Issue 119
Spring 2021
A matter of judgement
The great Barton Pot, Ball mill debate: is a better PbO worth the extra cost? Getting to grips with the latest advances in carbon Why every battery generation reckon they're the smartest
The drive is on to create an international battery passport IAL Potential bonanza for lead as T TEN O global storage rebalances NP
Bringing the industry together
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IUM H LIT
R: FU L SU
GO N LO L L STI
CONTINUING TO GROW Let’s talk about what that means for you.
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CONTENTS COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE 56 The pros and cons of Barton Pot versus Ball mill
56
Which process — the Barton Pot or the Ball mill — is the more efficient way of manufacturing leady oxide? In North America, Barton Pot is preferred, in Europe it’s Ball mill. But it’s more than just a balance between cost and quality. • • • • •
In-house manufacturing or supply driven? The powerful use of additives Surface area, reactivity and cycle life The way we were … a brief history of lead oxide production Sovema discusses its preference for Ball Mill machines.
EDITORIAL
4
Every generation reckons they are smarter than the one before — battery experts too.
PERSPECTIVE: WOOD MACKENZIE
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There’s a potential bonanza ahead for lead batteries as global energy storage rebalances.
PEOPLE NEWS
7
Jeffrey Degen, 1967-2021 • Kelly Speakes-Backman steps down as CEO of ESA to join US DOE • East Penn worker dies after fall into plant’s refining kettle • George Brilmyer advertises his own job as he retires from Microporous • Stefanos Kanidis resurfaces at Pinco • Pruitt takes over as new BCI president • Exide Industries director Arun Mittal joins ILZDA board of management • New CBI chairman Christian Rosenkranz says decarbonization is the major task for industry • Doe Run promotes Bart Stoessel to marketing manager • Eric Donjon joins SY Innovations • ABC appoints Randy Moore to technical advisory board • OBE for Swanburton’s Price in Queen’s bi-annual honours list • Ever Resource’s Athan Fox, Miles Freeman bought by IQ International • Aqua Metals appoints two new independent directors.
NEWS
13
Rosenkranz : decarbonization an inevitable theme for storage 14
34
Research project to prove advanced lead batteries fit for home storage • CBI, Hammond, East Penn launch research to promote lead for utilities • CBI pushes on with new research project using neutron diffraction • New York sets up partnership to demonstrate hydrogen storage • New thermal battery 90% more cost-effective than lithium, laboratory claims • Leclanché in first secondary frequency regulation application of a gas turbine.
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Pruitt: new BCI president
31
EUROBAT broadly welcomes EU proposals for new battery regulation • ILZDA calls on government to strengthen rules on lead recycling • BCI advances case for lead batteries to new DOE chief.
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
9
20
Tesla to ditch auxiliary lead battery in models ‘S’ and ‘X’ • Gopher Resource rejects ‘false and misleading’ local newspaper report • Bill introduced in next stage of Exide Vernon clean-up saga • MPCA had ‘significant weaknesses’ in handling of Water Gremlin pollution • New report identifies growing opportunities for lead battery storage in telecoms UPS • Biden jobs plan puts US on path to deploy storage at unprecedented scale • Imperium Motor signs partnership with Chinese lead battery firm • Freight market outlook set to improve, says Sorfin • Monbat announces accreditation of battery testing lab • Exide goes live with solar plus storage at Portuguese battery production plant • Chakratec installs flywheel technology to charge EVs at hotel chain in Germany • Formation division of Jász-Plasztik hit by fire • Independent analysis of CAM Ball Mill shows 100% levels of tetragonal lead • Aqua Metals makes moves to recycle lithium ion batteries • Air BP to install start-stop batteries as boost for EFB technology • Amara Raja steps into lithium cell manufacture • UK blackout near-misses signals need for energy storage ... but lead not in frame • US energy storage market shatters quarterly deployment record • Record energy spending in 2020 driven by Europe.
POLICY NEWS
Brilmyer: almost certainly heading for a busy retirement
CBI gets its neutron moment
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Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 1
CONTENTS ANALYSIS
40
The logic behind Volkswagen’s long term, high-manganese cathode strategy, by IDTechEx.
ENERGY STORAGE NEWS
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VRB Energy to install China’s biggest solar and flow battery • Plans revealed for world’s largest battery in Australia • Saft installs 25MW/25MWh facility, becomes largest grid scale in France • 100,000 Cameroon homes to be connected to network of battery-backed minigrids • Tata PowerDDL switches on India’s first BESS for grid connected community • Rural Puerto Rican community selected for battery minigrid • Aggreko commissions first grid-stabilizing battery in Turkey • Cornish Lithium gets go-ahead to explore waters of south-west UK • World’s biggest deposit of raw battery materials discovered on Pacific seabed • Unicore enters VPP market, launches US product with America Energy • Singapore’s first VPP project to use Hitachi ABB Power Grids • Autogrid provides software for Total’s largest battery-based energy storage product in France • UK National Grid and PPL Holdings in multi-billion dollar utility deal • New ventures launched to relieve Texas power-outs.
Mutolo: the joys of hydrogen 38
FEATURES THE GREAT SILICON ANODE RACE
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Carbon is now a fundamental part of a modern battery 72
Moves to replace graphite in the cathode with silicon are advancing rapidly. If successful the result looks set to be a leap ahead in performance.
THE INEXORABLE MARCH OF CARBON
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For close to a generation the lead battery business has looked at carbon as some kind of miracle ingredient ‘X’ — but only in the past decade has the industry found ways to harness its potential.
DO BATTERIES REALLY NEED A PASSPORT?
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The idea is emerging for an international certificate to track and ensure that precious finite materials are reused.
LITHIUM SULFUR
No need for a jab! Will all batteries get their own passport? 85
88
Long on potential, but progress is still advancing — theoretically they have five times the punch of a lithium ion battery. But there’s still a long way to go.
EVENTS
92
Our definitive guide to the conferences, exhibitions and shows in the months ahead — both actual and virtual.
Publisher Karen Hampton karen@batteriesinternational.com +44 7792 852 337 Editor Michael Halls editor@batteriesinternational.com +44 7977 016 918 Advertising director Jade Beevor jade@batteriesinternational.com Deputy editor Debbie Mason debbie@batteriesinternational.com
Contributing editor Frank Millard Researcher, journalist Hillary Christie hillary@batteriesinternational.com
The world of conferences is starting to open up again
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Production/design Antony Parselle, aparselledesign@me.com International advertising representation advertising@batteriesinternational.com
Finance administrator Juanita Anderson juanita@batteriesinternational.com
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Disclaimer: Although we believe in the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this magazine, Mustard Seed Publishing makes no warranties or representation about this. Nor should anything contained within it should be construed as constituting an offer to buy or sell securities, or constitute advice in relation to the buying or selling of investments.
2 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
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CONTENTS Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com
Embracing the wisdom of an uncertain future Every generation has its own buzz words for change. In the last few years we’ve got used to trite, over-used jargon — think, ‘decarbonization’, ‘innovation’, and even different colours for electrons and hydrogen (green, brown, blue, pink with polka dots ...). A decade or so ago we were full of ‘blue sky thinking’ ‘low hanging fruits’ and even now some of us still talk about ‘thinking outside of the box’. Going back a decade or more we talked about ‘crossing the chasm’ and ‘first mover advantage’… The point of this is not to show humanity’s perpetual obsession with mutilating language or even to criticise the last 30 years’ worth of engineers posing as visionaries. Merely it’s to note that every generation invents a language to show that it’s smarter than the one before. A wise man once said the history of mankind is one of serial stupidity. He estimated that every generation got about 90% of all things wrong for reasons as varied as plain muddle-headedness, intellectual inflexibility, need to conform with the mainstream and much, much, more…general ignorance is probably worth a mention too. Most of us are aware that our scientific knowledge is limited.
the universe consists of dark matter and dark energy which nobody understands, and pretty much all of Darwin’s original ideas on evolution have been contradicted by later discoveries and theories. And that list of scientific ignorance being supplanted by further thinking could go on and on. So what’s this got to do with batteries? It’s this. We’re heading for a new kind of energy storage future and, though it’s right to try and understand it, almost certainly we’ll have got it wrong. In our next issue our cover story will look at a totally lop-sided view of how decarbonization will affect the world. The answer, some theorists are saying, lies not in energy storage as the balancing tool for our huge lurch into relying on renewables for power. Rather the answer is in more renewables. This upturns the notion that has been the foundation of public electricity generation from its beginnings with pioneers such as Edison or Ferranti. That idea is a simple one: you only generate as much electricity as you need. Our modern thinking about curtailment is generally accepted as an action of last resort. Nowadays you only throw away generated power when it destabilizes the grid. Put simply, you make every electron count.
In my own lifetime the age of the universe has shortened from 20 billion years to 13.8 billion, as a child the threat to life on the planet was an imminent ice age not global warming, 95% of
And in the brave new world of distributed energy the way to stop wasting generated electricity is to store it. At this point enter the battery industry and, for that matter, thermal, gravimetric, compressed air and other storage technologies.
Clearly it’s worth noting that every generation invents a language to show that it’s smarter than the one before and that most previous science is dumber than dumb
Going back to the theorists. Their logic is that if renewable energy starts to cost a fraction of battery storage, then more solar panels, wind turbines are needed to deal with intermittency. If the sun darts behind a cloud and electricity generation drops the extra solar panels will
4 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
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EDITORIAL make up the difference. So instead of making every electron count, we’re now in a position where we’ll have a glut of electricity. When the cloud goes away those extra panels will be generating power for free. And the issue of marginal cost — there’s no need to spend money on burning gas or mining coal, since the sunlight is free — is a huge advantage. Whether this economic model for greater renewables holds true is debatable. That said the whole of the battery industry has predicated its future on the massive demand for energy storage that may be needed. The 40+ lithium gigafactories being built or planned make no sense otherwise, so do the hopes as diverse as the lead battery industry which believes that the whole lead sector will benefit from an otherwise unmatchable demand for storage. A rising tide lifts all boats … all chemistries will benefit from our new insatiable desire for energy. And to return to the land of blue-sky, out-ofthe-box innovation. Whatever people may say — especially our visionary community — if this happens we are in uncharted territory. The potential for this to be a disruptive technology is enormous. Disruptive technologies come in various forms. We need only think of the way that the arrival of the train, the car, the television or cheap flying have changed the patterns of our lives. Perhaps the biggest disruptive technology in recent times has been the internet which in less than a generation has changed the world of commerce, news, music, communication among a host of other things. One of the characteristics of a disruptive technology is that typically it creates another larger market from the one it destroys. As soon as the world had moved from vinyl records to cassettes to CDs the disruptive transformation had changed music from something to be listened to in the home, then to music on the move and then digitized music. www.batteriesinternational.com
The world was suddenly in the right place for a huge new market created when listening to music went to a streaming platform. Some pundits/forecasters/visionaries reckon this disruption of energy will closely parallel the digital disruption of information technology. What happened in the world of bytes is now poised to happen in the world of electrons. Just as computers and the internet slashed the marginal cost of information and opened the door to hundreds of new business models that collectively have had a transformative impact upon the global economy, so too will this new world of cheap power. The trouble for the battery industry, energy storage and utilities across the planet is that none of us can possibly conceive what this new world can possibly be. But let’s not to worry too much about it all. As Abraham Lincoln once put it: “the best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” Mike Halls, Editor Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 5
PERSPECTIVE: WOOD MACKENZIE
Potential bonanza for lead batteries as global energy storage rebalances By Farid Ahmed, Wood Mackenzie New research from Wood Mackenzie indicates that the Americas will overtake Asia Pacific by 2025 to lead the global energy storage market. By the end of this decade, we see that region having a total capacity at 370 GWh, with most of the growth coming from the US. At this time, globally, China will rank second with 150 GWh, and Japan third (25 GWh). This is important for lead because that much storage capacity means batteries. A lot of batteries. The question is: will they be lead batteries? Our data shows that global electricity generation will increase by over 50% in the next two decades, with solar and wind power contributing over half of this. When renewal energy becomes such a big proportion of the overall power mix, then you must have effective energy storage as you just can’t use it opportunistically as a ‘top up’ supply. It need to be reliable and on-tap. In the coming years, storage installations in Asia Pacific will slow in the
face of challenges from market incentives and business cases. The region relies on ramping up lithium-ion cell production to reduce costs. Over the past decade, growth has mainly relied on pilots, government subsidies and grid interconnection requirements. Without strong policy support, it will be difficult to scale up the front-of-themeter segment across this region. The US tripled storage installations in 2020, accounting for 38% of new capacity. China, Germany and the UK saw double-digit growth during the pandemic, while Australia’s installations actually fell for year-on-year numbers. Steady growth in several key countries during the pandemic and strong recovery in 2021 will accelerate global energy storage adoption in the long term. Despite the Covid-19 crisis, 2020 was a record year for global energy storage. The market exceeded 15GW/27 GWh last year, increasing 51% in GWh terms, and is expected to grow 27 times by 2030 through adding 70 GWh of storage capacity per year
Where the lead battery sector needs to succeed is in effectively marketing its products, changing perceptions of lead batteries, and getting on the radar of those who are specifying and commissioning energy storage systems 12,000
11,000
Power capacity, GW
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
2020
Coal
Oil
Nuclear
Hydro
Gas
Storage
Wind
Solar
The changing face of power capacity: 2020-2040 Source: Wood Mackenzie
2040
to surpass 730 GWh in 2030. Massive investment due, but who will get a share? Approximately $5.4 billion of new investment was committed to storage projects across the world last year, increasing the total cumulative investment to an estimated $22 billion. By 2025, the overall investment pot will reach $86 billion, with a 24% CAGR despite the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus. China, Japan and South Korea have set climateneutrality targets, underscoring their commitment to the energy transition. If battery projects can solve the financing challenges they currently face, energy storage will be a key feature of decarbonization plans across that region. Asia Pacific’s energy transition ambitions could be thwarted if this issue is not resolved, as battery storage provides the flexibility power plants and grids require to generate reliable electricity around the clock. Europe will deploy approximately 3GWh of energy storage capacity this year, a 55% increase on 2020, and will see cumulative capacity hit 9GWh by the end of 2021. What this adds up to is a potential bonanza for lead batteries in the burgeoning energy storage systems (ESS) market. Unlike the automotive market, which is the main driving force behind future growth in lead demand but concentrated in Asia — particularly in China and India — ESS deployments will be truly global. However, to capitalize on this opportunity, the lead battery sector needs to significantly improve its track record in this area. Many of the performance improvements are already under development, such as industry-led initiatives to improve cycle life performance and energy density. Radical new designs, such as bipolar lead batteries, have excellent prospects for closing the performance gap to lithium-ion. But the absolute key areas where the lead battery sector needs to succeed is in effectively marketing its products, changing perceptions of lead batteries, and getting on the radar of those who are specifying and commissioning energy storage systems. It is not overstating the issue to say this has the potential to be critical to the longevity of the lead battery industry beyond the next decade.
Source: Wood Mackenzie
6 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
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PEOPLE NEWS
Jeffrey Degen, 1967-2021 Batteries International is sad to report that Jeffrey Degen, who worked for Johnson Controls Automotive for 14 years, passed away on February 2 at the age of just 53.
Between 2006 and 2008, Jeffrey was director of the Global Brands Power Solutions with Johnson Controls, now Clarios, and was responsible for the global development, expansion and management of consumer battery
brands such as Optima, Varta, LTH, Energizer and Champion. “For pretty much anyone who bought a battery in the 1990s or 2000s,” says Maggie Teliska, a former colleague at Johnson Controls, “Jeff would have had his fingerprint on it. This is so sad.” Since leaving Johnson Controls he has held a variety of positions, in 2015 founding Gunpowder Incorporated, which he ran until October 2019. His last position was with Advantage Group International, a B2B consultancy. Jeffrey passed away in Burlington, Wisconsin, where he was born in 1967. He loved the outdoors life, and was a keen huntsman and fisherman. He also loved travel, and learned about the world by doing as much as he could. Jeffrey leaves behind his mother, Romayne Degen, sister Kathryn Pieters and brother Don Degen. A Mass of Christian Burial for him was held on February 8.
East Penn worker dies after fall into plant’s refining kettle John Evanoff, a 30-year-old East Penn worker, died after falling into a lead refining kettle at the firm’s smelting department at its Lyon Station campus in Pennsylvania late evening on March 6. He was pronounced dead a few hours later. A forensic pathologist at the scene described the fatality as accidental. The smelting facility was shut down for the day before the body could be removed. The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has begun an investigation. East Penn Manufacturing said that it was ‘deeply saddened’ and was working closely
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with OSHA and local authorities on an investigation into the cause of the accident. “Our deepest condolences and sympathies go to the family, friends, and loved ones,” the company said. “Our hearts are tremendously grieved by this tragic and terrible loss.” He leaves behind Victoria, his wife of nine years, and his son Grayson.
Kelly SpeakesBackman steps down as CEO of ESA to join US DOE Kelly Speakes-Backman, for three and a half years the CEO of the US Energy Storage Association, on January 21 said she had been appointed principal deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy with the Department of Energy. She has been replaced by ESA vice president of policy Jason Burwen as interim CEO. Speakes-Backman had “led ESA through a pivotal shift in the industry with record-breaking growth in 2020, despite the challenges from Covid-19,” said ESA board chairman John Hewa, who is also president and CEO of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. “As the Biden-Harris administration takes office, and as the storage industry enters a new phase of accelerated market growth, energy storage is poised to become central to America’s clean energy economy to enable a more resilient, efficient, sustainable, and affordable grid for all.”
