Lithium News

The government is working on a plan to slash duties on the import of lithium batteries in a bid to promote its usage in solar power plants.

At present, 25-30% in duties are charged on the import of lithium batteries and a higher 55% duty is collected on the import of solar AGM and GEL batteries.

As a result, the cost of solar batteries has now become double than the price of solar panels because of a 50% dip in prices of the latter over the past five years.

The high rate of duty on solar AGM and GEL batteries has served as a strong barrier to increase in solar power generation in the country.

A senior government official told The Express Tribune that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had tasked the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) with preparing a summary for duty reduction, which would be presented to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for approval.

The official revealed that the issue was also taken up in a cabinet meeting held in February. During the course of discussions, it was suggested that the renewable energy policy should have the concept of net metering in the distribution network as well as a rationalised tariff structure for the import of special lithium batteries and magnetic DC motors.

The government of Punjab has also approached the Alternative Energy Development Board, seeking lower duties on the import of solar batteries or reduction in prices of locally manufactured batteries to pave the way for solar energy production.

The objective of imposing duties was to protect the domestic manufacturers, but they have failed to reduce prices and are selling batteries at almost the same price as that of imported batteries including the duty.

Pakistan Solar Association’s former chairman and Pakistan Energy Watch General Secretary Faiz Bhutta pointed out that lithium batteries were even being used in the US to store electricity in the national grid. In case of storm and damage to the grid there, the stored electricity is supplied.

Also the lithium batteries had a long life and were environment-friendly, he said, adding duty-free import of batteries would be a great step to serve the solar energy industry.

He alleged that a domestic battery manufacturer had managed to get the duty increased to 55% in a bid to promote his own products, adding the purpose of protecting the domestic industry and ensuring lower prices with good quality could not be achieved.

“The government has to either control prices of domestically manufactured solar batteries or reduce duty on the import of batteries,” he suggested.

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in home electronics and are now being used to power electric vehicles and store energy for the power grid. But their limited number of recharge cycles and tendency to degrade in capacity over their lifetime have spurred a great deal of research into improving the technology.

An international team led by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) used advanced techniques in electron microscopy to show how the ratio of materials that make up a lithium-ion battery electrode affects its structure at the atomic level, and how the surface is very different from the rest of the material. The work was published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

Knowing how the internal and surface structure of a battery material changes over a wide range of chemical compositions will aid future studies on cathode transformations and could also lead to the development of new battery materials.

“This finding could change the way we look at phase transformations within the cathode and the resulting loss of capacity in this class of material,” said Alpesh Khushalchand Shukla, a scientist at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry, and lead author of the study. “Our work shows that it is extremely important to completely characterize a new material in its pristine state, as well as after cycling, in order to avoid misinterpretations.”

Previous work by researchers at the Molecular Foundry, a research center specializing in nanoscale science, revealed the structure of cathode materials containing “excess” lithium, resolving a longstanding debate.

Using a suite of electron microscopes both at the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM), a Molecular Foundry facility, and at SuperSTEM, the National Research Facility for Advanced Electron Microscopy in Daresbury, U.K., the research team found that while the atoms throughout the interior of the cathode material remained in the same structural pattern across all compositions, decreasing the amount of lithium caused an increase in randomness in the position of certain atoms within the structure.

By comparing different compositions of cathode material to battery performance, the researchers also demonstrated it was possible to optimize battery performance in relation to capacity by using a lower ratio of lithium to other metals.

The most surprising finding was that the surface structure of an unused cathode is very different from the interior of the cathode. A thin layer of material on the surface possessing a different structure, called the “spinel” phase, was found in all of their experiments. Several previous studies had overlooked that this layer might be present on both new and used cathodes.

By systematically varying the ratio of lithium to a transition metal, like trying different amounts of ingredients in a new cookie recipe, the research team was able to study the relationship between the surface and interior structure and to measure the electrochemical performance of the material. The team took images of each batch of the cathode materials from multiple angles and created complete, 3-D renderings of each structure.

“Obtaining such precise, atomic-level information over length scales relevant to battery technologies was a challenge,” said Quentin Ramasse, Director of the SuperSTEM Laboratory. “This is a perfect example of why the multiple imaging and spectroscopy techniques available in electron microscopy make it such an indispensable and versatile tool in renewable energy research.”
The researchers also used a newly developed technique called 4-D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4-D STEM). In transmission electron microscopy (TEM), images are formed after electrons pass through a thin sample.

