors can hold is still relatively small.

However, we may now have a solution to that thanks to contact lenses. Soft lenses use polymer that swell up and store water. But now, after tinkering with the material, one of the original inventors has discovered that adding different elements gives the polymer different properties, like the ability to store electricity! A 2016 test found that this modified polymer could store 100 times the energy researchers expected.