Biannual lead conference goes virtual this year Date: June 22 – 24, 2021
In place of this year’s International Lead Conference, ILA will host a series of two-hour seminars taking place over three days in June. The seminars are free to attend and will include: June 22 ILA webinar: In-depth market analysis from leading industry experts June 23 ILA webinar: Focussed briefings on key issues facing the industry worldwide June 24 ILA webinar: Online workshop – Managing worker exposure to lead. All three webinars will take place 13.00-15.00 UK time.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 7
LOW PROFILE
FOR EACH CELL SIZE
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PEOPLE NEWS
George Brilmyer advertises his own job as he retires from Microporous George Brilmyer, senior development engineer at separator firm Microporous and a well known industry figure for a generation, announced on January 25 he was planning to retire — by advertising his own job on the digital networking platform LinkedIn. “Check out this job at Microporous, LLC: senior development engineer to replace myself as I have decided to retire!” his post reads. He steps down in midMay. At the age of 69, Brilmyer has decided the time has come to move away from full-time work and spend more time on the golf course or fishing – although he will still be working on projects as a consultant and since his announcement has already received enquiries. “We will all miss George,” says Claudia Lorenzini, vice president of sales and marketing at Microporous, “as both a great colleague to work with and a great asset to the firm. We regret that he’s going but we do offer him every best wish for his retirement.” Many will know about the extensive experience Brilmyer has in the lead battery industry, having names like Johnson Controls, Atraverda, Daramic and alkaline battery companies including Duracell on his CV. His primary interest has always been the lead battery sector, and he is confident it’s going nowhere for a while to come. “I’ve always loved lead batteries — they are the stalwart of the battery world and at this point in time, with energy storage, solar energy and wind power the sky’s the limit for lead — it’s going to grow even more,” he says. “Lead’s going to be here
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for the next 20 unaware of lead’s cayears in SLI applipabilities. cations, and with “I built a loadour industry comlevelling facility in ing together in a 1986 for Johnson way that no other Controls, using lead industry has ever batteries stacked to done, with the rethe ceiling for a brass search going on foundry, where we at the Argonne used the control techNational Lab and nology that Johnwhat the CBI is doson Controls used in ing, we’re tackling their air-conditioning all the problems units,” he says. and we’re finding “We had it managsolutions.” ing energy storage, But the more reshaving peaks related cent collaboration to electric furnaces is just a continuthat heated the brass George Brilmyer ation of how the for the foundry — lead battery inand that was 40 years dustry has always ago. People forget As both a great colleague been, says Brilmythat there were, and er, citing as an exare, programmes to work with and a great ample the annual like that all over the asset to the firm. We regret Battery Council world. International conBrilmyer welcomes that he’s going but we do vention, in which the work of the CBI offer him every best wish for and BCI in promot‘for three days, everyone puts down ing the sector using his retirement.” — Claudia their rivalries, they newer marketing Lorenzini, vice president of sales share information, tools and platforms. and that’s unique “CBI and BCI are and marketing at Microporous in any industry’, he now telling the world says. about us and what Brilmyer reiterates one it ever becoming circular — we do and that’s brilliant — of the biggest advantages I don’t see how the lithium we’re doing it, we’ve done of lead batteries — their guys can find a solution to it — the world just doesn’t ‘greenness’. recycle and then turn the know about it.” “Lithium has its work cut products around and put Brilmyer’s PhD is in anaout in working out how to them back into batteries the lytical chemistry, with a sperecycle, even just to get it way we do with lead.” cialization in electro-chemwhere it’s not something Brilmyer is also acutely istry. He has had more than toxic that has to be buried aware that the utilities like 30 technical publications in a landfill, and I don’t see the general public are still published and has patents in
Stefanos Kanidis resurfaces at Pinco
Stefanos Kanidis
Industry veteran Stefanos Kanidis was appointed the new design and development manager of Pinco SA on March 1. Kanidis previously spent 21 years with Sunlight Systems, having joined the firm as a production manager in 1999. He left
Sunlight in December, where he was lead technology strategic adviser, “In his new position he will responsible for the growth and development of our technologies while maintaining key customer relations,” said a Pinco official.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 9
PEOPLE NEWS
Pruitt takes over as new BCI president Chris Pruitt, CEO and president of battery giant East Penn, was announced as the new president of Battery Council International ahead of the virtual convention held by the council on April 22. He takes over from Dave Shaffer, CEO of EnerSys, who comes to the end of his two-year tenure at the post. The new board of directors also consists of: Rick Heller of C&D Technologies/Trojan Battery, who becomes treasurer; Bill Moll from GS Yuasa as vice president, and Terry Murphy from Hammond Group as BCI secretary. Other directors include Terry Agrelius from US Battery Manufacturing; Silvano Gelleni, Acumuladores Duncan; Thomas Bawart, Banner; Hal Hawk, Crown Battery; Jimmy Herring, ECOBAT Technologies; Brian Leen, Gopher Resource; Larry Keith, ENTEK International; Tony Moore, Clarios; Sergio Moura, Acumuladores Moura; Jerry Pyatt, the Doe Run Company; Jamie Surrette, Surrette Battery; and Dave Shaffer, returning from his presidency of the council. “On behalf of BCI, we
are pleased to welcome an impressive and accomplished group of leaders to the 2021 BCI board of directors to champion BCI’s strategic mission and goals for the year ahead,” said Roger Miksad, BCI executive vice president. Pruitt, as with East Penn, has a long association with BCI — he joined East Penn as a financial controller in 1986 before becoming CFO in 1999 and president of the firm in January 2018. Predicting the year ahead, Pruitt said he believed no single chemistry would dominate the energy storage industry and lead batteries had a very strong base for their use, however, he believed that large energy storage would in the end be dominated by lithium. “Lithium is not going to go away,” he said. “Lead will be able to compete but in different areas of storage.” Pruitt also reflected on the huge amount of regulatory and advisory work that BCI conducts for its members, saying that advocacy should not come just from BCI but should be part of the whole industry at a company, county, state and federal level.
Chris Pruitt
“We need for all of us to participate and band together,” he said. Pruitt, as per the ethos of East Penn and the Breidegam family, is very much involved in the local community. He is also on other industry boards including the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) and the University of the Aftermarket Foundation. He is also chairman of the board of the Wyomiss-
Exide Industries director Arun Mittal joins ILZDA board of management Arun Mittal, Automotive director at the Indian leadacid battery maker Exide Industries, has joined the ILZDA Board of Management, the association announced in March. He has also been named chairman of the Battery Society of India, ILZDA said, congratulating him. Having worked at Exide Industries in Kolkata for five years, Mittal was made director Automotive after serving as director Indus-
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trial for three years. Mittal is also a director of the Exide subsidiary Exide Leclanché Energy, a joint venture that was formed in June 2019 between it and the Swiss lithium battery maker Leclanché. The JV is building lithium-ion batteries in Gujarat, and adds the chemistry to Exide Industries’ traditional portfolio of leadacid batteries. Exide in April increased its stake in the joint ven-
ture to 80.15% with a total investment to date of 128.59 crore ($17 million).
Arun Mittal
ing Foundation and on the board of Flinchbaugh Engineering. He has received the Eugene L Shirk award for Community Builder, the Sydney D Kline award for Outstanding Community Service and the William H Doran award for his work with the United Way. He has also been honoured by the Y,MCA for his community service. Retiring president Shaffer said at the public handover at the virtual meeting: “The past year has provided unprecedented challenges, both personal and professional, for everybody in every industry. I have been incredibly impressed and proud of the way the BCI community came together to support our nation. “Lead batteries played critical roles in ensuring that transportation, shipping, hospitals, and other essential services stayed operational during the pandemic — and BCI member companies and their employees demonstrated their commitment to serving those needs.”
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 13
PEOPLE NEWS
New CBI chairman Christian Rosenkranz says decarbonization is the major task for industry The London-based Consortium for Battery Innovation has appointed Christian Rosenkranz as its chairman, the group announced on January 19. Rosenkranz, who is vice president for industry and governmental relations EMEA with Clarios, replaces inaugural chairman Tim Ellis, president of RSR Technologies and also president of transformation and CTO with Ecobat Technologies. CBI is the reformed Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium, which was rebranded in February 2019. One of the most important remits of CBI will be to lobby government decision makers about the benefits of lead-based batteries and how they can help with decarbonization plans, says Rosenkranz. “In this regard, the pre-competitive research we conduct enables CBI to be embedded in the respective government research frame programmes,” he says. “As a starting point, the Consortium for Battery Innovation has worked with the US Department of Energy and EAI and already launched in 2018 pre-competitive research with the involvement of the Argonne National Lab to investigate the fundamental lead battery charging/discharging kinetics with an innovative method. “We are in the application phase to launch similar projects in other regions to enhance visibility and perception of the benefits of lead batteries in both automotive and stationary energy storage systems applications.” Rosenkranz has a long history with CBI member Clarios, formerly Johnson Controls Power Solutions, including five years as vice president of engineering EMEA and global start-stop engineering. He is based in Hanover, Germany. “Clarios is a long-term member of the CBI,” he says. “Our US engineering team is directly involved in the US-DoE project with the Argonne National Lab. As far as the ongoing projects of CBI are concerned, we
14 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
have various research projects around the globe with external partners and universities contributing to our technology road map to improve performance in automotive and stationary energy storage systems technology. “Presently we focus on the two main value drivers — one for automotive applications (enhancing the dynamic charge acceptance to improve the regenerative energy capturing in the drive cycle) and one for stationary applications (improvement of the energy throughput to enhance total cost of ownership).” Rosenkranz says the CBI has created a platform for pre-competitive research, including demonstrations for all members to tap into. “With a panel of technical consultants and university fellows, we invest not only in material research but also in new analytical methods and standards to grow this knowledge base,” he says. “Over the last few years, the network has continuously grown to almost 100 direct and associate mem-
bers, which makes it one of the largest global battery research networks.” He says demonstrations in the pipeline include micro-grid applications, fast-charging stations for electric vehicles and fuel efficiency improvements in modern automotive power trains. “These demonstrations will be communicated to improve the perception that lead batteries provide benefits in decarbonizing our society,” he says. Rosenkranz acknowledges that lead-based systems face challenges from other chemistries, but says this misses the point: the goal should be sustainability and combining the best solutions for the right application. “I would say there is no one-size-fitsall type of design — each application has its specific needs,” he says. “As for automotive applications, the improvement of dynamic charge acceptance will be the game changer to enable higher fuel efficiency. For stationary applications, it depends on both the application and the operational strategy of the storage system. “Lead-based systems provide a costefficient, sustainable solution and are already designed to meet the circular economy targets of the European Commission in its EU Green Deal targets reflected in the new Battery Regulation. “We see advantages and growth for alternative technologies and in the end the debate should be about the aspects of sustainability and how we generate synergies. We will need to utilize all sustainable electro-chemistries at hand to achieve our over-arching goal — the decarbonization of our society.”
“Presently we focus on the two main value drivers — one for automotive applications (enhancing the dynamic charge acceptance to improve the regenerative energy capturing in the drive cycle) and one for stationary applications (improvement of the energy throughput to enhance total cost of ownership).” www.batteriesinternational.com
For the challenges ahead...
PEOPLE NEWS
Doe Run promotes Bart Stoessel to marketing manager
Bart Stoessel
Lead concentrates producer and battery recycler Doe Run has promoted Bart Stoessel to marketing manager, the company announced on January 25. Stoessel, who has been with the company for eight years, will manage the sales and marketing of lead, zinc and copper concentrates as well as providing the firm with intelligence on the global concentrates market. “I have had two good mentors at Doe Run these last eight years, in both my past supervisor John Likarish and my current boss,
Jose Hansen. Combined, they have brought over 50 years of experience to Doe Run and helped me understand the concentrate market, the lead business, and specifically the value that Doe Run’s high-purity lead concentrates bring to the market,” says Stoessel. “We have made many trips to China to develop direct relationships with smelters there, as well as meeting and developing relationships with smelter customers and trading companies around the world. In my new role I hope to bring my operating and quality experience from past roles to contribute to this new position at Doe Run.” Stoessel says there is work to do to improve lead’s reputation — because while those within the sector know this, the industry ‘could do a better job of sharing this information’.
ABC appoints Randy Moore to technical advisory board Advanced Battery Concepts, the bipolar lead-acid battery firm, has appointed Randy Moore to its technical advisory board, the company said on March 29. Moore has a long list of industries under his belt, including the aerospace, defence, medical and energy sectors, and is ‘leading the effort to develop revolutionary, high performance batteries that are safe and environmentally responsible’, ABC says. Moore comes from a zinc battery environment, and is president and CEO of Æsir Technologies, which began life in 2011 and develops nickel-zinc, zinc-air and
aqueous batteries. The company’s offshoot, ZAF Energy Systems, was founded in 2016 and is developing a nickel-zinc battery that aims to compete in the stationary storage market. Moore is also president and CEO of ZAF. Before ZAF, Moore was president of EaglePicher Technologies, which has a broad range of battery chemistries in its portfolio, including lead-acid and lithium as well as zinc, thermal, and silver. Moore joins a growing number of experts on ABC’s technical board, which most recently welcomed former chief technical officer with
16 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
“There is always a concern for any industry that a replacement technology will disrupt the market,” he says. “However, a recent survey reported that global battery demand is estimated to grow % over the next decade, so it seems that depending on the application there will be a place for both lead and other battery technologies. “For example, full electric vehicles may be well suited for large cities but may not be ideal for places like the US, where drivers have different driving preferences. “Start-stop technologies, which are widely adopted in Europe and becoming so in the US, are estimated to eliminate two million tons of vehicle greenhouse gas emissions annually in the US by utilizing lead batteries. “Lead has a major role to play in the green economy.” CATL Bob Galyen to the fold. ABC founder and CEO Ed Shaffer said Moore’s experience with zinc meant it would help the company’s GreenSeal technology achieve further potential in other chemistries, particularly nickel-zinc. ABC has seven licensees, including Clarios, EnerSys, Crown Battery, Trojan Battery, Exide Industries, Monbat and an unnamed Asian battery manufacturer.
Randy Moore
Eric Donjon joins SY Innovations
Eric Donjon
SY Innovations announced in early March that Eric Donjon had joined the firm to support its new and existing customers in eastern Europe. Donjon has some 25 years’ experience in the lead battery business, latterly working with Wirtz Manufacturing and previously with Cookson-Entek/Entek International, the lead battery separator manufacturer. Donjon, born and bred in France, is a well liked and well known figure in the lead battery industry. He is fluent in English — he now speaks with a Geordie accent — and will continue to be based near Newcastleupon-Tyne in the north of England. “I am extremely happy to be working with Eric,” said Anton Gurevich, president of SY Innovations. “His experience in the battery industry, knowledge of the best machinery solutions and intimate understanding of the challenges battery makers face in supply chain management on a daily basis will contribute to our commitment to providing the best possible solutions to our customers.” One little known fact about Donjon is that he is one of a select number of honorary consuls for France who look after French citizens living outside of Greater London.
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PEOPLE NEWS
OBE for Swanbarton’s Price in Queen’s bi-annual honours list For the record, UK energy storage consultancy Swanbarton announced on January 10 that founder and director Anthony Price has been appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to the energy storage industry. More commonly known as the OBE, the award is given to ‘individuals who have made major contributions at a local level, or whose work has gained a national profile’. It is third in ranking after the KBE or DBE (knight or Dame); the CBE (Commander), and above the fourth-ranked MBE (Member). The medal would normally be pinned to the chest by Her Majesty the Queen or a
member of the royal family, but the Covid-19 pandemic means this year it will probably be sent by post. “I am very touched that someone thought the work I’ve been doing was worth recording in this way,” said Price, who says he had no idea he had been nominated. “I’d like to thank friends and colleagues and supporters who have encouraged me, and the journalists who have been willing to report it as well. Whoever did it, they did it very carefully and kept it very much in the background — but I’m delighted, and naturally it’s always pleasing to have one’s efforts recognized. “I was touched with the announcement that it was
Anthony Price
done for services to the energy storage industry, which is the first time that description has been used. As a result of my efforts we now have an energy storage industry, where we didn’t have one before.” Price believes that by constantly ‘banging the drum’ over the years, he has pushed energy storage into
Ever Resource’s Athan Fox, Miles Freeman bought by IQ International Ever Resource Ltd, a UK battery recycling start-up founded in June 2020, has been bought by the Swiss technology company iQ International, the firm announced on February 12. Ever Resource directors Athan Fox and Miles Freeman will launch ‘company-wide state-of-the-art recycling opportunities, particularly for batteries’, iQ says. Fox becomes director of innovation, Freeman director of recycling operations. Both previously worked for Aurelius Environmental, which had worked on recycling methods for lead batteries. In 2017, Aurelius started work with Cambridge University to develop a recycling technology that could produce lead oxide that outperforms virgin lead.
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Its patented process produces lead oxide directly from waste lead oxide paste, unlike other recycling systems, which produce lead metal that is then oxidized separately to lead oxide. The technology won a grant of more than €1.3 million ($1.5 million) from the European Commission. Earlier this year, iQ International said it had signed an exclusive licence agreement with the University of Cambridge for the recycling technology developed by the university and the team at Ever Resource. “After working closely with the Ever Resource founders for over a year, iQ has decided to acquire Ever Resource and hire its founders (Fox and Freeman) to launch companywide stateof-the-art recycling opportunities, particularly for bat-
teries,” says iQ. “Among the many opportunities with this acquisition, Ever Resource, working with Cambridge University, has developed technologies to upcycle spent battery paste by converting it into a superior, nanostructured, more energydense leady oxide. “The advantage of this is more energy per kilogram of battery, longer cycle life, greater depth of discharge and significantly reduced environmental impact.” Ever Resource is also researching and developing better ways to recycle lithium-ion batteries, says iQ. This includes a collaboration with the University of Birmingham to develop proprietary methods for the processing of end-of-life electric vehicle battery packs.
the public arena so that it is now a recognizable sector. “Energy storage is a fundamental part of running a power system,” he says. “We needed to show what the value of storage was, and now it’s changed dramatically — it’s gone from being a way of providing services and reducing reliance on peaking generation towards optimizing the use of energy behind the meter, allowing for the integration of renewable energy.” Price, who is also the figure behind the annual International Flow Battery Forum, has been working in the sector for decades and has strong ties with the US Energy Storage Association and British Electricity Storage Network.
Aqua Metals appoints two new independent directors Aqua Metals, the lead recycling firm, announced on March 2 that Molly Zhang and Edward Smith had joined its board as independent directors effective March 1, 2021. Zhang has three decades of international business experience with senior leadership roles spanning from global operations and technology management to driving businesses growth at Dow Inc and Orica. Smith is the CEO, president and director of SMTC Corporation, with a broad manufacturing footprint in North America. Before this he was president of Avnet Inc and president and chief executive of SMTEK International.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 17
PEOPLE NEWS Ian Whiting appointed commercial director of UK BIC For the record, the UK Battery Industrialization Centre, a new purpose-built 18,500m2 battery production development facility, appointed Ian Whiting as its commercial director in December. The UKBIC is part of the Faraday Battery Challenge, a government programme that aims to put the UK on the map when it comes to developing cost-effective, high-performance and recyclable batteries. It is due to open this year. With Britishvolt in the throes of planning a battery gigafactory in Wales, UKBIC managing director Jeff Pratt has said the battery industry in the country needs to attract skills, ability and knowledge of the industry to help drive it forward. Whiting has previously worked for AMTE Power, a start-up that has signed a memorandum of understanding with Britishvolt to build the gigafactory. Most recently he worked as a freelance battery technology consultant/ Umicore makes management changes to its recycling units International materials technology and recycling group Umicore announced in January that Stephan Csoma, executive vice president of recycling, would retire in March after being with the company since 1992. Before joining the management board in 2012 Csoma led the Zinc Chemicals business unit, and as executive vice president has overseen the divestment of the Zinc Chemicals, Building Products and Technical Materials businesses. Denis Goffaux, who joined the company in 1995, will succeed Csoma on April 1. He set up Umicore’s first cathode materials plant in Cheonan, South Korea, in 2000, and since 2018 he has been in charge of Umicore’s rechargeable battery materials activities. Goffaux leaves the post of executive vice-president energy & surface technologies on March 1, and will be replaced by Ralph Kiessling, who joined Umicore in 2003. His background is in catalysis, and he ‘has started to prepare the automotive catalyst business to face a new market reality with less demand for combustion engines’. In June, Umicore was granted a
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loan from the European Investment Bank to partly fund a cathode materials plant in Nysa, Poland, to supply advanced cathode materials for advanced lithium battery cell manufacturers. “The development of our rechargeable battery materials activities in Europe is a strategic growth project for Umicore,” said chief financial officer Filip Platteeuw at the time. Wilson Ma becomes VP corporate development at LiCycle Canadian lithium-ion battery recycling firm Li-Cycle announced on January 27 it had appointed Wilson Ma as vice president of Corporate Development. Ma will spearhead Li-Cycle’s efforts to scale the recover of lithium-ion resources globally, while leading other strategic initiatives, the company says. Ma was already based in Toronto, where he worked at global electrical giant Emerson. He started in corporate development, strategy & innovation some seven years ago, before being appointed director of growth & business transformation. Fluence hires Kubik as MD of UK, Ireland, Israel Siemens and AES joint venture Fluence has named Marek Kubik managing director of its UK, Ireland and Israel business, Kubik announced on the digital networking platform LinkedIn at the end of January. Kubik was market director for the energy storage firm AES in May 2016 and co-founded Fluence in a similar capacity in 2018, where he has remained ever since. “After five exponential years helping to scale up our UK and Ireland pipeline from 5MWh to over 1,200MWh, Israel has a trajectory to more than double that volume of batteries in half the time,” he said on the post. “Having been involved in the market opening of Israel since 2017, it’s fantastic to see the cogs click into place and the market to open with such speed.” He has also advised the United Nations’ Cleaner Electricity Systems, looking at technology to reduce emissions. Fluence began in July 2017 when energy storage integrators AES
Advancion and Siemens Siestorage created the technology and services company. Since then it has deployed or been awarded contracts to install 2,400MW of storage in 100 projects in 24 countries, it says. It is headed by Manuel Pérez Dubuc as CEO, who worked as senior VP of global new energy solutions at AES. Nexeon hires Wang as CTO For the record, UK advanced silicon materials developer Nexeon on January 11 appointed Liya Wang as chief technology officer to help steer the company’s products for next generation lithium-ion batteries. Wang is well versed in battery development, living mainly in the US since 1993, when he began with IMRA America, Inc as a researcher in electrochemical capacitors and high-power lithium-ion batteries. As vice president and manager of Materials Development for T/J Technologies from 1999 to 2002, he led the development of advanced electrode materials for Li-ion batteries and managed multi-million dollar government-funded research projects. Wang was made director of emerging materials with lithium battery manufacturer A123 Systems from 2006-2010, where he worked on the transition of new generations of lithium iron phosphate cathode and precursor materials. After A123 Systems, Wang helped build an R&D centre for energy storage technologies for CIC Energigune in Spain, leading the development of advanced batteries and electrochemical capacitors, as well as industrial projects to provide energy storage solutions for different industries. Back in the US in 2012, Wang began work with XG Sciences, where he was vice president – R&D and led the development of graphene-based materials for energy storage, thermal, electric, anti-corrosion and composite applications. Most recently, in 2019, Wang was made general manager of special projects & IP management, office of CEO, before joining Nexeon this January. On December 16, Nexeon announced the appointments of Christian Spoerk as chief operating officer and Gaetan Borgers as chief commercial officer.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 19
NEWS
China moves to ban batteries in LSEVs China has decided to ban lead batteries in low-speed electric vehicles, according to a report by news agency Reuters on March 24, quoting a post on the China Automotive Technology and Research Center’s website. Reuters says the decision was made at a meeting in the industrial metropolis of Tianjin, where regulators were drafting rules to categorize LSEVs where they had not been previously regarded as qualifying for proper licence
plates. “Low-speed vehicles can only use lithium iron phosphate or ternary lithium batteries,” the draft says. “For lead, the move ‘will cast a shadow over the demand outlook… in the medium to longer term,’ ING analysts said in a note,” said Reuters. The decision has not been confirmed by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which was also at the meeting, the agency said. It is unclear which low-
speed vehicles the restrictions would apply to. If it is across the board it would mean electric bicycles, tricycles, all-terrain vehicles and passenger vehicles. If implemented, the ban could have a significant impact on the lead battery industry, with the LSEV sector seeing huge expansion in China. Because they are unregulated it is impossible to put a figure on how many LSEVs there are China, but in its China Low-speed Electric Vehicle (LSEV) In-
dustry Report, 2020-2026, ReportLinker estimates that China has around 41 million of them on its roads. Not all of those will contain lead batteries. Geoffrey May, director of Focus Consulting, said the report looked like a consultation, and that in many cases it was a way of China finding a way of using the most cost-effective solution to keep the status quo. “However all of these initiatives are a worry,” he said.