In conventional scanning transmission electrode microscopy (STEM), the electron beam is focused down to a very small spot (as small as 0.5 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, in diameter) and then that spot is scanned back and forth over the sample like a mower on a lawn.

The detector in conventional STEM simply counts how many electrons are scattered (or not scattered) in each pixel. However, in 4D-STEM, the researchers use a high-speed electron detector to record where each electron scatters, from each scanned point. It allows researchers to measure the local structure of their sample at high resolution over a large field of view.

“The introduction of high-speed electron cameras allows us to extract atomic-scale information from very large sample dimensions,” said Colin Ophus, a research scientist at NCEM. “4D-STEM experiments mean we no longer need to make a tradeoff between the smallest features we can resolve and the field-of-view that we are observing – we can analyze the atomic structure of the entire particle at once.”

Fresh research out of Arizona State University has pushed the institution closer to the development of lithium-metal batteries, which are widely regarded as the most promising candidates for high-density energy storage of the future.

Previously, studies into lithium-metal batteries had shown that they are held back by uncontrolled lithium dendrite growth, which results in poor recharging capability and safety hazards, tempering their potential.

Dendrites, which are needle-like growths that appear on the surface of lithium metal, are used as the anode, or negative electrode, of a battery. They induce unwanted side reactions that reduce energy density, and can cause shorting of the electrodes that can lead to fires or explosions if not integrated properly.

However, the latest findings by the Arizona State University show that by involving a three-dimensional layer of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), or silicone, as the substrate, lithium metal anode can mitigate dendrite formation and stands to both dramatically extend battery life and diminish safety risks.

According to the University’s professor of School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, and lead on the research paper, Hanqing Jiang, the findings have relevance for both lithium-ion and lithium-air batteries, as well as implications for other metal-anode-based batteries.

“Almost all metals used as battery anodes tend to develop dendrites,” explained Jiang. “For example, these findings have implications for zinc, sodium and aluminum batteries as well.”

He added that he and his research team didn’t approach the problem from a materials or electrochemical perspective, but instead looked for solutions as mechanical engineers.

“We already know that tiny tin needles or whiskers can protrude out of tin surfaces under stress, so by analogy we looked at the possibility of stress as a factor in lithium dendrite growth.”

By combining with other lithium dendrite suppression methods, such as new electrolyte additives, the researchers found that the material has implications for making lithium-metal batteries a safe, high-density, long-term energy storage solution

“Potential applications range from personal electronic devices to powering electric cars for exceptionally longer periods to being the back-up electric supply for solar power grids,” added Professor Ming Tang, a research team member at Rice University.

As California Gov. Jerry Brown looks to neighboring states for cheap sources of clean energy, a legal settlement could result in coastal cities like Los Angeles and San Diego getting more climate-friendly power from California’s own Imperial Valley.

Three years ago, the Imperial Irrigation District sued the nonprofit corporation that manages most of California’s power grid, accusing the grid operator of stifling clean energy development in one of the state’s poorest counties and plotting to “crush IID out of existence.” The Imperial Valley-based power provider also sued the grid operator under the California Public Records Act, demanding documents that the public utility suspected would undermine Brown’s efforts to start a regional power grid.

Those lawsuits have now been settled — and both sides are pleased with the outcome.

The state grid operator, known as CAISO, has agreed to upgrade a power line that will allow more electricity to flow from the Imperial Valley to the rest of the state. That should make it easier for companies to build solar projects in the region and sell the electricity to coastal population centers. Outside the legal settlement, CAISO says it has done more to promote development of geothermal energy — a top priority for IID, which wants to see new geothermal power plants build by the southern shore of the Salton Sea.

CAISO President Stephen Berberich said the legal settlement is a win for both sides. Imperial County, which has the state’s highest unemployment rate at nearly 18 percent, will get more opportunities for job-creating clean energy projects, which also generate revenue for IID and help keep electricity rates low. The rest of the state will get the clean energy those projects generate, helping cut air pollution and climate change emissions.

Berberich cautioned that while more solar projects could result from the settlement, geothermal development isn’t a guarantee. Utilities like Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have been hesitant to invest in new geothermal plants, which produce climate-friendly electricity around the clock but are more expensive to build than solar and wind farms. CAISO doesn’t tell utilities what kind of energy to buy, but it does work closely with agencies that do, like the California Public Utilities Commission.

“We don’t do procurement at the ISO. But to the extent I can use my influence to help Kevin bring (geothermal) to the attention of those that do, we did that,” Berberich said, referring to IID general manager Kevin Kelley.