Tesla to ditch auxiliary lead battery in models ‘S’ and ‘X’ Electric car maker Tesla said on February 4 that it will replace the auxiliary lead batteries with lithium-ion in future versions of its models ‘S’ and ‘X’. Describing the transition, the company said replacing the ‘same old cumbersome 12-volt lead-acid battery that you’ll have to replace after some years of use’ was a glimpse of the future. Elon Musk is quoted on the Tesla website as saying, “We should have done it before, but it’s great that we’re doing it now,” and that the lithium equivalent has a lot more capacity and matches the cycle life of the main pack. Tesla’s decision is bound to cause a stir in the overall industry that has always stressed that because electric vehicles all contain a lead accessory battery, the harm to the sector in the move to EVs is not overly problematic. Yet a report by the market research and consulting agency Fact.MR, based in Dubai, says the lead battery industry is actually looking forward to the growth of
Tesla model ‘X’ — lithium only
the EV market. “Lead acid battery manufacturers are especially banking on the growing penetration of electric vehicles,” it says. “As of 2019, light EV sales amounted to more than two million units, representing a 9% growth compared to 2018. The global EV stock is poised to reach nearly 140 million units, constituting 7% of the global vehicle fleet, with Europe and Asia emerging as key hotspots. “As manufacturers seek out greener and cleaner energy alternatives, demand for lead acid batteries is anticipated to surge across
20 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
prominent geographies, prompting players to invest in extensive research and development projects.” Consortium for Battery Innovation managing director Alistair Davidson, says: “A new study of automotive technology trends undertaken by Ricardo Strategic Consulting predicts that almost all light-duty vehicles are likely to feature a 12V board net, and thus require either a 12V Starting Lighting Ignition battery, or a 12V auxiliary battery, for the foreseeable future. “In the 12V market, lead batteries remain the product of choice for nearly
all OEMS and this is supported by a recent analysis of the global rechargeable battery market undertaken by Avicenne Energy. Lead batteries are chosen because they have advantages over lithium, including significantly lower unit cost, vehicle compatibility, enhanced high temperature performance, flexibility for in-vehicle battery location, standardization, maturity of supply chains, safety and recyclability. “Moreover a recent lifecycle assessment produced by Sphera, a sustainability consultancy, has highlighted that over their full lifecycle there is little difference in the environmental footprint of 12V lead and lithium batteries, but crucially the manufacturing of 12V lead batteries in Europe currently has up to six times lower global warming potential. “For these reasons there is no doubt that 12V lead batteries will remain critical to the vast majority of vehicles on the road for the next decade and beyond — from conventional to hybrids and pure electric.”
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Gopher Resource rejects ‘false and misleading’ local newspaper report Lead battery recycling firm Gopher Resource has called local newspaper reports about its facility in Tampa Bay, Florida ‘false and misleading’, saying it supports an inspection by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which began on April 5. The company says it has spent more than $230 million on making the facility safe. Average blood levels among employees were half what they were when Gopher bought the plant in 2006. “Given the recent false and misleading Tampa Bay Times reporting about our facility, we supported calls for the OSHA inspection, welcome it, and will fully co-operate with it,” said a
spokesman for the company. The OSHA inspection follows an 18-month investigation by the Tampa Bay Times that revealed damning levels of harmful lead contamination in workers. Some of them, it claimed, underwent acute medical procedures to minimize the amount of lead in their blood. Blood levels were found to be hundreds of times higher than the federal limit of 50 mcg of lead per m3 of air over an eighthour shift. US Congress representatives Kathy Castor and Charlie Crist have called on the US Department of Justice to investigate. “Nearly every worker was exposed to enough lead to be at risk of serious health problems,” said Crist, a former governor
of Florida. “Furthermore, these workers often took the lead-laced dust home with them, placing family members, including children, at risk of exposure.” One account misleadingly said that Gopher pitted workers against one another by allotting quarterly bonuses based on the average blood-lead level across all employees. “Confrontations broke out between employees when one felt their bonus was in jeopardy,” said Crist. “Most disturbing, the Times reports that some workers took drastic measures to keep their blood lead levels low, including undergoing extreme medical procedures such as intravenous chelation therapy which strips the
lead from their blood.” However the firm says blood lead levels have halved since it took over the plant in 2006, and were ‘less than half the level of many state and federal standards for workplace safety, as well as the American College of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists’. “Protecting our employees and the community is a core value of ourselves and our workforce,” the company says. “Since 2006, we have invested more than $230 million to modernize the Tampa facility, which included installation of state-of-the-art pollution control, and health and safety measures including filtration and ventilation. The standards we hold ourselves to are more stringent than regulatory standards.” Gopher Resource has two facilities, one in Tampa, the other in Eagan, Minnesota.
Bill introduced in next stage of Exide Vernon clean-up saga Four Californian state legislators on February 18 introduced a bill that would approve more than $540 million of taxpayers’ money to be spent on cleaning up 10,000 homes around the contaminated Vernon lead battery recycling plant once owned by Exide Technologies. If passed into law, the Department of Toxic Substances Control will set performance milestones that will have to be published every six months to track progress, and use fixedprice contracting for corrective actions. The $540.4 million is broken down into $390 million for the clean-up of 4,600 less contaminated residential properties, while $31.4 million will go to clean up the 3,200 properties identified by the DTSC as those most in need of work, with priority given to childcare facilities, schools and parks. The remaining $119 million will ‘be expended by the department for future closure and onsite corrective action.
The bill has angered senators, who believe that Exide has abandoned its responsibility for the clean-up operation, having gone out of business in May 2020 when the American side was split from the EMEA part of the business and later sold off to Atlas Holdings at auction. The
bankruptcy court effectively allowed it to walk away, they say. The company was reborn last August as Stryten Manufacturing, with Element Resources a separate recycling arm. Exide has always disputed that it was solely responsible
for the lead contamination in the soil around the facility, citing aviation fuel, automobile gas and house paint as contributing to the levels. In 2015 it drew up a closure plan with the US Department of Justice, which in return agreed not to prosecute the company.
MPCA had ‘significant weaknesses’ in handling of Water Gremlin pollution The pollution control agency that forced battery terminal manufacturer Water Gremlin to shut for 72 hours had ‘significant weaknesses’ in its own operations, an auditor revealed this month. Mistakes made by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency date back to 1995, the legislator found, when Water Gremlin first applied for an air quality permit and reported that its actual emissions of the hazardous air pollutant trichloroethylene were 23 times a federal threshold.
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The MPCA failed to respond to the application, and only gave the required permission after Water Gremlin applied a second time, in 1999. Thereafter there were many occasions in which Water Gremlin fulfilled its part according to its permits, but the MPCA did not carry out subsequent performance tests. “Broader issues, such as the absence of state rules governing pollutants called ‘air toxics’ and the MPCA’s backlog of air quality permit applications, might also
have contributed to problems with the timeliness and effectiveness of Water Gremlin’s permit,” the legislator said. “The MPCA did not even act on Water Gremlin’s own self-reported emissions.” “MPCA cited Water Gremlin in 2019 for longstanding hazardous waste violations, but failure to detect these problems earlier may have reflected ambiguity about agency responsibilities for monitoring and enforcing hazardous waste practices,” said the legislator’s report.
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NEWS
New report identifies growing opportunities for lead battery storage in telecoms UPS A Guidehouse Insights report says telecoms applications will serve as a growing market for lead-acid batteries — among others. The report says technologies expected to be adopted include fuel cells, solar PV and battery-based UPS systems incorporating all kinds of advanced batteries, such as lead-acid. The report, Market Data: Distributed Generation and Energy Storage in Telecom Networks, says the world is changing in the way people work, and communicate, with almost three in four people expected to regularly access the Internet on their mobile phones by 2025. But while the exponential growth in mobile data traffic should deliver an economic boost, empowering all socio-economic classes, “stakeholders are increas-
ingly concerned with the effect this exponential increase in data traffic will have on the energy consumption and carbon footprint of mobile networks”. The report says that telecommunications operators account for 2%-3% of total energy demand — making them some of the most energy-intensive companies in their geographic markets. “With more than 90% of network cost spent on energy, consisting mostly of fuel and electricity, the demand for energy-saving measures from telecom operators is growing,” says the report. “Telecom operators increasingly deploy distributed renewable energy generation technologies and distributed energy storage systems to reduce their energy consumption. “Such decisions are driven
by a low revenue-growth environment, rising global electricity prices, and LTE and 5G upgrades in emerging and developed markets, which are anticipated to more than triple electricity consumption.” “Lead-acid batteries are proven as a back-up solution for the telecoms sector, with a high percentage of the market share for such installations,” said Anssi Laitinen, senior director for product marketing, with EnerSys. “This popularity is due to a combination of reliability and durability, and their capability to act as a passive or active component within back-up power applications. The capability to support high cycles, very long operating lifetimes and high operating temperatures is an additional strength. “These technical attrib-
Biden jobs plan puts US on path to deploy storage at unprecedented scale The US Energy Storage Association has welcomed US president Joe Biden’s ‘American Jobs Plan’, announced on March 31, which includes investment plans that should boost energy storage deployment at what the ESA says is an ‘unprecedented scale’. “From factory to grid frontline communities, it has the policies needed to achieve our goal of 100GW of new energy storage by 2030 to decarbonize our power system, make our infrastructure resilient and put Americans in every state to work in a globally competitive industry,” said interim CEO Jason Burwen. Among plans announced to fix physical infrastructure such as highways, bridges and airports, improve water systems, retrofit buildings and boost the electric vehicle sector, energy generation and
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storage comes in for a sizeable investment. “President Biden is proposing a 10-year extension and phase down of an expanded direct-pay investment tax credit and production tax credit for clean energy generation and storage,” the announcement says. “In addition to a $5 billion
increase in funding for other climate-focused research, his plan will invest $15 billion in demonstration projects for climate R&D priorities, including utility-scale energy storage, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, advanced nuclear, rare earth element separations, floating offshore wind, biofuel/biproducts,
Imperium Motor signs partnership with Chinese lead battery firm Imperium Motor, the EV subsidiary of Canadian technology firm DSG Global, has signed a distributor agreement aimed at strengthening its supply chain through a partnership with the Chinese lead battery supplier NP Power International, the firm said on April 6. Imperium specializes in electric vehicles, and while
NP Power’s portfolio primarily consists of lead-acid batteries and power banks, it says it will begin supplying lithium batteries that Imperium will assemble at a new production facility in Fullerton, California. The partnership has been struck at a time when supply chains have been called into question because of global lockdowns
utes make lead-acid batteries highly dependable, and therefore particularly suited to the demands of distributed energy networks.” Jason Koffler, CEO of the UK battery supplier Critical Power Supplies, says the cost element is a major reason why lead batteries are still the number one choice for UPS, but says maintenance is something customers do not always appreciate. “The total cost of ownership is two and a half times as much as for a lithium-ion battery,” he said. “There’s no question a lead battery is better than a lithium one, but you do need a high-end battery that does what it’s supposed to.” Koffler says the choice of batteries could be a generational issue, with younger businesses more likely to choose newer technologies. quantum computing, and electric vehicles, as well as strengthening US technological leadership in these areas in global markets.” According to the Center for Sustainable Systems, at the University of Michigan, in 2020 there was 23.2GW of energy storage installed in the US. The state of California leads the way, with 4.2GW comprised of 215 operational projects, the CSS says. in response to the coronavirus pandemic, causing disruptions to industries such as the EV sector. “If there were a closely located competitive direct supplier of USA manufactured batteries we could use in our line-up of vehicles, we would always be interested in looking at any of those companies and the options they would offer,” said Todd Mehserle, from Imperium’s sales team.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 23
NEWS
Chakratec installs flywheel technology to charge EVs at hotel chain in Germany Israeli energy storage firm Chakratec has installed its flywheel technology at one of the hotel chain Premier Inn’s facilities in Germany to allow guests to charge their EVs without adding more pressure on to the power grid, the firm said on February 9.
The company says British hotel chain Premier Inn, which has around 800 hotels, is the first to install the technology in Germany. It is also the first indoor installation of its kind. It is looking at installing the ‘Kinetic Power Booster’ at new sites throughout
Germany over the next five years. Because hotels are usually placed in busy city centres they are usually in areas where the power grid is under a lot of pressure of electricity demand. “At most of Premier Inn’s city centre locations the grid
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is too weak to provide the required power for EV charging,” the company says. “To overcome this hurdle, energy storage must be added to the chargers to boost the grid, which is done by applying Chakratec’s kinetic energy storage technology. “The KPB stores the electricity as kinetic energy in a fast-rotating flywheel in a vacuum, which presents two major advantages: unlimited high-power charge and discharge cycles (more than 150,000) without degradation over the full system lifetime of 20 years, and since it is a non-chemical technology, it is also a sustainable and reusable system, as opposed to toxic and polluting chemical batteries,” the company says. Lead batteries have also been rolled out to supply electricity for EV charging to save peak charges from the grid. In 2020, Batteries International reported on a feasibility study by the Consortium for Batteries Innovation, which showed that lead batteries could do just this job, and do it fast. International Lead Award winner Frank Fleming explained how his company, EAI Grid Storage, had designed a gas station and earmarked a further eight for lead battery installations to charge EVs rather than sucking energy out of the grid. “We want to charge quickly — fast charging is critical and lead batteries are extremely capable of fast recharge,” said Fleming. “This system places the lead acid batteries very nicely between the grid and the EV charging. They sit on charge 24 hours a day and take the energy off the grid at a controlled rate below the excessive demand rate.”
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NEWS
Formation division of Jász-Plasztik hit by fire A fire broke out in the battery manufacturing plant of Jász-Plasztik, the Hungarian lead battery manufacturer and plastics group, during the night of January 20. In a letter entitled Force Majeure, seen by Batteries International, the firm said: “The damage assessment is still ongoing, but our entire formation capacity has been destroyed. This crash affects both our starter- and traction cell programs. “The used battery recycling plant and the starter and cell assembly unit are not damaged. It is expected that our dry production will be able to start again within a month, and we are already working to build a temporary formation capacity.” A Bulgarian magazine said that none of the employees
will lose their jobs due to the fire in the approximately nine thousand square meter unit of the battery production plant. Some 45 employees involved will be redeployed to other areas. Jász-Plasztik is a familyowned group of companies operating in Jászberény, Hungary. Its origins are a rags-to-riches story of how a young engineer Lajos Kasza and his cousin János Kasza set up a small cooperative in a garage looking at injection moulding in 1986. In May 1990 the firm became a limited company. In 1994 it went into battery manufacturing and then expanded into other related areas of busines. It has since grown to employ some 5,000 staff over various sites across Europe.
Independent analysis of CAM Ball Mill shows 100% levels of tetragonal lead oxide CAM, the Italian industrial automation engineering company, announced on March 16 that leady oxide from its CAM MOP 30 ball mill had been tested by the University of L’Aquila’s department of chemical engineering in Italy. The test results showed 87.8% tetragonal litharge [red lead], and 12.1% of [the unoxidized] lead, the firm said. “The results were sensational,” said Francesco Marfisi, electrical manager at CAM. “The first thing that jumped out at us was the complete absence of orthorhombic oxide — this is fantastic because it means that batteries produced with this oxide will be more reliable over time, with consistent performance.”
A tetragonal crystal structure allows the leady oxide to better adhere to the grid while orthorhombic crystals are more prone to flaking. CAM said: “Our ball mills are the only mills that have an internal cooling system using water spray. By controlling the temperature inside the mill in a direct manner, you never have peaks of temperature which could cause the formation of orthorhombic crystals.” “This is the only way to achieve 100% tetragonal oxide and the results of the University of L’Aquila confirm this,” said Marfisi The university testing was done under the auspices of professor Giuliana Taglieri and research fellow Valeria Daniele.
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Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 25
NEWS
Exide goes live with solar plus storage at Portuguese battery production plant Exide Technologies on March 25 said it had gone live with a solar plus storage installation at a Portuguese battery production facility at Castanheira do Ribatejo, where solar generation will be stored by 500kWh of Exide’s Sonnenschein A600 gel batteries. The installation follows another last year in Azambuja, just 18 miles away, at a battery recycling facility. This brings the total energy capacity across the two sites to 4.5MW. Approval for both installations was agreed in a deal signed in April 2019. The combined capacity wouldFinal beAd.pdf enough for 1,500 1 9/17/2019 3:13:17 PM
homes, said energy company EDP Group, which designed and delivered both projects, although it will not be enough to provide all of the electricity consumed by the two plants. The firms say the Castanheira plant is one of the largest installations of its kind, ‘and shows what can be achieved by combining solar with high-performance energy storage technology’. “More companies will rely on storage-backed selfgenerated power in the years ahead, and we are excited to be at the forefront of this trend,” said Exide CEO and president Stefan Stübing.
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Freight market outlook set to improve, says Sorfin Scott Fink, president of Sorfin Yoshimura, told Batteries International on February 25 that he expected the freight market for international battery machinery and battery distribution would start to improve and prices fall from April onwards. “The freight market con-
Scott Fink
tinues to present major challenges to international trade due to the lack of availability of equipment, especially sea containers in and out of Asia. This has forced costs to soar,” he said.
“Our expectation is that this will remain a challenge into Q2 2021 although we would expect things to begin trending better now that the Chinese New Year is behind us.” The overall outlook for the lead battery market, he says, looks positive. “We’re pleased to see a strong uptick in capital projects around the world and that is contributing to our overall bullish view about the state of the market today and into the midrange future.” Fink was also positive about a ‘comprehensive digital marketing campaign’ that its affiliate, SY Innovations LLC, has been actively pursuing. “This will be revolutionary for promotional activity in our industry. This will be valuable for our partners and eventually for the entire industry during the remaining pandemic period and beyond,” he said.
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26 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
Monbat announces accreditation of in-house battery testing lab Monbat Economic Group on February 8 announced that its existing in-house testing lab — MGLab — had received accreditation by the Bulgarian Accreditation Service. The scope of accreditation includes testing of lead acid starter and stationary batteries, secondary cells and batteries for renewable energy sources, as well as deep cycle batteries and valve regulated batteries. Accreditation means that MGLab will also be able to provide testing services for other battery firms’ products as well as its own. Mariyan Terziyski, di-
rector of the group’s quality assurance department, said: “The accreditation of our laboratory is yet more proof for the constant and sustainable development of the group. The support from the management, the highly qualified specialists and modern equipment, as well as compliance with the standard of competence of laboratories BDS EN ISO/IEC 17025: 20018 guarantees the reliability of the tests’ results. “We hope that the laboratory will significantly contribute to the progress of the research and development activities in the group.”
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NEWS
Air BP to install startstop batteries as boost for EFB technology Air BP, the international aviation fuel products supplier, announced on February 22 it would convert its entire global fleet of fuel hydrant dispensers to start-stop battery technology. This is yet another signal of the increasing importance of this technology and the greater market opening up for enhanced flooded batteries. A hydrant dispenser is a truck that acts as an intermediary vehicle that dispenses aviation fuel from an underground hydrant system into a jet aircraft. The retrofitting will occur on all trucks that are less than 10 years old. The company says it has already installed start-stop batteries in all of its dispens-
ers in Portugal in its bid to reduce carbon emissions, which it says go down by an average of 25% in each vehicle using the technology — saving 3.5 tonnes of CO2 per vehicle per year. Portugal, Air BP says, was just the first step. “The aim is that all existing hydrant dispensers across its global operated network, which are less than 10 years old, will be retrofitted with the technology by the end of the year,” it says. Air BP says in 2019 it supplied more than 6.7 billion gallons of aviation fuel, which fuelled more than 7,000 flights a day in more than 55 countries — working out at around five planes a minute.
Aqua Metals makes moves to recycle lithium ion batteries Aqua Metals, the lead battery recycling company, on February 17 said it was expanding into lithium-ion by buying 10% of LiNiCo, a US start-up ‘focused on creating economically viable and environmentally sustainable technologies for lithium-ion battery recycling’. Aqua Metals and LiNiCo had already agreed a leaseto-buy arrangement for the Nevada AquaRefining facility, which was damaged by fire in November 2019. Aqua Metals has now committed $2 million, paid in Aqua Metals shares, for the 10% stake. The move, it says is part of its strategy to potentially apply its AquaRefining intellectual property to lithium-ion battery recycling. Aqua Metals announced the launch of an ‘eco-net-
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work’ of itself, LiNiCo and two other firms, Green Liion and Comstock Mining Inc. This would “advance the best-in-class technologies to recycling lithiumion batteries at volume, both economically and sustainably”, the firm said. “We believe a collaboration strategy with innovative companies that have multi-disciplinary backgrounds in metals, mining, high volume throughput, and hydrometallurgy is the best approach to solving the sustainability challenge of metals recycling, especially with lithium-ion batteries,” said CEO Steve Cotton. “Forming an eco-network is an important step in our strategy for exploring the expansion of AquaRefining technology to other applications.”
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NEWS
Amara Raja steps into lithium cell manufacture India’s second largest lead battery maker, Amara Raja, announced on February 21 it would begin work on developing lithium-ion cells. Commenting on the move, CEO Vijayanand Samudrala also emphasized his confidence in the lead-acid battery industry. Amara Raja joins main rival Exide Industries in moving into the lithium sector, however whereas Exide opened a plant to assemble lithium batteries under a contract with Swiss battery maker
Leclanché, Amara Raja is aiming to manufacture the batteries itself. “The advanced lithiumion technology research hub, the pilot project located at its headquarters in Tirupati, will become the country’s first lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in the private sector over the next few years,” Vijayanand was quoted by media outlets as saying. The company had already spent RS20 crore ($2.8 million) on the hub in a technology transfer
agreement with the Indian Space Research Organization, Vijayanand said. Under the tech transfer agreement, ISRO will help Amara Raja and another nine companies — Bharat Electronics in Pune; Carborundum Universal in Kochi; Exicom Tele-Systems in Gurgaon; GOCL Corporation in Hyderabad; Jyoti CNC Automation in Rajkot; Nalcom in Bhubaneswar; Sukhbir Agro Energy in Delhi; Tata Chemicals; and Thermax — set up lithium-ion cell
manufacturing units and train their staff, a statement said. Vijayanand said EV development, with a focus on the batteries, was in line to get RS18,000 crore ($2.5 billion) in government subsidies under a productionlinked incentive scheme that was announced in November. He was also quoted as emphasizing the importance of lead-acid batteries, saying he was confident the industry would ‘continue to grow at least for a few more decades’ and that it would take time for lithium-ion batteries in EVs to gain commercial traction as they were still mostly imported from China.
UK blackout near-misses signals need for energy storage ... but lead not in frame The UK’s National Grid says energy storage will have to play a bigger part in keeping the country’s lights on during a winter in which the operator has already had to issue four warnings about the limited electricity capacity cushion it has to rely on. News agency Bloomberg said the National Grid had identified a shortfall of 584MW in the spare capacity it needs, and as demand surged on lack of supply, prices shot up to £4,000/ MWh ($5,500) — a level not seen for 20 years — then dramatically down to just £50/MWh ($69) just half an hour later, according to consultancy firm PX Group. “Energy storage and demand flexibility will play an ever-increasing role in balancing supply and demand,” said National Grid operability strategy manager Matt Magill. “From energy users changing their profiles in line with the availability of energy through to various mixes of storage helping
to support the operation of the system, storage already plays a critical role in supporting the energy system. This is from fast acting batteries acting to control the frequency though our two premium services of enhanced frequency response and Dynamic Containment, through to longer term storage, which is expected to take advantage of the low prices during high renewable periods to store energy and release it at times when the prices are higher. “Units have been doing this for decades in the form of pumped storage but as the pricing gap increases between the low and high prices we expect more market players to take advantage.” The market players could include lead battery makers, although the vast majority of grid-scale batteries are coming from the lithium battery sector, such as smart energy firm SMS, which is one example of many that have made strides in this area.
28 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
SMS has announced it has just started building a 50MW battery in Cambridgeshire to mark its entry into the grid-scale storage market, with a second 40MW project being planned for the next couple of years. One lithium battery maker told Batteries International that customers were not even considering lead batteries for this kind of application, and the Con-
sortium for Battery Innovation in London also said it was not aware of any being used in this way in the UK, although they were a potential option. “Lead batteries definitely can be used for this application and are used for this in other regions such as Germany, the US and China for grid-scale frequency regulation,” said the CBI. “We have full case studies on these projects but we’re not aware of any in the UK. “Many essential services in the UK rely on lead batteries, such as fixed phone networks, mobile phone networks, data centres, hospitals, transport infrastructure. They are backed up by a large installed base of lead batteries to provide secure power supplies if the public network is interrupted.”
“Energy storage and demand flexibility will play an ever-increasing role in balancing supply and demand — Matt Magill, National Grid www.batteriesinternational.com
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NEWS
US energy storage market shatters quarterly deployment record Energy storage in the US is reaching new heights, according to Wood Mackenzie and the US Energy Storage Association in their latest US Energy Storage Monitor report released in early March. Some 2,156MWh of new energy storage systems were brought online in Q4 of last year. This is an increase of 182% from Q3 2020, making Q4 the new record quarter for US storage. As prices fall and barriers to storage deployment are eroded, front-of-the-meter storage is taking off in the US — 4MW out of every 5MW deployed in Q4 were FTM storage. The segment contributed 529MW out of the total 651MW of storage deployed in Q4. California had the lion’s share of Q4 FTM deployments, according to the report. At 90.1MW deployed, residential storage projects made up 14% of the MW total for Q4. After gradual growth in deployments
over the first three quarters of 2020, Q4 saw a notable residential spike, driven in large part by homeowner interest in California. Massachusetts led the non-residential segment in Q4, which is growing more slowly than the other two US storage segments and deployed 76.5MWh during the quarter. California and Hawaii also saw several new projects come online. In 2020 overall, 1,464MW/3,487MWh of new storage came online in the US 179% more storage was added in 2020 than in 2019 in MW terms. The US storage market will add five times more MW of storage in 2025 than was added in 2020, with FTM storage continuing to contribute between 75%-85% of new MW each year. “2020 is the first year that advanced energy storage deployments surpassed gigawatt scale — a tremendous milestone on the path
to our aspiration of 100 GW by 2030,” said Jason Burwen, US Energy Storage Association Interim CEO. “With continuing storage cost declines and growing policy support and regulatory reform in states and the federal government, energy storage is on an accelerating trajectory to enable a resilient, decarbonized, and affordable electric grid for all.” “The data truly speaks for itself,” said Dan FinnFoley, Wood Mackenzie head of energy storage. “The US installed 3,115MWh of storage from 2013 through 2019, a total that 2020 has beaten in a single year. This is the hallmark of a market beginning to accelerate exponentially, and momentum will only increase over the coming years. The new largest battery in the world, the 300MW/1,200MWh system newly installed at Moss Landing, likely won’t hold the title for long.”
Q4 was the most eyecatching quarter to date for the residential market. California contributed most residential storage deployments in 2020 and Hawaii was also a very active market, while states in the northeast, the midwest, the mid-Atlantic and the southeast are forecast to see growth over the next few years. “Battery backup is already becoming somewhat of a contested concept in the industry, as it can have different meanings depending on the installer or vendor,” said Chloe Holden, Wood Mackenzie research analyst. “But the ability of solar-plus-storage to provide backup is increasingly driving sales even in markets without additional incentives, particularly states that suffer from regular power outages. We expect an uptick in home battery sales in Texas in the aftermath of February’s devastating outages.”
Record energy spending in 2020 driven by Europe Energy spending broke records last year driven by Europe, with an unprecedented $500 billion recorded by the news agency BloombergNEF as being funnelled into renewables, storage and electric heat globally. BNEF says in total, the world committed $501.3 billion to ‘energy transition investment’ in 2020, an increase on 2019 of 9% — and this in a year chronically disrupted by the pandemic. But not all regions saw an increase: while Europe recorded a 67% increase in spending of $166.2 billion, China was down 12% on the previous year at $134.8
billion, and the US came in third at $85.3 billion, down 11%. “Europe’s impressive performance was driven by a record year for electric vehicle sales, and the best year in renewable energy investment since 2012,” the agency said. 2020 was ‘the biggest ever build-out of solar projects and a $50 billion surge for offshore wind’, with renewable energy capacity clocking up $303.5 billion from companies, governments and households, and $139 billion going on electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. This was a new record itself, up 28%. The battery storage tech-
30 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
nology sector received a $3.6 billion boost, level with 2019 despite the cost of batteries actually falling — so in real terms, an increase. It shows a global commitment to decarbonize the energy system, says head of analysis Albert Cheung at BNEF. “Clean power generation and electric transport are seeing heavy inflows, but
need to see further increases in spending as costs fall,” he said. “Technologies such as electric heat, carbon capture and hydrogen are only attracting a fraction of the investment they will need in the 2020s to help bring emissions under control. “We need to be talking about trillions per year if we are to meet climate goals.”
The battery storage technology sector received a $3.6 billion boost, level with 2019 despite the cost of batteries actually falling — so in real terms, an increase. www.batteriesinternational.com
POLICY NEWS
EUROBAT broadly welcomes EU proposals for new battery regulation EUROBAT, the European association for manufacturers of automotive, industrial and energy storage batteries, on March 1 published its full response to the European Commission’s proposal for a new regulation on batteries and waste batteries in what could be the most impactful regulation on the industry in recent years. EUROBAT welcomed much of the proposal, but noted concern that there is a ‘high number of delegated and implementing acts’ in it, which would have to be put in place in a timeline
that EUROBAT queries is long enough. EUROBAT suggested several ways to streamline parts of it, warning that some provisions risk creating an administrative burden for the industry, such as in labelling. With the environmental provisions it suggested a cautious approach, saying that because several measures have no precedent, excessive requirements should not be imposed — and it went on to say that the timeline should be extended to take into account the different technologies for
a ‘complete battery footprint’. The recommendations also say certain regulations do not need to be implemented when existing measures are already in place, such as the REACH and OSH regulations, which already regulate hazardous substances such as lead. Duplication is also a concern in labelling and information systems, EUROBAT says. “The proposal has a good general approach. It considers all stages of a battery’s lifetime, from production to use phase and end-of-life
management, and it does so having in mind the interactions between chemicals management, environmental protection and industrial competitiveness,” it says. “Turning the Batteries Directive into a regulation is also welcome by the battery industry, since it can be a step towards a level playing field at EU level, reducing differences among national markets.” EUROBAT says the way the Commission plans to test verify and enforce its criteria for batteries imported into the EU also needs to be prioritized, ‘to protect the EU battery industry from unfair competition and EU citizens from non-compliant products’.
ILZDA calls on government to strengthen rules on lead recycling The India Lead Zinc Development Association on March 18 demanded proper procedures were implemented to deal with used lead batteries in a country dogged by informal recycling practices that pose a danger to health and the environment. The calls were made on Global Recycling Day. Despite a raft of measures covering collections and registrations of battery recycling operators implemented in 2001 under the Battery (Management & Handling) Rules 2001 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, at least 25% of lead came from unregistered recyclers who would not be identified and as such would go unregulated, said L Pugazhenthy (known as Pug), ILZDA executive director. “About 85% of the total lead consumed in India is used for manufacturing batteries. An estimated 25% of the total lead used comes from unregistered recyclers, who harm the environment immensely due to their unsafe practices,” said Pug. “The only way to ensure adoption of the best prac-
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tices is in strengthening the implementation and strict monitoring of compliance with penal provisions.” Subsequent amendments to the rules in 2010 insisted that battery dealers should be registered by state pollution control boards, but this is not being done, says Pug. “Fortunately the large lead-acid battery manufacturers in India have ensured mandatory registration of
all their battery dealers with the respective state pollution boards, which is a positive development,” he says. “But what about registration of non-exclusive lead-acid battery dealers? They are yet to be brought under the ambit of the law. This is the most important and urgent requirement for controlling informal lead recycling.” ILZDA is also calling for
BCI advances case for lead batteries to new DOE chief Battery Council International has written to Jennifer Granholm to congratulate her on the February 25 confirmation of her appointment as US secretary of energy in the new Biden administration. BCI took the opportunity to put forward a strong case for lead batteries, saying their record was unmatched and they remained the battery of choice for innumerable applications. Granholm is the second woman and 16th person to head up the Department of Energy as it attempts to reach a net-zero carbon
emissions goal by 2050, ‘advancing cutting-edge clean energy technologies, creating millions of good-paying union clean energy jobs, and building an equitable clean energy future’, the DOE says. The letter signed by BCI executive vice president and general counsel Roger Miksad, stresses the role lead batteries can play in the US energy transformation. “Unlike other battery chemistries that are manufactured overseas or rely on imported materials, the US lead battery recycling industry supplies 73% of
battery dealers to complete periodic returns to show how many new batteries are sold, collected and to whom they are sent for recycling, with data regularly monitored. Pug calls on the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, the Indian government and Central Pollution Control Board to oversee the implementation of all the rules. the lead needed by the US lead battery manufacturers, who in turn manufacture an estimated 90% of the lead batteries sold here,” the letter says. BCI talks about work with the DOE and Argonne National Laboratory, mentioning more than eight research projects which are in part being funded by BCI members. “Through BCI, the lead battery industry is also coordinating at least 14 separate pre-competitive work area proposals for consideration by DOE as the agency launches the Energy Storage Grand Challenge research programs. Each of those work areas could identify several revolutionary research programs.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 31
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Research project to prove advanced lead batteries fit for home storage Gridtential Energy and Electric Applications Incorporated will start a new research project on April 1 supported by the Consortium for Battery Innovation to test bipolar batteries for residential energy storage. Gridtential will supply 24V and 48V 15Ah battery strings for the 15-month project, which will be tested by EAI in a variety of situations typical for power supplied by solar panels to behind-the-meter applications. The capacity of the advanced lead batteries will vary from 5kWh to 15kWh. “This is pre-commercial research that will be accessible to all our members,” says Matt Raiford, technical director at the CBI. “But the commercial possibilities are huge. “Research we’ve been involved in with the Pacific Northwest National Lab shows that at the residential level, lead battery systems are around a third cheaper for energy storage than their lithium counterparts. “They also have major
advantages in terms of safety — an issue both to consumer confidence but also of growing importance to insurance firms — as well as in terms of more straightforward electronics and installation. And that’s not forgetting that lithium batteries have a very poor recycling rate.” The residential energy storage market in the US is already booming. Market analysis firm Wood Mackenzie reckons 430MW was installed last year, more than double that of 2019. It expects this trend to continue. The advanced batteries made by Gridtential use silicon wafers instead of lead grids as current collectors. This reduces the cost of the lead and shrinks the battery’s size as well as doubles its energy density. It also boosts the cycle life to between 1,500 and 3,000 cycles compared with a conventional deep cycle lead battery, which offers 400-800. Lithium batteries, however, offer a life cycle of
greater than 4,000 cycles at 80% depth of discharge. EAI testing of the batteries will use the IEC61427 battery standard, a common testing protocol for load lifting from solar applications. “This project will further the understanding the impact of utilizing high-voltage silicon joule AGM battery strings on cell balance, battery management, charge control, and system integration,” says Gridtential CEO John Barton. “The work will provide valuable insights for field deployment and demonstrate the performance of our batteries in a simulated ESS application. EAI brings expertise in testing batteries and novel approaches of charging lead batteries to extend cycle life.” EAI will also duplicate the various demand pressures that the batteries will be exposed to at different times and seasons. A lot of research on these stresses has already been done by utilities such as Duke Energy. One key question is whether the lead battery
industry is ready to embark on productization — to find development partners such as designers, installers and manufacturers to advance the deployment of these batteries in residential energy systems of the future. Historically, the industry has been reluctant to leave its comfort zone of just manufacturing batteries and venture into partnerships with applications tied to their use. “While the scope of this project doesn’t include developing an ESS ‘product, we are also working with a number of system integrators who are excited to see the results with the intention of using those insights in their own implementations,” says Barton. “However, the demand for affordable, fire-safe, behindthe-meter energy storage systems is immense — and with a recyclable battery solution even better. “Our view at this point is that there is enough distribution of value between the battery, enclosure, BMS/control systems, and installation that the ‘winner’ doesn’t necessarily need to be a battery manufacturer.”