The settlement follows years of hostility between IID and the California Independent System Operator, or CAISO, which oversees the poles and wires that make up four-fifths of the state’s power grid. IID runs a separate grid covering Imperial County and parts of Riverside and San Diego counties, including the eastern Coachella Valley.

IID officials have long feared a takeover attempt by the state grid operator, even though CAISO has insisted it has no designs on the public power agency. Imperial and Coachella valley residents pay some of the lowest electricity rates in the state, and IID officials say those rates would rise if the agency was forced to join the CAISO system.

Those fears led IID’s board of directors to sue CAISO on antitrust grounds in 2015, saying the state grid operator had abused its monopoly powers by discriminating against the Imperial Valley. By reducing its estimate of how much electricity could be exported from the valley to the rest of the state, IID argued, CAISO had forced developers to build solar farms that bypassed IID’s power grid and connected directly to the CAISO system, depriving IID of revenue. Those actions were “part of an attempt on CAISO’s part to raise the costs of IID’s services to its customers to such an extent that it will ultimately force IID to turn over the operation and control of the transmission network within its territory to CAISO,” the Imperial Valley power agency claimed in its federal lawsuit.

IID sued CAISO again in 2016, this time over a plan being debated by state lawmakers that would expand the grid operator to other western states. Supporters, including Gov. Jerry Brown, have argued a regional power grid would lower the costs of fighting climate change by making it easier to share clean electricity across state lines. But opponents fear it would cede control of California’s energy mix to lawmakers in coal-friendly Utah and Wyoming, who could then force California to accept their dirty electricity exports.

For IID, the concern is that if Southern California Edison and other utilities have access to cheap out-of-state renewable energy sources, such as Wyoming wind power or Pacific Northwest hydropower, they’ll be less likely to buy from the Imperial Valley. The valley has strong year-round sunlight, which has fueled a growing solar industry, and one of the world’s strongest geothermal reservoirs. Both resources could help California reduce the carbon emissions that are responsible for the rise in global temperatures.

In its second lawsuit, IID went after CAISO on public records grounds, demanding all the data it had used to calculate the benefits of grid expansion. (CAISO says those benefits would be $1.5 billion annually by 2030, if most power grids across the West were to unite.) IID officials ostensibly believed that if they could get the rest of it and show it to the public, they’d be able to prove grid expansion is actually bad for Californians.

That lawsuit has been settled along with the antitrust case, although it’s not clear if CAISO ever gave IID the records it demanded. Kelley, the Imperial Valley agency’s general manager, said the important thing is that CAISO has started to treat IID fairly.

“Resolving this dispute gives us a common platform to move forward on issues that both agencies care about,” Kelley said in an interview. He told IID’s board of directors on Tuesday that a settlement would be officially announced this week.

The settlement doesn’t completely eliminate tensions between IID and CAISO. The grid operator still supports Brown’s plan for a regional power grid, which IID’s board of directors opposes. The board’s suspicion of CAISO was on display Tuesday, when it voted down a proposal from staff to explore joining a CAISO program to guarantee electric reliability — essentially, to make sure the lights stay on. IID’s current reliability coordinator may cease operations in the next few years, and IID staff, including Kelley, urged the board to consider CAISO as an alternative. But the board rejected that idea.

Board member Bruce Kuhn said accepting CAISO’s “protection, for lack of a better term,” would leave IID vulnerable to pressure to join a regional power grid.

“To me, doing business with (CAISO) at this time would be like kissing your grandma, and she slips you the tongue. It’s not acceptable,” Kuhn said.

IID’s decision to file an antitrust case against CAISO was informed by analysis done by ZGlobal Inc., an engineering consultant that also served as IID’s expert witness in the  lawsuit. Kelley said his agency paid ZGlobal $3 million for its work on the case.

ZGlobal terminated its contract with IID last year, following a Desert Sun investigation into potential conflicts of interest. As a result of the Desert Sun’s reporting, IID canceled a $75-million contract for a solar farm that would have been built on land owned by a company with close ties to ZGlobal founder Ziad Alaywan. IID also backed out of a $7-million deal to expand a battery storage project originally engineered by ZGlobal.

An internal report by an IID attorney found that Alaywan had helped IID make several other energy contracts in which he had a financial interest, possibly violating California’s conflict-of-interest law, Government Code Section 1090. ZGlobal denied any wrongdoing but agreed to divest from four solar farms that sell electricity to IID. That was part of a legal settlement in which IID agreed to pay ZGlobal $2 million, bringing the total amount of money ZGlobal had gotten from the public agency to nearly $26 million since 2005.