CBI, Hammond, East Penn launch research to promote lead for utilities Research into how leadacid batteries can compete with other chemistries in providing utilities with grid-scale storage has been launched by the Consortium for Battery Innovation, Hammond Group and East Penn, CBI announced on March 15. The project will focus on enhancing cycle life and performance using expanders in the batteries’ electrodes, such as barium sulfate, the CBI says, with Hammond and East Penn exploring how the additive size, treatment and morphology can be adapted to benefit duty cycles in a typical energy storage system. Matt Raiford, technical manager with CBI, is
leading the research. “This project will be critical to increasing the cycle life of batteries developed to match those commonly used in energy storage applications,” he said. “By studying the impact of different barium sulfate expander additives on electrode behaviour, new insights will be delivered into maximizing the performance of energy storage lead batteries. “This will be critical for the expansion of lead battery uptake by utilities and renewable energy companies across the globe looking to add battery storage to their systems.” The research is aiming to deliver the best expander
34 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
for such systems, ‘with a direct ripple effect in contributing to the enhanced product performance for CBI’s membership’. CBI has been involved with several projects across the world that use lead batteries in grid-scale applications, such as the 16MW/25MWh lead carbon system in Saxony, Germany, which was installed by Chinese battery firm Narada with operator Upside Group and has been operating since May 2019. The 10,500 battery cells are housed in 18 containers and provide grid backup for the entire region as well as stabilization for the Central European utility grid.
In October 2020, a 12MW power station owned by NR Electric began operating in Huzhou in China’s Zhejiang Province, providing system stability for the power grid using Tianneng’s lead carbon batteries. In Tibet the highest lead battery in the world — some 4,700 metres above sea level — stores solar energy and supplies electricity to the grid with 30MW/20MWh of capacity. At the moment these projects are just a handful when compared with the huge number of large-scale storage systems being installed worldwide that use non-lead chemistries.
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TECHNOLOGY NEWS
CBI pushes on with new research project using neutron diffraction The Consortium for Battery Innovation announced on March 8 it had launched a new European research project using neutron diffraction in a bid to improve the lifetime of energy storage batteries. The process, which images the entire crystal structure of a lead battery as it operates, allows researchers to observe and control the processes impacting battery life and performance in real time. The project is a collaboration with the Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón and EU-based battery company Exide Technologies. INMA is a joint institute between one of Spain’s oldest universities, the University of Zaragoza, and the Spanish National Research Council, the largest public research institution in Spain and third largest in Europe. The project — which will be based at one of Exide’s R&D centres near Madrid — utilizes the NG6 cold neutron imaging instrument at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the US to provide imaging for the European scientists. The researchers will study the fundamental processes that govern recharge efficiency and battery electrode failure using neutron beamline experiments. Through a specific focus on electrodes, which transfer energy to and from the electrolyte to power the polarized device to which they connect, neutron diffraction will be used to study the batteries in operation across different duty cycles. For energy storage applications, many of which incorporate renewable energy elements, advanced lead batteries operate at partialstate-of-charge and in high
Interior of the Cold Neutron Imaging Instrument
depth-of-discharge — both demanding duty cycles. “The ability to probe battery electrodes in real time under typical energy storage duty cycles will deliver vital insights into how to enhance performance and the overall lifetime of the battery,” says Alistair Davidson, director of the CBI. “This information is a critical part of our advanced battery research program, which aims to ensure advanced lead batteries continue to innovate to meet heightened demand for clean, renewable energy
storage across the globe.” This project is one of a range of advanced battery innovation studies under way that are funded by CBI. “As countries target rapid carbon reduction in the battle to halt climate change, battery energy storage is set to be one of the
defining technologies of the century, with demand predicted to grow to 20,000MWh by 2025,” says Davidson. “Advanced lead batteries are a critical part of this landscape, with Europe home to leading manufacturing, recycling and research capability.”
“The ability to probe battery electrodes in real time under typical energy storage duty cycles will deliver vital insights into how to enhance performance and the overall lifetime of the battery”
Lead-based anode for possible lithium ion batteries, says Argonne Scientists from the US Argonne National Laboratory reported on February 15 details of a new electrode design for lithium-ion batteries using lead and carbon nano particles on the anode. Eungje Lee, principal author of the report and materials scientist in Argonne’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering division, claimed the new anode ‘could offer a new revenue stream for the large industry currently engaged in lead-acid battery manufac-
36 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
turing and recycling’. This is a huge claim given that the time required to take laboratory experiments on to the factory line is normally estimated as roughly 10 years and can often be a lot longer. The method so far in creating the nano-particles involves shaking, for several hours, large lead oxide particles mixed with carbon powder until they form microscopic particles with the desired core-shell structure. That said, “tests in lab-
oratory cells over 100 charge-discharge cycles showed that the new leadbased nanocomposite anode attained twice the energy storage capacity of current graphite anodes (normalized for the same weight)”, said Christopher Johnson, the principal investigator of the project. Contributors to this include scientists from Northwestern University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).
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TECHNOLOGY NEWS
New York sets up partnership to demonstrate hydrogen storage New York’s National Grid on March 11 said it had struck a partnership with Standard Hydrogen Corporation to demonstrate a hydrogen-based energy storage system in New York’s Capital Region. The system will produce hydrogen at the site using electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and then use the hydrogen as a medium for storing energy. Once installed, the system will offer nine energy services including electric service, heating, vehicle services and commercial gas services. The system is slated to be
finished by late 2022 and will be operated by Standard Hydrogen Corp in a ‘financially optimized manner’, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030, according to National Grid. “There is great hydrogen momentum right now,” said SHC co-founder and CEO Paul Mutolo. “National Grid understands the advantages of hydrogen to reach many of their future energy goals and SHC is delighted to deliver that value through the operation of our energy transfer station for National Grid.” William Acker, executive director of the New York
Battery and Energy Storage Technology consortium, better known as NY-BEST, said “When innovators work together with utilities, it provides a way to bring those benefits to New York more quickly, and with greater benefits for ratepayers.” The US Department of Energy is keen to push hydrogen research, with a Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office carrying out work to overcome the technological, economic and institutional barriers to the development of hydrogen and fuel cells. While recognizing hydrogen storage as a key ena-
New thermal battery 90% more cost-effective than lithium, laboratory claims
Ragaiy Zidan, lead author and inventor of the SRNL’s technology, said: “This study has shown the tremendous potential of exploiting chemical bonds to efficiently store energy, an areas that SRNL has been advancing for many years. We look forward to scaling this technology with TEXEL.” The thermal battery has
The Savannah River National Laboratory, one of 17 national laboratories owned by the US Department of Energy, said on February 2 it had developed new metal hydride materials in a thermal battery to create a unique energy storage technology. This, they said, competes with lithium-ion in providing the ‘Holy Grail’ of effective and efficient energy storage for grid-scale applications. SRNL, working with the Sweden-based TEXEL Energy Storage firm, which has a US office in California, ran a techno-economic analysis comparing its technology with Li-ion batteries storing energy integrated with grid-scale PV installations. “The SRNL team examined the impacts on the levelized cost of storage for several scenarios and found that the thermal battery technology should achieve a LCOS ranging from $0.019/kWh-$0.073/
kWh, at higher volume production, which compares positively to the cost of storage expected today for lithium-ion ranging from $0.087/kWh-$0.32/kWh,” the SNRL says.
Paul Mutolo: ‘great hydrogen momentum’
bling technology in applications including stationary power, portable power and transport, the DOE also notes that its low ambient temperature density results in a low energy per unit volume, which requires the development of advanced storage methods that have the potential for higher density. been developed with the new metal hydride materials in combination with a Stirling convertor, a power convertor that converts heat into electricity by oscillating a linear alternator. They were developed by Ford Motors, SRNL says, on the invention of the Stirling engine by Scot Robert Stirling in the early 1800s.
Leclanché in first secondary frequency regulation application of a gas turbine ENERGODATA, a provider of ancillary grid services in Slovakia, has chosen Leclanché to provide its proprietary energy management software along with a battery energy storage system for installation in a natural gas-fired power plant in Levice, Leclanché announced on February 10. The system should be fully operational by the fourth quarter of 2021. The Leclanché EMS and BESS will be installed in the Veolia gas power plant in Western Slovakia. The 5.2MW, 2.9MWh energy storage system go in the plant’s internal medium
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voltage grid. It will help the plant comply with new European secondary frequency control regulations for automatic frequency restoration reserve. The regulations, which becomes effective on January 1 next year, requires the plant to deliver its full power, when requested by the transmission system operator, in just 7.5 minutes instead of the current 15 minutes. Leclanché said that it will be the first time battery storage technology will be used to support secondary frequency regulation application of a gas turbine. It may also be the largest
battery storage project in Slovakia “Leclanché has previously provided energy storage systems for primary frequency control with Almelo in the Netherlands, Cremzow in Germany and the PJM in the US. This is now the first time in Eastern Europe that an energy storage system is being deployed to help an existing power plant to support secondary frequency control. This is a further contribution to stabilizing the European grid and helping to integrate more and more renewable production,” said Anil Srivastava, CEO, Leclanché.
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ANALYSIS: IDTECHEX
The logic behind Volkswagen’s long term, high-manganese cathode strategy The debate over what metals will be found in future generations of lithium battery cathodes continues given the constraints on availability and price. Research house IDTechEx gives its thoughts on how one car-maker is thinking about the future. While relatively light on technical content, an interesting point during Volkswagen’s recent Power Day referred to their long-term strategy of employing high-manganese cathodes for their ‘volume segment’ — a prominent role for a chemistry not currently in widespread use. Improvements to energy density are unlikely using high-manganese cathodes, with motivation for developing these materials instead stemming from a desire to reduce cost and eliminate cobalt consumption. But what does ‘high-manganese’ refer to, and how do they compare to other cathode materials? ‘High-manganese’ cathodes could refer to several different materials, and so it is unclear as to the specific material Volkswagen was referring to. The options for high-manganese cathodes include LMO (lithiummanganese oxide), LNMO (lithium-
nickel-manganese oxide), Li-Mn-rich (also abbreviated as LMR-NMC), and LMP (lithium manganese phosphate) or LMFP (lithium-manganese-iron phosphate). A comparison between NMC 811 and three high-manganese cathodes (LMFP, Li-Mn-rich, LNMO) shows that trade-offs in performance are always involved. Delving deeper into each option can help provide some insight into what specific material might be being developed for use. LMO (LiMn2O4) — firstly, commercially available high-manganese cathodes already exist in the form of the lithium-manganese oxide spinel, which was used for the first generation Nissan Leaf cars. However, it suffers from accelerated degradation at elevated temperatures, which leads to poor cycle life, hence the replacement of LMO with NMC in subsequent Nil
The potential for cost reduction that LNMO holds, without significantly reducing energy density, added to the possibility of eliminating cobalt consumption, suggests there is a future for this chemistry.
ssan Leaf generations. With a theoretical capacity of only 148 mAh/g and an average discharge voltage of approximately 4.0-4.1V, this cathode would lead to lower energy densities compared to cells using current state-of-the-art NMC or NCA layered oxides. LMP (LiMnPO4) and LMFP (LiMnxFe1-xPO4) — LMP shares the same olivine crystal structure as LFP but operates at a more positive voltage, increasing energy density. Cycle life tends to be low, due to the high manganese content, while the material has poor electronic and ionic conductivity, meaning that reasonable capacities are generally only measured at low charge/discharge rates. The addition of Fe to form LMFP can improve conductivity and cycle life but lowers the average voltage. LMFP may bridge the gap between LFP and NMC/NCA but the reversible capacities of LMP and LMFP are too low to reach the cell-level energy densities of cells using NMC/NCA. l
Li-Mn-rich (xLi2MnO3·(1-x)LiMO3 where M = Ni, Mn, Co) — the lithium-manganese rich, layered-oxide cathode is one of only a few options, alongside conversion type cathodes, that offer a capacity improvement over current state-of-the-art NMC and NCA materials. However, stability and cycle life are poor and require considerable improvement before commercialization can be expected. BASF’s high manganese cathode, NCM 217, may refer to a Li-Mn-rich type material. l
This leaves LNMO as the most likely cathode VW was referring to. The high-voltage LNMO spinel (LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4) operates at a voltage of approximately 4.7V vs. Li/Li+ and also holds potential as a high-power cathode due to its three-dimensional structure (improving Li diffusion pathways). However, its theoretical specific capacity is only 147 mAh/g, meaning it will not offer any advantage to specifl
Figure 1: Comparison between NMC 811 and three high-manganese cathodes (LMFP, Li-Mn-rich, LNMO). Source: IDTechEx
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ANALYSIS: IDTECHEX ic energy or energy density over highNi NMC or NCA cathodes. Furthermore, key issues with LNMO revolve around its low cycle life and poor stability, especially at elevated temperatures, while its high voltage also necessitates developments to electrolytes. As outlined by Volkswagen itself, the use of high-manganese cathodes represents a long-term strategy. Nevertheless, there is some commercial development of LNMO from the likes of Haldor Topsoe, NEI Corporation, and Targray. The potential for cost reduction that the material holds, without significantly reducing energy density, added to the possibility of eliminating cobalt consumption, suggests there is a future for this chemistry. The graph to the right shows how both nickel and cobalt intensity can be reduced by high manganese cathodes such as LNMO, offering a path to lower Li-ion battery costs. Given the trade-off between cost and different performance metrics from different Li-ion cathodes, a range of cathode materials will have to be employed by the Li-ion industry.
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Figure 2: Material intensity of key metals (kg/kWh). Source: IDTechEx
Further detail and analysis of Li-ion technology trends, and their impact on battery material demand forecasts, can be explored in IDTechEx’s reports Li-ion Batteries 2020-2030 and Materials for Electric Vehicle Battery Cells and Packs 2021-2031.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 41
LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY The highest energy lithium ion battery is now reckoned to have silicon in the anode and be nickel rich in the cathde. Moves to replace graphite in the cathode with silicon are advancing quickly. Moreover, nano size is all.
The great silicon anode race When Tesla announced at its ‘Battery Day’ in September that the company had used silicon in its battery anodes, the automotive press went wild, saying the company intended to revolutionize the use of silicon to slash costs and increase range. In fact the carmaker had already said in 2015 that it had partially replaced graphite with silicon in the anodes of the Model S batteries, increasing the car’s driving range by 6%, and there has been talk of doing it since then — but so far not much has been achieved. Increasing the amount of silicon is not a new idea — but making it work is, says Mahdokht Shaibani, an expert in materials synthesis, engineering and scale-up for next-generation energy storage systems at Monash University in Melbourne. “Silicon, the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust (about 28% by mass), with an ultra-high capacity to hold lithium (in theory as much as 10 times the capacity for a given weight compared to the commonly used graphite anode), has been an ideal candidate to explore as a new anode,” she says. “The maximum specific capacity of silicon at room temperature is 3,579 mAh g-1, which is comparable to the highest capacity anode material, lithium metal, due to the formation of Li15Si4 when silicon combines with lithium. It also offers an advantageous low working potential, promising high energy density when used in full cells and ensuring improved operation safety by inhibiting the growth of lithium dendrite. “But while the ‘large capacity to store lithium’ and ‘abundant’ boxes are ticked, the instability of a silicon anode has long intrigued research-
ers around the globe and has limited the amount of silicon in commercial electrodes to minimal quantities. Also, silicon is abundant, but that doesn’t necessarily mean manufacturing battery-grade silicon will be cheap.” Shaibani says the limiting factor in increasing the fraction of silicon in silicon/graphite composite anodes is the volume change that accompanies the charge-discharge process. “The resulting mechanical stress associated with the substantial volume changes in forming Li15Si4 could be as significant as 300%,” she says. “For graphite, upon lithiation to LiC6, the volume increases by only 9.4%, ensuring mechanical stability. As such, it would be difficult to imagine an all-silicon anode any time soon unless the breakthrough progress happens in accommodating the undesirably large stress. “Nonetheless, an increasing number of companies are working towards taking graphite out of the picture — a goal that some research groups have already achieved to a great extent. However, the sophisticated approaches used to produce nanoengineered battery-grade silicon makes the claim of a cheap replacement for graphite somewhat questionable. “While industrial-grade silicon costs only $1kg-2/kg, much less than that of the spherical graphite used in the anode, the battery-grade silicon could cost up to $2,000/kg if nano-sized.” Nexeon approach Japan and UK-based battery materials firm Nexeon was founded in 2006. It already has three sets of patents — 24 patents in all — relating to the use of silicon in lithium battery anodes, again with nano-scale silicon particles but also with methods of coating
carbon particles with silicon using vapour deposition. The company works with product OEMs and battery firms to develop what it says is the next generation of lithium-ion batteries, specifically when it comes to the anodes. Batteries International spoke to chief engineer Bill Macklin and Liya Wang, who was appointed chief technology officer in January. “It is well known that silicon powders expand when fully lithiated and then contract on delithiation,” says Wang. “These volume changes (of up to 300%) rapidly degrade silicon particles, which crack and fracture. This silicon is effectively pulverized within tens, or at best, a few hundred chargedischarge cycles. “To mitigate this effect, silicon particles need to be nano sized, ideally <100nm. This brings other challenges associated with processing and maintaining the mechanical integrity of the electrode when the silicon content is higher, in addition to the higher cost. “Nexeon’s solution is to assemble nano silicon within a larger particle along with engineered porosity to accommodate the silicon expansion. As a result, Nexeon materials have a much lower expansion than a typical silicon powder, such that even with high loading in the electrode up to 70%-85%, conventional binders can be used and cycle life can be maintained.” Nexeon has produced two silicon materials that it has called NSP-1 and NSP-2: the former allows silicon to expand without breaking or degrading the electrode; the latter restricts the silicon expansion, allowing for more to be used. The firm’s anode materials are under evaluation or qualification with various customers, Nexeon says, across a
“But while the ‘large capacity to store lithium’ and ‘abundant’ boxes are ticked, the instability of a silicon anode has long intrigued researchers around the globe and has limited the amount of silicon in commercial electrodes to minimal quantities. Also, silicon is abundant, but that doesn’t necessarily mean manufacturing battery-grade silicon will be cheap” — Makdohkt Shabani, University of Melbourne 42 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
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LITHIUM BATTERY TECHNOLOGY number of applications, with a range of silicon content from 8%-10% NSP-1 being evaluated with graphite, through to testing on silicon-only anode formulations for NSP-2, where the material content is 80%-85% of the electrode mass. The company’s NSP material uses an ‘economic source’ with a purity above metallurgical grade, but below that of solar grade materials. With NSP-2, the silicon precursor is an industry-standard chemical grade. “Battery cells with all-silicon-based anodes are realistically going to be on the market within two years,” the company says. “We do not believe there is an obstacle to mass adoption of our silicon materials — and we have developed our materials with cost and scalability very much in mind.” Expansion problem Liya Wang accepts that the battery industry has already successfully demonstrated the good cycle life from anodes with a silicon addition of about 5%, adopting it widely in electric vehicles and aerospace, but says the expansion phenomenon, and that in simple silicon powders, or non-porous composite powders of silicon and oxygen or silicon and carbon, cycle performance suffers. “However, a range of strategies is being employed to mitigate the potential adverse impact of expansion on cycle life when utilizing higher silicon content electrodes,” he says. “Nexon’s NSP-2 silicon material incorporates a proprietary particle design in which voids are present together with the silicon within the structure that can then accommodate a significant portion of the silicon expansion on lithiation, resulting in a lower overall electrode expansion and good cycle life. “In the case of NSP-2, customers can directly process the silicon material in their Li-ion production equipment, and are only required to optimize the electrode density at the standard calendaring stage. This eliminates the need to incorporate novel electrode structures, processing methods or new production equipment. “Additionally, Li-ion cell manufacturers have the flexibility to control the level of expansion of their silicon electrodes within the overall cell design via the amount of lithium available from the cathode.” Macklin says the major performance benefit of a high content silicon anode is the gain in volumetric
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energy density (Wh/litre), allowing increased run time or driving range. “When compared with graphitebased cells, a high silicon anode can deliver a 20% in increase in energy density,” he says. “With further optimization of the cathode to better match the silicon anode, overall cell level capacity gains over a graphite anode cell can be in the 35%-40% range — a very significant gain. There are then additional benefits from adopting a high silicon anode in terms of an overall increase in the cell gravimetric energy density (Wh/kg). “As a result of the higher anode potential of silicon, there is a reduced tendency for lithium plating to occur under fast charge conditions compared with graphite, so these are additional advantages for fast-charging applications.” When it comes to the higher cost of
producing battery-grade silicon, the key will be in mass production. “It is a realistic expectation that a number of battery-grade silicon materials, when mass produced to at least a 1,000 tonne/pa scale, can be competitive with graphite on a $/kWh basis,” he says. “There are of course examples of higher cost silicon anode types being developed by other companies, notably the silicon nanowire electrodes produced by catalytical growth that will be much more expensive, and will also require specialist electrode processing equipment. “The present two Nexeon silicon materials, NSP-1 abd NSP-2, have been developed with cost and scalability very much in mind, while also delivering high performance in the battery. At Nexeon we do not believe there is an obstacle to mass adoption of our silicon materials.”
OKINAWA TESTS NEW SILICON NANOSTRUCTURES A February 2021 study by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University has identified a nanostructure that improves the anode in lithium-ion batteries by using silicon instead of graphite. The report, Nano-vault architecture mitigates stress in silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries, explains how researchers placed silicon atoms on top of metallic nanoparticles to form an archshaped nanostructure, which increased the strength and structural integrity of the anode — helping to solve problems of the electrode fracturing and breaking due to the sudden 400% volume increase of lithium ions in the anode. Tests then showed the batteries had a higher charge capacity and longer lifespan, the scientists said. “Our goal was to try and create a more robust anode capable of resisting these stresses, that can absorb as much lithium as possible and ensure as many charge cycles as possible before deteriorating,” said senior author of the paper Panagiotis Grammatikopoulos. “And the approach we took was to build a structure using nanoparticles.” A previous paper in 2017 had explored a cake-like layered structure of silicon sandwiched between tantalum metal
nanoparticles, which improved the structural integrity of the anode, but the scientists could not work out why the material became gradually stiffer with a thicker silicon layer but only to a certain point, when it decreased. The new paper has finally answered the question. As silicon atoms are deposited onto the layer of nanoparticles, they form columns in the shape of inverted cones, growing wider and wider until they touch and form a vaulted structure. It is at precisely this point that the structure is at its strongest and battery performance at its best, with a greater charge capacity and stability, adding charge cycle capability. The breakthrough could have other potential material science applications, as well as being a step towards the commercialization of silicon anodes, Grammatikopoulos says. “The vaulted structure could be used when materials are needed that are strong and able to withstand various stresses, such as for bioimplants or for storing hydrogen,” he says. “The exact type of material you need — stronger or softer, more flexible or less flexible — can be precisely made, simply by changing the thickness of the layer. That’s the beauty of nanostructures.”
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 43
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INNOVATION. PERFORMANCE. RELIABILITY.
ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT NEWS
VRB Energy to install China’s biggest solar and flow battery Canadian vanadium flow battery firm VRB Energy on March 15 said it had agreed to install a 100MW/500MWh flow battery at a solar plant in China, which will be the country’s biggest solar battery. The agreement also includes a commitment to build a gigafactory for the manufacture of vanadium redox flow battery energy storage systems, as well as a research and development institute. The plant will be sited in
Xiangyang, Hubei province. “This project is a massive catalyst for VRB Energy’s global growth and further demonstrates that we are developing the absolute best technologies to support the worldwide green energy revolution,” said VRB Energy chairman Robert Friedland. “China wants to install over 1,000GW of new solar PV and wind power by 2030 and they are not alone in their commitment to decarbonization and the
greening of their power grids, with both the US and the EU prioritizing renewable power solutions. Energy storage remains a key challenge in the mass adoption of renewable energy.” Xiangyang already has a 3MW solar plant combined with a 3MW/12MWh vanadium battery, which was installed in 2019. “This presents an opportunity for scale-up of the vanadium flow battery industry, and we applaud the government’s plans to support development of a $14
billion world-leading vanadium energy storage industry cluster,” said VRB Energy CEO Mianyan Huang. The company says it is in talks with developers and utilities in Australia, South Africa and the US for 100MW PV + vanadium batteries. “With no cycle limits and no degradation of the vanadium electrolyte they are an ideal fit for the heavy duty daily cycling required for solar and wind integration to utility grids,” the firm says.
Plans revealed for world’s largest battery in Australia An announcement in February by the Australian firm CEP.Energy that it was planning to build the world’s biggest battery by about four times (1,200MW) would mean the amount of battery storage in Australia exceed predictions by a third. The battery, in New South Wales, would be eight times
larger than Australia’s current biggest system — the Hornsdale Power Reserve installed by Tesla in 2017 — and four times bigger than the Californian battery at Moss Landing, which has just come online. CEP.Energy chairman Morris Iemma said batteries were key at a time when traditional power genera-
Saft installs 25MW/25MWh facility, becomes largest grid scale in France Saft, the subsidiary of oil major Total, has switched on the largest grid-scale battery storage system in France, at 25MW/25MWh, the firm announced in January. Saft was contracted by French utility RTE to install the lithium-ion battery at the site of a former oil refinery operated and owned by Total in Dunkirk, northern France. It is providing fast reserve services to support the stability of the French power grid as part of government policy to develop electricity capacity, Total said. The battery is small compared with its counterparts in other countries. In March, RTE unveiled a pilot storage project in France using software-con-
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trolled batteries known as RINGO, in which one battery absorbs excess local energy output generated by renewable sources, while a second simultaneously releases it to areas of need. This is just one step in the development of France’s power system, which RTE predicts will need another 48TWh of storage, 10% of total consumption, to supply the increasing demand from electric vehicles.” Oil giant Total says it is building a portfolio of lowcarbon electricity operations, aiming to increase the proportion to 15%-20% of its sales by 2040. It claims its low-carbon power generation capacity is almost 7GW, of which more than 3MW is from renewable energy sources.
tion units, such as coal and gas stations, were being wound down. Australia does not keep a national register of energy storage systems, says the Smart Energy Council, whose 2018 report, Australian Energy Storage: Market Analysis, identified 55 large-scale energy storage projects, existing, planned or proposed, representing a total of 4GWh of storage, excluding pumped hydro. The Smart Energy Council is a combination of the Australian Solar Council and the Energy Storage Council, comprising more than 1.000 members from manufacturers, developers, distributors and installers. It said the combination of residential and commercial battery storage could deliver more than 3GWh, excluding this latest proposal and probably several others that have materialized since the report was written. These include plans revealed by Origin Energy in November to build a 700MW battery with four hours’ duration in the same region of New South Wales. Australia has long had some of the highest electricity prices in the world, exacerbated in part because of the closing down of large
coal-fired power stations. The size of the country also means that electricity networks are expensive to maintain, adding to customers’ bills. Coal station to BESS Separately, Utility EnergyAustralia on March 10 said it would bring forward the closure of its Yallourn coal power station in Victoria by four years and replace it with a four-hour 350MW battery by 2026. The 100-year-old coal station was going to be closed in 2032, but the utility has decided to retire it in 2028 instead, with the battery being installed by 2026. “EnergyAustralia is determined to demonstrate that coal-fired power can exit the market in a way that supports our people and ensures customers continue to receive reliable energy,” said managing director Catherine Tanna. “Meanwhile, our new battery will help to secure Victoria’s energy supply and enable more renewables to enter the system. It would be larger than any battery operating in the world today.” An A$10 million ($7.8 million) support package will be put in place for those who will lose their jobs when the coal plant closes.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 45
ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT NEWS
100,000 Cameroon homes to be connected to network of batterybacked minigrids More than 100,000 households in Cameroon could be connected to microgrids based on solar plus battery storage in the first feasibility study of its kind in the country, the US Trade and Development Agency said on March 25. California-based lithium battery designer and manufacturer SimpliPhi Power will provide the batteries to Renewable Energy Innovators Cameroon (REIc) for 134 minigrids in collaboration with the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), which is owned by the US Department of Energy. REIc managing director Jude Numfor said the ulti-
mate goal was to provide access to electricity for 760 remote villages in Cameroon over the next few years. Around 30% of Cameroon’s population lives below the poverty line, according to the Borgen Project, a poverty reduction NGO. The World Bank says that 37.3% of Cameroon’s population did not have access to electricity in 2018, although things have improved since 1990, when the proportion was double that. The SimpliPhi project is one of several minigrid initiatives around the world that USTDA is involved with.
Rural Puerto Rican community selected for battery minigrid The mountainous rural community of Castañer in Puerto Rico has been selected by Pathstone Corp and the Solar Foundation to have a minigrid installed for businesses in the area. The solar and battery system is being developed with the help of the Microgrid Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico and a grant from the US Economic Development Administration. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated the island nation, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing around $90 billion of damage. Many people were left without power for six months. In 2019 the Autoridad de Energia Eléctrica (Puerto Rico’s electricity authority) issued An Action Plan for a Greener, More Resilient Puerto Rico, in which it recommended minigrids
of ‘self-sufficient electric islands’ be created through distributed resources and transmission and distribution systems. It identified eight areas which have now been mandated as sites for segmenting the island’s grid into minigrids. These are a good option for the region, providing a decentralized system as opposed to larger networks that have a greater effect on people when power is cut. Separately, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority issued a formal request for proposals on February 22 to build 1GW of renewable energy capacity and 500MW of battery energy storage on the island. This is the first of six requests for proposals that aim to install 3.75GW of renewable energy sources and 1.5GW of energy storage in the coming years.
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Tata Power-DDL switches on India’s first BESS for grid connected community India’s first grid-connected community BESS was on March 27 switched on in Delhi, courtesy of Tata Power-DDL and Nexcharge, The relatively small 150kW/528kWh containerbased system has been provided to utility Tata PowerDDL by the Leclanché/ Exide Industries joint venture Nexcharge, which was formed in 2018. It will manage peak loads and voltage regulation and provide system flexibility and reliability at distribution level in Bani Ragh, which has a dense population and space constraints, which is why it was chosen. The system, known as CESS, also has a black start capability. “The set-up will help in providing continuous and reliable power to key consumers during exigency,” the firms say. “The battery energy storage system will charge during the off-peak hours and discharge power during peak condition, which will enhance the life of the asset, prevent the interruption on account of
overload and capex deferral in putting additional support for placing distribution transformers only to meet peak load.” “This will further strengthen our network and ensure reliable and quality power supply to our consumers at all times,” said Tata Power-DDL CEO Ganesh Srinivasan. “Instead of building humungous infrastructure of transformers and electric equipment, CESS can be used to meet peak demand while storing surplus power. I believe wider adoption of such storage systems will help in balancing the load curve of distribution companies and make them future ready.” “Battery storage will likely play an important role in India achieving its renewable energy capacity target of 450GW by 2030. India already has 93GW of on-grid variable renewable energy and is targeting annual additions of 20GW-40GW,” said analyst Kashish Shah, from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Aggreko commissions first gridstabilizing battery in Turkey Mobile and modular energy firm Aggreko said on March 30 it will install the first grid-stabilizing battery in Turkey. Just 500kW/500kWh in size, the battery will deliver system services to help the distribution system operator enhance grid stability. While being first deployed at a substation near Alaca, the modularity of the system means it can be redeployed to other substations in the region to provide temporary grid relief if necessary. Aggreko’s ‘Y.Cube’ batteries are housed in one 20ft standard container
and offer 1MW of power with a duration of 30 minutes or one hour. Quoting DNV GL Energy Advisory team leader Faik Tursun, the Turkish news agency Anadolu said the country should be tackling the rising share of renewables in its energy mix, which would require more storage. He said that the unit cost of battery technologies was expected to drop by 60% from 2016 to 2030, which would mean ‘even unfeasible projects will soon become feasible and profitable just in a few years’.
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ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCE NEWS
Cornish Lithium gets go-ahead to explore waters of south-west UK UK lithium exploration firm Cornish Lithium says permission granted in January to go offshore for the metal is one step in what could be the foundation of a major new industry in the UK, reducing the reliance of imported materials for battery manufacture. The firm also says it has identified in Cornwall 59 potential sources of cobalt, one of the most contentious materials required in lithium batteries because of its origin in the mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where child labour has been reported. Crown Estates, which has the monopoly over what happens to the seabed around the British Isles, has given the green light for the firm to explore the geothermal waters off the coast of Cornwall for lithium. The company has already identified 500 km2 of land inland where
lithium is abundant. Cornwall, the county furthest southwest in England, has enormous resources of the battery metal — and is one of only five giant lithium-enriched granite complexes in the world, according to Cornish Lithium CEO Jeremy Wrathall, citing a British Geological Survey carried out in 1987. He says that the outsourcing mindset of the UK needs to change, traditionally relying on imports when resources are just on the doorstep. “The UK is at a massive disadvantage — in fact it’s not even off the starting
blocks in terms of the supply chain,” said Wrathall. “We either face a future where we totally rely on imports, as Europe does, or we try to see if the geology is suitable here in the UK and that we can extract it in an environmentally friendly way. “Lithium was first discovered in Cornwall in 1864, and modern technology means we can exploit it now.” One of the advantages of mining for lithium in Cornwall is that so much of the county is heavily fractured already, which means there does not need to be any
more environmental impact. Widespread mining of China clay — a soft, white clay used in making fine, white porcelain — in Cornwall has largely been abandoned, but it means that there is an enormous area of already disturbed land where extracting lithium will not make an environmental difference. With BritishVolt’s plans to build a battery gigafactory in Wales, a domestic lithium source could be invaluable — or even, as Wrathall suggests, pave the way for more than one such facility in the UK.
“We either face a future where the UK totally relies on imports, as Europe does, or we try to see if the geology is suitable here in the UK and that we can extract it in an environmentally friendly way” — Jeremy Wrathall, Cornish Lithium
World’s biggest deposit of raw battery materials discovered on Pacific seabed A subsidiary of DeepGreen Metals, the Canadian deep sea exploration company, said in January it has found the largest untapped deposit of battery materials in the world, on the seabed between Hawaii and Mexico. The so-called Clarion Clipperton Zone is a one million square kilometre area far beneath the ocean waves and contains higher concentrations of nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt than have ever been found before, Nauru Ocean Resources, which has the NORI-D exploration contract for the area, says. While a four-megatonne — 4 million tonnes — resource has been estimated, there are a further 341Mt indicated and 11Mt inferred
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mineral resources, the company’s research has discovered. The metals are contained in polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, which sit on the seabed and can be collected without drilling or disturbing the underlying rocks. “They are made of almost 100% usable minerals, compared to ores mined from the land which have increasingly low yields (often below 1%),” the firm says. “This means that nodule collection has 99% less solid waste compared to landbased mining and generates no toxic tailings.” A December article Future material demand for automotive lithium-based bat-
teries, by authors from the Institute of Environmental Sciences in the Netherlands and the Argonne National Laboratory, said that in a lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide dominated battery scenario, demand would increase by factors of 18-20 for lithium, 17-19 for cobalt, 28-31 for nickel and 15-20 for most other materials up to 2050, ‘requiring a drastic expansion of lithium, cobalt and nickel supply chains and likely additional resource discovery’. “Closed loop recycling plays a minor, but increasingly important role for reducing primary material demand until 2050, however, advances in recycling are necessary to economi-
cally recover battery-grade materials from end-of-life batteries,” the report says, adding that second-use batteries would delay recycling potential. With the global grid-scale battery storage market size expected to record a CAGR of 24.4% between 2020 and 2027, according to market research firm Grand View Research, demand will not just come from the automotive sector. In July, ESJB reported that a Bill Gates-backed start-up, KoBold Metals, had begun seeking new sources of cobalt for the battery industry, and had secured the rights to explore an area of around 1,000 square kilometres in northern Quebec.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 47
ENERGY STORAGE VPP NEWS Unicore enters VPP market, launches US product with America Energy Unicore Investment on February 18 announced that it had entered into the US virtual power plant market through an Austinbased subsidiary, America Energy. America Energy and Unicore will work in cooperation with utility companies in the region, adding resiliency to the whole, while also placing the VPP as part of Unicore’s energy and real estate investment portfolio.
“VPP is already a growing industry in Europe ( for example in Scotland and Germany), and it represents the future of clean power generation and distribution,” said Unicore founder, Herve Ime. “In addition to big providers, VPPs allow private individuals to enter the network with local renewable sources of energy to become part of a growing chain of stable, decentralized energy solutions.
Shell acquires VPP provider Next Kraftwerke Royal Dutch Shell, the petrochemical giant, announced in early March it plans to acquire the remaining shares in Next Kraftwerke giving Shell total ownership of one of the world’s largest virtual power plant operators. This follows a similar acquisition by Shell in February 2019 of Sonnen, a German energy storage specialist that offers VPP services. The move is part of a much larger trend where the oil majors are taking an active stake in the development of the renewable energy market. Next Kraftwerke becomes part of the Renewables & Energy Solutions division at Shell. It will operate as a portfolio company in the Shell group under its existing brand and core management team. Next Kraftwerke staff will be offered continued employment following the completion of this acquisition, which as yet is subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition should be completed by the second
quarter of this year. Shell has said it aims to double its electricity business to about 560TWh by 2030. Next Kraftwerke is one of the largest VPP operators operating some 10,000 decentralized energy units across Europe. These generate electricity that is traded on behalf of Next Kraftwerke’s customers on the wholesale electricity markets. David Wells, VP Shell Energy Europe, said: “The power market is rapidly becoming more fragmented and distributed. Much of this is driven by more and smaller generators as well as increasing own=generation by consumers. The acquisition of Next Kraftwerke will accelerate Shell’s strategy to grow by adding smaller renewable assets to our portfolio. “The complementary skills of the two companies will also support utility scale large renewable projects by providing a wide range of hedging and risk management options.”
“The power market is rapidly becoming more fragmented and distributed” — David Wells, VP Shell Energy Europe 48 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
Singapore’s first VPP project to use Hitachi ABB Power Grids Hitachi ABB Power Grids, a company formed last July to develop electricity networks, will supply the energy storage system for Singapore’s first virtual power plant, the company said on February 4. The project, begun in 2019 by the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University, has been funded by the state’s Energy Market Authority and Semborp Industries. It will use intelligent protocols to integrate electricity from distributed energy resources, such as solar power, into the electricity system, optimizing the power output of resources across the island. Energy fluctuations resulting from solar intermittency will be balanced automatically via the VPP. “This marks a key mile-
stone in the VPP project, as energy storage is critical to the efficient integration of green energy into Singapore’s power grid,” said Sembcorp chief digital officer Matthew Friedman. In July, Hitachi completed a $6.85 billion 80.1% takeover of the Swiss technology firm ABB’s power grids division — a huge transaction that allows for a 100% take-over after 2023. News agency Bloomberg said at the time it was the biggest corporate deal Hitachi has made, and that it planned to move away from its nuclear plant business into electricity networks. ABB’s Power Grids division head, Claudio Facchin, was appointed CEO of the new firm, with Hitachi executive vice president Toshikazu Nishino becoming chairman.