CAISO subpoenaed ZGlobal as part of IID’s antitrust case in November, asking, among other things, for documents detailing ZGlobal’s “investment or ownership interest” in energy projects. CAISO also sought documents related to “any financial interest or remuneration that any board member, officer, or employee of IID, or relative of any IID board member, officer, or employee, may have or have received in or from ZGlobal.”

The Desert Sun reported last year that IID board member Bruce Kuhn was hired by former board member Mike Abatti, who has worked with ZGlobal on several energy projects, to level land owned by ZGlobal’s Alaywan. Also, two adult sons of IID board member Jim Hanks were hired to do pre-construction work on a solar farm being built by one of ZGlobal’s private-sector clients, on land that was owned by Alaywan at the time.

ZGlobal still hadn’t responded to CAISO’s subpoena after seven weeks, according to documents submitted to the court by the state grid operator. CAISO asked a judge to compel ZGlobal to produce the documents, but withdrew that request after it reached a tentative settlement agreement with IID in January.

Lithium-ion technologies accounted for more than 95 percent of new energy-storage deployments in 2015, and Goldman Sachs projects demand for lithium will triple to 570,000 tonnes by 2025. While lithium-ion battery consumption grew 73 percent from 2010 to 2014, production only increased 28 percent, according to a 2017 study published in the energy research journal Joule. It’s estimated that over the next 15 years, production of lithium-ion batteries could slow down if supply chain issues aren’t fixed.

Cobalt is one of the main components of lithium-ion batteries—which is increasingly vulnerable to supply chain issues because of volatility in the Democratic Republic of Congo where most of the world’s cobalt is produced.

“Current cobalt chemical demand is set to outpace supply should electric vehicle adoption really become a significant portion of the global auto fleet—perhaps 10 to 15 percent by 2025,” says Chris Berry, analyst and co-author of the Disruptive Discoveries Journal.

Cobalt is often mined under torturous labor conditions. In 2016, the Washington Post found miners, including children, worked around the clock using hand tools to extract cobalt. Of the 123,000 tonnes of cobalt produced globally in 2017, the DRC accounted for 66,000 tonnes.

Vanadium is also used in large-scale battery systems. Roughly 85 percent of the world’s vanadium is produced by China, Russia and South Africa. But the bulk of the metal is either mined or produced as a by-product of steelmaking, meaning that changes in iron ore and steel market dynamics impacts vanadium production.

The recent closure of the Kuranakh mine in Russia resulted in vanadium production cutbacks, and the closing and subsequent reopening of the Highveld Steel and Vanadium mine in South Africa, the country’s second-largest steel plant, impacted the structure of the vanadium supply chain.

While lithium-ion batteries are the current option for large scale battery storage, lithium can’t compete with the storage size and cost effectiveness of its alternative, zinc air.

Why Zinc Air Batteries are a Low-Cost Solution

Regenerative zinc air flow batteries efficiently store energy in the form of zinc particles and contain none of the traditional high-cost battery commodities found in lithium, vanadium, or cobalt.

Conventional batteries have a fixed energy/power ratio, but zinc air batteries, and specifically the technology created by ZincNyx Energy Solutions, a 100 percent owned subsidiary of MGX Minerals (CSE: XMG), uses a fuel tank system with flexible energy/power ratios and scalability. The storage capacity is directly tied to the size of the fuel tank and the quantity of recharged zinc fuel, making scalability a major advantage of the flow battery system.

Additionally, the ability to charge and discharge simultaneously, and at different maximum charge or discharge rates, are advantages of zinc air flow batteries. Other types of standard and flow batteries like lithium-ion are limited to a maximum charge and discharge by the total number of cells, as there is no separation of the charge and discharge components.

“MGX Minerals is proud to be a part of a fundamental shift from traditional high cost and difficult to acquire commodities such as lithium, vanadium and cobalt, to low cost zinc in residential, remote and mass storage applications,” says MGX Minerals President and CEO Jared Lazerson.

“ZincNyx is looking to produce 1,000 zinc air battery units annually by early 2019.”

Market Opportunity for Zinc Air Battery Systems

The zinc air battery market is currently positioned between two major, and unique, developments: the increased global demand for solar power (the fastest-growing source of new energy in 2017) and the diminishing supply of zinc after the recent shutdown of many of the world’s largest zinc mines. When supply is low, and demand is high, opportunities arise.

The global shift toward clean energy has caused strong demand for zinc and zinc air battery systems. Investors have an opportunity to align with companies that are leading the way in developing zinc air flow battery systems for efficient energy storage.