Autogrid provides software for Total’s largest battery-based energy storage product in France AutoGrid, an artificial intelligence management software provider for the energy industry, announced on February 23 it was to provide frequency regulation capabilities to Total, the French oil major, for its largest batterybased energy storage project in France. This is a 25MW/25MWh lithiumion system at the Flandres Center in Dunkirk’s port district. The system will use the company’s AutoGrid Flex VPP management suite. This enables the system to provide stability to the French power grid in real time (less than 500 milliseconds) and supports Total’s participation in Europe’s Frequency Containment Reserves market. AutoGrid Flex controls
the project’s end-to-end market reserve purchasing from Reseau Transport Electricité the electricity transmission system operator of France. Currently in operation, the €15 million ($18 million) system is based on Saft’s Intensium Max 20 High Energy solution with 11 integrated 2.3MWh containers. Total Flex will operate the largest battery on the FCR market and monetize capacity accounting for up to 3% of the French market (total size of 650MW). Total has also been a minority investor in AutoGrid through its corporate venture capital arm Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures since 2016, thus supporting early on AutoGrid’s plans for smart energy networks.
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www.cellusuede.com Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 49
ENERGY STORAGE NEWS: IN BRIEF Apple in one of the largest US battery projects Computer giant Apple announced on March 31 it was boosting its presence in the energy storage sector with one of the largest battery projects in the US, a 240MWh system in the California Flats. The battery will store electricity generated by its 130MW solar farm and will be capable of storing enough energy to power more than 7,000 homes for one day, Apple says, marking ‘the next frontier’ of the company’s efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030. In the same announcement, Apple said 110 of its manufacturing partners around the world were moving to 100% renewable energy for their Apple production, which means almost 8GW is set to come online.
OCSiAl nanotube firm opens plant in Russia Nanotechnology firm OCSiAl on March 17 revealed it had opened a new plant in Russia to produce graphene nanotubes for lithium battery anodes, solving a degradation problem that has bothered researchers for years. While silicon is an abundant element — the second most abundant after oxygen — and has a large capacity for binding with lithium, when used in the anodes of a battery it becomes unstable and likely to fracture. OCSiAl says its nanotubes dispersions — which have the brand name Tuball — solve this problem in a cost-effective way, and the new plant, in Novosibirsk, has already passed one audit by a lithium battery manufacturer.
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“Elon Musk announced plans to increase the silicon content in EV battery anodes, and other leading battery manufacturers are also adopting this approach: substitution of the graphite by silicon, which addresses the key industry challenge of reaching high energy density, fast charge ability, and cost reduction of lithium-ion batteries,” OCSiAl says. “To meet the essential demand in solving key battery problems, we have opened a new, ultra-clean facility for Tuball Batt, our graphene nanotube dispersion for silicon anodes.” OCSiAl says the nanotubes serve as bridges between silicon particles, creating a robust network inside the anode and protecting it from degradation. AGL chooses Wärtsilä, Fluence to supply 1GW of storage Australian energy firm AGL picked Finnish manufacturing giant Wärtsilä and US-based energy company Fluence on January 14 to supply 1,000MW grid-scale energy storage. Last year, AGL said it planned to install battery storage systems near the Loy Yang A power station in Victoria, Liddell power station and Broken Hill in New South Wales, and Torrens Island in South Australia. “This framework agreement is another example of AGL getting on with the business of energy transition and will enable delivery against our commitment to build 850MW of grid-scale battery storage by FY2024,” said AGL chief operating officer Markus Brokhof. Decline in battery prices to cause storage systems to fall 30% in price The cost of front-of-meter storage systems fell faster than anticipated last year thanks to the drop in battery prices, said sector analyst Wood Mackenzie on January 19, and could fall by 30% by 2025. Improvements in battery energy density also contributed to lower overall balance of system (BOS) components and associated costs, senior analyst Mitalee Gupta said, along with other hardware components losing price variance between countries. China has the lowest all-in costs globally, and WoodMac says its systems are expected to fall 33% in 2025.
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ENERGY STORAGE NEWS: IN BRIEF US DOE to build $75 million grid storage research facility The US Department of Energy is building a $75 million grid storage facility to speed up the development and deployment of long-duration, low-cost grid energy storage, it announced on March 10. The Grid Storage Launchpad will be installed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richmond, Washington, and comprises 30 research labs that will have the technical capability of assessing technologies under real world grid operating conditions. The facility will not be ready for occupancy until 2025. “It took 40 years to get to the current state of today’s lithium-ion battery technology, but we need to move much faster to develop the long-duration, low-cost batteries needed to meet the significant challenges of decarbonizing the energy system,” said PNNL director Steven Ashby. “The GSL will speed up the process considerably by doing the work needed to develop and deploy new grid storage technologies.” Corvus Energy offers leasing of ESS to customers Corvus Energy, the marine energy storage firm, announced at the end of March it was offering a global lease financing product in cooperation with Viridis Kapital. Halvard Hauso, CCO of Corvus Energy,” said: “In almost all vessel segments, leasing can be a new business model for both containerized ESS solutions as well as ESSs in dedicated battery rooms,” Traditional equipment-secured bank financing may not always be available and often requires a large upfront equity commitment, said the firm. With a leasing solution, the investment barrier for shipowners is reduced. The firm also announced in January the introduction of the Corvus BOB, a containerized battery room solution for Battery-On-Board vessel applications. The pre-approved battery room simplifies integration into any system integrator’s power management system on board a ship. Corvus is working with Viridis Kapital, a privately owned Norwegian leasing company, specializing in financing of capital intensive equipment which is contributing to the green transformation.
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New ventures launched to relieve Texas power-outs International power firms have issued a wave of announcements of commissions in Texas following the devastating — and totally unseasonable — winter storms and power cuts that affected some five million people over several days. Supply fell short by about 3.4GW, according to ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages about 90% of the state’s electricity). Hunt Energy Network and asset management firm Manulife on March 22 launched a joint venture that aims to manage a portfolio of 500MW of distribution-level energy storage assets in ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) that came under fire during the blackouts this February. The joint venture will be called HEN Infrastructure, and will manage assets dispatched by Dallas-based Hunt Energy’s TraDER platform. The new company says 100MW of energy storage is in an advanced stage of development, with 400MW more to be deployed over the next three years. A week beforehand energy company Wärtsilä said it had been hired to supply energy storage technology for two projects in southern Texas. The two systems, named Madero
and Ignacio, will have a combined capacity of 200MW and will deliver grid support to the ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas Wärtsilä will supply its GridSolv Quantum modular energy storage system and GEMS smart energy management platform to monitor and control energy flow. Due to be fully operational by January 2022, the systems may be installed just in time if the freak winter storms seen this year happened again. In February CIT Group announced that it was arranging a portfolio of six battery storage systems with a total output of 230MW . The batteries, three of which are already operational, are owned by Key Capture Energy, which has an overall development pipeline of 2.5GW in New York and New England, as well as Texas. The other three should be completed this year. Texas is ranked fourth in the US for battery capacity. On January 7, Chinese battery giant CATL and Californian energy storage firm FlexGen said they would be increasing capacity by 220MWh with the installation of two standalone 110MWh batteries in the state.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 51
ENERGY STORAGE NEWS: IN BRIEF Emera, Novonix to develop new microgrid systems Emera Technologies and Canadabased Novonix Battery Technology Solutions announced on February 18 that the firms were working together to develop battery pack systems to support microgrids that will provide solar power directly to homes and plan to field test the first demo units this year. Last October, Emera Technologies launched BlockEnergy, which it said is the first utility-owned community microgrid platform. This partnered with Lennar homebuilders to implement the technology in a new residential community in Florida. JLEN takes 100% stake in 50MW battery storage project The wave of new investment in energy storage technologies continues unabated. JLEN Environmental Assets Group, a UK infrastructure fund, announced on March 3 it had acquired a 100% equity stake in Gigabox South Road Limited. GSRL holds the devel-
opment rights to construct the West Gourdie project, a 50MW lithium-ion battery energy storage plant based in Dundee, Scotland. JLEN will invest up to £21.2 million ($28 million) over the next 12-15 months. The West Gourdie project is approved and construction ready. The project should start commercial operations in March 2022. The West Gourdie project will be connected to Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution’s distribution network and has a 49.9MW import and export connection. Li-Cycle to list on NYSE Li-Cycle, which says it is the largest lithium battery recycler in North America, on February 16 signed an agreement with Peridot Acquisition Corp to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LICY. The transaction, which should close in Q2 2921 is expected to raise $615 million, which the company says will enable it to fully fund its planned global expansion.
Once completed, the combined company will be named ‘L-Cycle Holdings Corp’ and will be led by Ajay Kochhar, co-founder and CEO of Li-Cycle, and Tim Johnston, co-founder and executive chairman. Energy storage sector booms despite Covid crisis Corporate funding for battery storage, smart grid and energy efficiency rocketed by 112% to $8.1 billion in 2020 compared with $3.8 billion in 2019, a February report by Mercom Capital says. The battery storage sector saw a 136% rise in corporate funding, with $6.6 billion in 54 deals, although venture capital funding for battery firms was down $0.2 billion from last year’s $1.7 billion, it said. Lithium-ion battery technology was the clear winner, receiving VC funding of $649 million, with solid state batteries and flow batteries also getting a share of the cake. Up to 2025, the energy storage market should grow at a CAGR of around 24.4%.
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ENERGY STORAGE NEWS: IN BRIEF
UK National Grid and PPL Holdings in multi-billion dollar utility deal for Western Power Distribution The UK National Grid has agreed to buy Western Power Distribution from US firm PPL Holdings for $7.8 billion as it sells Narragansett Electric, a Rhode Island gas network owned by the UK company, to PPL for $3.8 billion, it announced on March 18. Later this year the National Grid will also begin a process that will culminate in the sale of its majority stake in National Grid Gas plc, which owns the national gas transmission system. National Grid says the transactions will pivot the portfolio towards electricity; strengthen its long-term outlook with an increased presence in electricity distribution; help achieve the UK’s net zero targets; and generate returns for shareholders, among other things. The sale means 40% of the National Grid Group’s assets will still be in the US, where it began expanding in 2000 with the acquisition of the New England Electric System and Eastern Utilities Associates. It bought the Rhode Island network in 2006. The former state-owned company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in December 1995. Western Power Distribution is based in Bristol, in England’s south west. It is the largest UK electricity distribution business, and is expected to see huge growth because of the energy transition away from fossil fuel burning and towards renewables and storage. In August 2020 PPL announced plans to sell WPD, which is made up of four distribution network
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operators serving nearly eight million customers in central and southwest England and south Wales. “These transactions will be transformational for our UK portfolio,” said National Grid CEO John Pettigrew. “The acquisi-
tion of WPD is a one-off opportunity to acquire a significant scale position in UK electricity distribution. WPD has a high quality, fast growing asset base and an excellent track record of customer satisfaction, operational performance
and financial returns. “We have received a premium valuation for our Rhode Island business and I am confident that we will also deliver attractive shareholder value from the NGG sale in due course.”
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 53
ANALYSIS
Why EV Batteries need ripple current testing The powertrain architecture of an electric vehicle consists of power electronic components and motors (figure 1) to manage the energy flow between different powertrain subsystems and transmit the torque and power to the wheels. These power subsystems generate undesirable electrical harmonics on the DC bus of the powertrain. This may cause the vehicle battery to be subjected to DC and superimposed undesirable high-frequency and low-frequency AC — that is, ripples. Actual measurements demonstrated obvious current harmonic disturbances in the range of 50Hz to 4kHz on the high-voltage DC bus of the EV. When the battery is fully charged or fully discharged, the impact of a ripple current may cause the battery to be overcharged or over-discharged temporarily. However, present BMS protection mechanisms ranged between 10mS and 1mS cannot achieve battery protection through timely blocking the BMS protection circuit unit from transient overcharge and over-discharge at ripple frequencies of 100Hz to 1kHz and above. In a low temperature environment, the internal resistance of the battery will increase several times to enlarge the impact of the ripple current on it. Many studies on the aging mechanism of lithium-ion batteries (figure 2) indicate that lithium-ion battery overcharge could trigger the deposition of lithium plating on the surface of the negative electrode. Part of the lithium metal becomes
Figure 1: EV powertrain architecture
54 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
Figure 2: Li-ion battery aging mechanism
dead lithium and can no longer participate in the redox process. Serious deposition of lithium dendrites could even generate an internal short circuit in the battery. However, over-discharge of the battery cell may cause the dissolution of transition metals and the corrosion of the current collector, resulting in active materials loss. Such misuse will eventually cause the capacity and power of the battery to degrade and increase the risk of internal short circuit. Therefore, conducting a ripple impact test is very important to evaluate the reliability of the EV battery as well as its lifespan and safety. The ripple current test mainly assesses battery endurance to transient and excessive use. Through a sine wave, it can simulate the power supply ripple of vehicle charging. If you want to shorten the test time, the most com-
mon methods are enhancing the ripple current amplitude or testing in a low temperature environment. Several major European battery manufacturers have recently successfully adopted Chroma’s current charging/discharging test solution.
Chroma’s Ripple Superposition test solution offers the following characteristics to ensure the reliability of EV batteries: • Test frequency range between 100Hz-20kHz with AC current amplitude up to 150Ap-p • Independent AC/DC circuit design to suppress the ripple voltage on the DC charging/ discharging cut-off judgement • Ripple current superposition on various DC control modes such as: CC, CV, CP charge/ discharge modes • Integrable safety chamber and test fixture
References 1S.-A. Amamra, Y. Tripathy, A. Barai, A. D. Moore, and J. Marco, “Electric Vehicle Battery Performance Investigation Based on Real World Current Harmonics,” Energies, vol.13, 2020. 2C. Birkl, M. Roberts, E. McTurk and P. Bruce, “Degradation diagnostics for lithium ion cells,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 341, pp. 373-386, 2017.
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COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING
The pros and cons of making lead oxide Barton Pot versus Ball mill Which process — the Barton Pot or the Ball mill — is the more efficient way of manufacturing leady oxide? In North America, Barton Pot is preferred, in Europe it’s Ball mill. But it’s more than just a balance between cost and quality.
Lead oxide production is one of the basic building blocks in manufacturing lead acid batteries. A good oxide makes a good battery — it’s as simple as that. But it’s also as complex as what function that battery will be charged to do. The two main lead oxide production methods are the Ball mill and the Barton Pot processes. Each involves the production of lead oxide (PbO) mixed with unoxidized lead.
56 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
The mix of lead oxide and this unoxidized lead is called leady oxide. The Barton Pot process involves the oxidation of molten lead, whereas the Ball mill process involves the oxidation of solid lead. At its simplest, the Barton process, produces leady oxide by feeding molten lead into a pot and vigorously agitating it to break the lead into small droplets. Oxygen from a stream of air oxidizes a certain amount of the
lead into a mixture of yellow lead, red litharge and metallic lead. Both yellow lead and red litharge are PbO but have different crystalline properties. In the Ball mill process, leady oxide is produced by placing high-purity lead slugs in a rotating Ball mill, the friction within which generates heat, while a forced flow of air provides oxygen. This results in particles of litharge and some unoxidized metallic lead.
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COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING LEAD OXIDES • α-PbO known as litharge The crystalline shape is tetragonal. This shape is important in the pasting process in defining the output of the finished battery. The colour is red, but not to be confused with red lead (below)
At its most basic comparison, the Barton Pot method is more productive, while the leady oxide produced by the Ball Mill method is more reactive.
• β-PbO known as massicot. The crystalline shape is orthorhombic. The colour is yellow. • Pb3O4 known as red lead or minium though it can have an orange hue to it. • Leady oxide, this is when PbO is mixed with a proportion of lead
Comparison of Barton Pot and Ball mill oxides Characteristic
Barton Pot
Ball mill
Particle size
3mm–4mm median diameter
2mm–3mm median diameter
Stability/reactivity in air
Generally more stable
Generally high. Can cause storage and longdistance transport problems
Oxide crystal structures (wt%)
5–30% β−PbO (typ.), remaining balance α-PbO
Essentially 100% α-PbO
Acid absorption (in mg H2SO4 g−1oxide)
160–200 (unmilled, up to 240 with hammer milling)
240
Surface area (m2 g−1)
0.4–1.8
2.0–3.0
Free lead content (wt%)
Approx. 18–28
Approx. 25–35
Paste mixing characteristics
Makes a softer paste that can result in easier pasting
Makes a slightly stiffer paste that can require careful control
Battery performance
Enhances battery life, but can result in lower initial capacity
Batteries have good initial capacity, but possibly shorter life
Process control
Can be more difficult, but recent computer controls are helping
Easier, more consistent oxide
Typical production rate (kg h−1)
300–900
Possibly up to 1000
Investment considerations
Lower initial and operating costs; compact in size; relatively quiet; costs less to maintain; uses less energy to run
Higher initial and operating costs; requires more space; noisy; costlier to maintain
Energy use (kWh t−1)
Up to 100
100–300
Environmental aspects
With well-engineered environmental systems (including baghouse and storage), existing emissions standards can normally be met
Sources: Lead-Acid Batteries (Science and Technology) 2017, Detchko Pavlov and Journal of Power Sources 59, 1996 Michael Mayer, David Rand
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Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 57
COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING
“Barton Pot is most appropriate for cells/ batteries requiring a tetrabasic plate cure, Barton Pot oxide has a significant fraction of orthorhombic lead oxide (β-PbO) which is favoured for tetrabasic cured plates” Roz Batson, chief executive at Clearsci-labs
The Barton Pot and Ball mill lead oxide processes have their own advantages and disadvantages, but for reasons — sometimes still unclear even to those in the market — the Barton Pot is more common in North America while Ball mill is preferred in Europe. Some firms, such as Exide Technologies, use both methods for making lead oxide. At its most basic comparison, the Barton Pot method is more productive, while the leady oxide produced by the Ball mill method is more reactive. Although both types are suitable for automotive batteries, many European and Japanese companies favour Ball mill oxide for deep-cycle batteries, whereas in North America Barton Pot is preferred. “Habit may be a determining factor rather than practicality in some cases,” says one commentator. “Costs are a consideration but, once committed to a system, changing processes would be very expensive as this would entail replacing more than the process itself.” Differences The differences and relative merits of Barton Pot versus Ball mill leady oxide depend on the user, says Roz Batson, chief executive at Clearsci-
THE POWERFUL USE OF ADDITIVES The basic leady oxide performance can also be enhanced by additives to the positive and negative pastes. PENOX’s Hardy says: “Such additives focus on improving the crystal structure, paste porosity and finally the electrochemical performance of the active masses — PENOX tetra-basic additives TBLS+ is an example of such an additive. Much work is also taking place on expander formulations for the negative paste to enhance the performance. Again, PENOX has a range of specific expander recipes dependent on the application. “All this being said, there is still more to be done with the leady oxide itself — a tightening of the current specification ranges is a given but there is also an additional focus on the influence of the PbO crystal modification and the particle size distribution. “This leads to the concept of modifying the basic oxides — this
58 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
can be via microscopic coating with additives to further enhance the technical performance. An example of this is PENOX Red Lead+, a red lead oxide coated on a particulate level with a tetra-basic sulphate seeding additive. In this way, the tetra-basic seeding crystal distribution within the red lead is very homogenous rather than relying on the (at times) poor macro-mixing in many paste mixers.” Hardy says that for Barton/P20 processes, the key challenges are to allow for operation and the rapid transition between different final oxide characteristics — varying the particle size, the tamped density, the alpha-beta PbO ratio as required for specific lead battery production. “All of this has to be achieved while maintaining a highly energy efficient process meeting the latest standards for operator safety and environmental performance.”
labs. Clear Science is a Minneapolis laboratory specializing in the testing, research and development of metals, powders, porous materials, coatings, and advanced materials. “Barton Pot systems generally require lower initial investment and lower energy to operate. However, ongoing process control is more delicate with Barton Pot,” says Batson. Ultimately, the relative merits depend on the downstream manufacturing processes (mixing, pasting, curing, formation) and the type of service the cells/batteries will see be they automotive, deep cycling, or float and the like. Logistics factor in as well, because Ball mill oxide is more reactive and is therefore more difficult to transport long distances. Barton Pot is most appropriate for cells/batteries requiring a tetrabasic plate cure, says Batson. “Barton Pot oxide has a significant fraction of orthorhombic lead oxide (β-PbO) which is favoured for tetrabasic cured plates. Ball mill oxide has almost no β-PbO. Its oxide fraction consists of tetragonal lead oxide (α-PbO) which results in a tribasic plate cure.” Joe McKinley, owner at Eagle Oxide Services, says Ball mill is more costly to set up and more expensive to run in operational terms. There are also oxide characteristic differences. “Ball mill oxide tends to be more reactive than Barton oxide,” he says. “Many automotive battery manufacturers lean towards using Ball mill oxide in the automobile starting batteries. The high reactivity of the Ball mill oxide tends to give a higher cold cranking amp rating. “Barton oxide, having a lower reactivity and larger, more dense particles, can be favoured by non-automotive batteries, (forklift, UPS, long-cycle and multiple-cycle batteries, AGM)
“Habit may be a determining factor rather than practicality in some cases. “Costs are a consideration but, once committed to a system, changing processes would be very expensive as this would entail replacing more than the process itself.” www.batteriesinternational.com
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COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING IN-HOUSE MANUFACTURING OR SUPPLY DRIVEN?
“Barton oxide, having a lower reactivity and larger, more dense particles, can be favoured by non-automotive batteries, (forklift, UPS, long-cycle and multiple-cycle batteries, AGM) because the life of the batteries tends to last longer with these characteristics of Barton oxide” — Joe McKinley, owner at Eagle Oxide Services because the life of the batteries tends to last longer with these characteristics of Barton oxide.” Meanwhile some battery manufacturers use both technologies and produce Barton oxide for the negative plates, and Ball mill oxide for the positive plates, or vice versa). Barton oxide manufacturing can be enhanced by adding a hammer mill after the Barton oxide system that reduces the particle size and increase the acid absorption of Barton oxide, making it similar in action to Ball mill oxide. This tends to have very small, flake like particles, which gives a high surface area which leads to generally higher acid absorption characteristics for Ball mill oxide compared with Barton oxide. Barton oxide particles tend to be larger and more spherical, which tends to give high apparent density characteristics for Barton oxide. “Ball mill oxide tends to have all α-PbO crystal structure, being formed at low temperatures. Barton oxide typ-
60 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
Batson says that leady oxide is the most critical starting component for lead acid battery manufacture. Physical characteristics of leady oxide must be matched correctly to the downstream processes and to the final service application. “Manufacturers typically have leady oxide characteristics finely tuned to their specific processes. There is great reluctance to change oxide because it is expensive and time-consuming to confirm good performance after making a change. “I would assume that battery manufacturers would be incorporating oxide manufacture on-site because they want more control of this critical component. They may see a cost-benefit in not shipping and in self-certifying their material. Also, there may be a large population of oxide manufacturing systems that are simply aging out of service at the same time and replacements are being installed.” McKinley says that oxide production, in either form, is a critical process to battery manufacturers. “They must have lead oxide in some form. In the US and Europe, and a few other countries, a battery manufacturer can purchase lead oxide from lead oxide manufacturers, having it shipped to the battery factory in trucks or bags. Where lead oxide manufacturers are not readily available, the battery factory must have some oxide production equipment in the factory. Most battery factories around the world produce lead oxide in their factory. “There’s also a difficulty in changing processes. Battery factories that have historically used one oxide or the other, have their downstream processes (pasting, curing, formation) all set up for using that type of oxide and its given characteristics. Changing from one oxide to the other
would require changes to those downstream processes in order to be successful.” PENOX’s Hardy says that leady oxide production has traditionally been part of the battery manufacturing process — the basic manufacturing process for leady oxide is relatively simple, transport of lead oxide (hazardous material) can be expensive with a lot of administration. Maintaining a leady oxide production capacity to meet the average demand is standard in most lead-acid battery production sites. Where there are peaks in demand or breakdowns then third party suppliers can offer a supply service. Given that leady oxide accounts for the majority of the active mass (positive and negative plates) for most lead-acid batteries then the control of this material is key to the performance and costs of the battery manufacturer. Hardy says the performance of lead-acid batteries in each application area become more demanding (reduced weight and costs, greater life-cycle under more varied operational chargedischarge profiles — so the focus on the performance of the active mass (positive and negative) has increased. “In addition to the leady oxides produced in Barton and Ball mill processes, especially red lead (Pb3O4) and at times litharge, are used to improve the cycling and charge-discharge performance. “Both red lead and litharge are produced in a two-step oxidation processes that require more specialized production equipment and infrastructure. For the vast majority of lead acid battery manufacturers, such secondary oxidation processes do not make economic sense. Traditionally, such oxides are delivered by specialized oxide producers such as PENOX.”
Given that leady oxide accounts for the majority of the active mass (positive and negative plates) for most lead-acid batteries then the control of this material is key to the performance and costs of the battery manufacturer. www.batteriesinternational.com
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COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING ically has a ratio of alpha and β-PbO crystal structures throughout its particles. Barton oxide tends to make a better paste for grid-adhesion,” says McKinley.
David Hardy, chief technology officer of PENOX says that because a mill oxide is produced via an abrasion process, the oxide is much finer than for a Barton oxide: “mill oxide has a
The Barton process offers more flexibility in terms of the oxidation level as well as the product fineness. Dependent upon the process used for producing the lead cylinders or chips, then a mill oxide in general has a higher specific energy consumption than a Barton oxide.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Exhaust stack
Pb Ingots Ingot Crane Ingot Dosing Lead Melter Lead Cylinder Casting Machine Elevator For Lead Cylinders Lead Cylinder Storage Bunker Water Injection Oxide Mill Temperature Measurement Sound Proofing Filter Secondary Filter Main ventilator Silencer Transport Equipment Final Product Storage
15
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13 16 Local Ventilation
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Schematic of a Mill Oxide Process
Schematic of the Ball mill process
1 2 3 4 5 6
Pb Ingot Conveyor Lead Melter Lead Dosing Process Air Inlet Reactor Stirrer Drive System
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Pre-Separator Cyclone Filter Main Ventilator Oxide Product
7 1
4 2
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Schematic representation of the Barton Process For the Oxidation of Liquid Lead
62 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
8
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Schematic of the Barton Pot process
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higher sieve residue, which can be explained by the strong tendency of mill oxide to agglomerate. Scanning electron microscope analysis of Barton and mill oxides shows that mill oxide contains thin flakes of lead from the abrasion process around which fine dust tends to collect and form an agglomerate.” The Barton process offers more flexibility in terms of the oxidation level as well as the product fineness. Dependent upon the process used for producing the lead cylinders or chips, then a mill oxide in general has a higher specific energy consumption than a Barton oxide (ca. 100 kWh/t versus 130 kWh/t). Barton systems are available with up to 25-28 tonnes/day oxide capacity. Oxide mills producing more than 30 tonnes/day are commercially available. The lower reactivity of Barton oxide makes it easier to transport both mechanically and pneumatically. Barton oxide is also less sensitive to further oxidation in the storage silos, especially under warm and humid conditions. “Serious oxidation in a filter can generate a local fire and in a silo can lead to the need to dig out the product leading to production and product loss. In addition, dependent upon the project scope, a Barton process has a lower capital cost than an equivalent mill oxide process,” says Hardy. Choosing the oxide McKinley believes that as Ball mill oxide tends to be more reactive than Barton oxide, many automotive battery manufacturers lean towards using Ball mill oxide in the automobile starting batteries. “The high reactivity of the Ball mill oxide tends to give a higher cold cranking amp rating. “Barton oxide, having lower reactivity and larger, more dense particles, can be favoured by non-automotive batteries, (forklift, UPS, long-cycle and multiple-cycle batteries, AGM) because the life of the batteries tends to last longer with these characteristics of Barton oxide.” Some battery manufacturers use both technologies and could produce Barton oxide for the negative plates, and Ball mill oxide for the positive plates (or vice-versa). Barton oxide manufacturing can be enhanced by adding a hammer mill after the Barton oxide system that reduces the particle size and increase the acid absorption of Barton oxide, making it very similar in action to Ball mill oxide. Hardy believes that from a produc-
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COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING
Inside a Penox plant
INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS OF CAM BALL MILL SHOWS 100% LEVELS OF TETRAGONAL LEADY OXIDE CAM, the Italian industrial automation engineering company, announced on March 16 that leady oxide from its CAM MOP 30 ball mill had been tested by the University of L’Aquila’s department of chemical engineering in Italy. The test results showed: 87.8% tetragonal litharge [red lead], and 12.1% of [the unoxidized] lead, the firm said. “The results were sensational,” said Francesco Marfisi, electrical manager at CAM: “The thing to note is the high percentage of tetragonal litharge, and the absence of orthorhombic oxide — this is fantastic because it means that batteries produced with this oxide will be more reliable over time, with consistent performance.”
A tetragonal crystal structure allows the leady oxide to better adhere to the grid while orthorhombic crystals are more prone to flaking. Marfisi says that CAM’s ball mills are the only mills that have an internal cooling system using water spray. “By controlling the temperature inside the mill in a direct manner, you never have peaks of temperature which could cause the formation of orthorhombic crystals.” The internal cooling system makes the controls of the Ball mill capable of being adjusted precisely very rapidly inside the mill. The university testing was done under the auspices of professor Giuliana Taglieri and research fellow Valeria Daniele.
ANOTHER WAY TO MAKE LEADY OXIDE One method for making leady oxide without using either the Barton Pot or Ball Process requires a cementation reaction in HCl solution using a pure aluminium or a magnesium rod as the reductant, according to South Korean academics Ho Joon Shin, Ki-Won Kim and Hyo-Jun Ahn. As yet, no commercial production facilities exist. The particle-size distribution of the leady oxide produced by this new process is similar to that of Ball mill
64 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
oxide. Its acid absorption, however, is much higher because of the different particle shape with respect to Ball mill oxide. Ball mill oxide is composed of particles of non-uniform plate shape, whereas the new leady oxide is composed of particles of perfect flat (flake) shape. This new method of making oxide has a higher specific surface area and greater acid absorption than Ball mill or Barton Pot oxide.
“Modifying the basic oxides via microscopic coating with additives can further enhance the technical performance. An example of this is PENOX Red Lead+, a red lead oxide coated on a particulate level with a tetra-basic sulphate seeding additive. In this way, the tetra-basic seeding crystal distribution within the red lead is very homogenous rather than relying on the (at times) poor macro-mixing in many paste mixers” — David Hardy, PENOX tion viewpoint, PENOX’s Barton/P20 leady oxide has some advantages — lower specific energy means reduced energy costs and lower reactivity means lower fire risk in filters and silos and easier storage and handling. “Mill oxides are often stored for one to two days before using in the paster to avoid excessive reaction and heat generation. One advantage of the mill oxide process is that it tends to run with lower operator intervention (once the lead chips/cylinders are available).” He says that the major difference between Barton and mill oxide, especially in terms of their electrochemical performance are the particle shape/ form, reactivity (related to the particle size) and the alpha-beta PbO ratio. “For 4BS (tetra-basic sulphate) curing then Barton oxide (with a given percentage of orthogonal-PbO of around 5%) is preferred. The mill oxide, a pure tetragonal-PbO can only, with high temperature and steam, undergo 4BS curing. 4BS is found more in industrial applications due to the better cycling-life performance and depth of discharge performance. “With advances in SLI technology trending towards EFB and AGM then 4BS is also preferred. This suggests a Barton leady oxide will be more suitable for such lead battery processes.”
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COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING
The way we were … a brief history of lead oxide production The industrial processing of lead in furnaces dates well before Planté’s invention of the lead battery in 1859. The initial starting point for making lead for batteries was a cumbersome process. Red lead (Pb3O4) was melted in a reverberatory furnace to obtain lead oxide which then had to be run through a hammer mill to reduce the particle size to obtain the powder. The litharge produced was α-PbO. The first big advance in lead oxide manufacture
dates to the late 1890s and a firm with the improbable name of Matthews’ Lancashire, Cheshire and North Wales District White Lead Company. There its manager, George Barton, worked out a system where the melted lead could be stirred mechanically with air and steam and the resultant lead oxide could be skimmed off. The process was sound but uncommercial as only two thirds of the metal was converted to the oxide. Barton was awarded
66 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
his first patent for this in 1898 but it took him a few years more to perfect the process and further patents were taken out in 1902 and 1908. Around this time the so-called Eckford Pot emerged as a variant on Barton’s invention. Both Pot processes generated a significant fraction of orthorhombic lead oxide (β-PbO). Although the Barton Pot only became widespread in North America in the middle of the 20th century, the National Lead Company
in the US in 1913 bought both Eckford’s and Barton’s patents. Both William Eckford and George Barton each made a fortune but to Barton was given the memory of his surname. Competition for a speedy process to make lead oxide came in the early 1920s from an unusual source a manufacturer of laboratory instruments in Japan. The man behind the process was Umejiro Shimazu, who changed his name to that of his father, Genzo Shimazu in his honour.
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COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING machine could be built. The first Shimazu patents describing the ball mill process emerged in the early 1920s but the clincher patent, filed in 1923 and granted in 1925 was called the Process of manufacturing powder of lead suboxide intermingled with power of metallic lead. The cleverness of the idea was in its simplicity. But in practice this required fine ad-
justments to get the right amount of litharge and metallic lead out. Both the Barton Pot and the Ball mill processes have developed over the years. Changes in manufacturing have advanced steadily with greater control. For example, as late as the start of this new century, processes were still being fine-tuned to adapt to the changing secondary lead
feedstock. The addition of silver, for example, to positive grid alloys is beneficial to the cycle life of SLI batteries. However, when these grids enter the recycling stream they retard the lead oxidation process. One solution developed by David Prengaman, president of RSR Technologies, was the addition of minute additions of magnesium.
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National Lead Company, Boston photo circa 1900
Shimazu the father was a skilled maker of butsugu (Buddhist altar fittings) with an extraordinary scientific precocity and who set up the Shimadzu Corporation which manufactures specialized equipment to this day. Genzo Shimazu, the son, realised the potential a ball mill could have in the process. Devices for shaking materials along with hard balls might be old, but it was not until the industrial revolution and the invention of steam power that a
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Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 67
COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING
Batteries International interviewed Massimiliano Ianniello, general manager at Italy based multinational engineering house, Sovema for his preference for Ball Mill machines. Which process do you use and why, Barton Pot or Ball mill? How do they differ? Right from the start Sovema decided to develop only Shimazu Ball mills, as the oxide produced with this process is suitable for all applications. It’s not the case with the oxide produced with the Barton process — especially for applications where cold cranking is required. What makes the different processes appropriate for use? The oxide powder produced by these two processes is different by shape, size of the particles, and surface area. To achieve the best performances, it is necessary to have small-size particles with a wide surface area. Generally speaking, the Ball mill process produces lead oxide with small particles but wider surface area, compared to the oxide produced with the Barton Pot process. These features
Sovema Ball Mill
affect the reactivity of the oxide, making the oxide produced with Ball mill process suitable for all the applications. Why are they now being incorporated into battery manufacturers’ factory sites? How important are the processes to successful battery manufacture? The incorporation of oxide production into battery manufacturing factory sites has been a fact for many decades now. We assume that the critical issues generated by handling and transporting the oxide are not comparable to the benefits of controlling the process in the factory. Are there rival processes? Other possibilities? There are other processes to produce lead oxide, however these two are the main ones, with the Ball mill process as the most widespread among battery manufacturers. What are the challenges and advantages of the process you use? Lead oxide is at the heart of the battery and its quality is reflected in the quality of the battery itself. Control of the production process is the key to get lead oxide of a high and consistent quality. Sovema has extensive experience in this more than 350 installations worldwide. Process control is reached
Lead oxide is at the heart of the battery and its quality is reflected in the quality of the battery itself. Control of the production process is the key to get lead oxide of a high and consistent quality. through a design that automatically adjusts the operation of the machine to keep the lead oxide stable. The main advantages of Sovema system are: • Constant control of the mass in the Ball mill. • Configuration with external/internal/combined cooling, according to the environmental conditions and the oxide specifications required by the customer • Attention to the energy efficiency, as motors handled by high-efficiency inverters • Predictive maintenance on the main wearing parts • Advanced diagnostic and online troubleshooting • Compliance to Industry 4.0 requirements with remote supervision (from smartphone, tablet, etc.), with direct access to the working parameter, diagnostics, trends etc.
Recently Sovema has introduced a remote control app called ViSo — a mix of the Latin for Visum and Sovema — that works with 30t/day models of Sovema Oxide Ball Mill, to monitor in real-time the status of the machine
The app is able to connect with the machine’s PLC, verify its parameters, and provide visibility for the main trends through any browser by smartphone, computer or tablet. This follows real-time trends and also records the history of the main parameters, such as temperature, depression and weight. 68 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
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COVER STORY: LEADY OXIDE MANUFACTURING
Surface area, reactivity and cycle life
Acid absorption, mg H2SO4 per g oxide
260 Ball Mill 220
180
Capacity, % vs theoretical
70 60 50 Tetragonal Alpha -PbO
40
Leady oxide Surface area: 0.57m2 g-1
30 Orthorhombic Beta-PbO
20
Surface area: 0.44m2 g-1
20
Surface area: 0.21m2 g-1
Surface area: 2.40m2 g-1
Surface area: 1.15m2 g-1
40 60 80 100 Number of deep discharge cycles, n
120
Capacity of positive plates prepared with different lead oxide powders during charge/discharge cycle
30 Relative quantity of particles %
It’s been well documented since the 1970s that there are two interrelated relationships between Ball mill particle size and the number of deep cycles possible when compared with Barton Pot oxides. The question for the prospective buyer of either installations is a simple one: is it worth the extra money to buy a Ball Mill when the Barton product will satisfy my battery manufacturing needs? The chart on the top right is a modification of a chart prepared for an ILZRO research project in 1979 by researchers Brown and Chang. This showed that the relationship between crystalline structure and particle size had a direct correspondence to cycle life. Even earlier still, Ralph Brodd — still going strong today in his 90s as president of the National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Batteries in the US — and Hans Bode produced the chart on the bottom right showing the difference in particle size between the two production methods. The scale is logarithmic but the distribution of larger particle sizes in the Barton Pot product immediately shows that their surface area — in terms of reactivity as a paste — will be much smaller.
Ball mill product M = 2.8 µm Barton Pot product M = 4.9 µm
20
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0.1
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Particle diameter, µm Barton Pot Particle size distribution curves for Ball mill and Barton Pot leady oxides.
140
0
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BET surface area, m2g-1
Reactivity of Ball Mill and Barton Pot leady oxides
70 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
3
The chart on the left produced in 1992 by CSIRO’s David Rand and Lan Lam shows the relationship between the acid absorption of the two forms of oxide and their surface area. The better the acid absorption value, the more reactive the paste will be. One of the reasons that some lead oxide manufacturers couple a hammer mill to their Barton Pot product is so that they can reduce the particle size to a better surface area.
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Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 71
BACK TO BASICS: CARBON For close to a generation the lead battery business has looked at carbon as some kind of miracle ingredient ‘X’ — but only in the past decade has the industry found ways to harness its potential.
First steps into lead’s promised land 72 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
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BACK TO BASICS: CARBON It was almost exactly a year ago that Exide Technologies launched Carbon Boost 2.0. In the fanfare surrounding the launch, the world was told that the battery’s new carbon formulation would lead to savings of 2,700 tonnes of CO2, 8 million litres of water, 1.2 million litres of crude oil and perhaps a partridge in a pear tree too. Incomprehensible numbers aside, at the heart of the matter was a battery where its performance had been maximized with the use of carbon additives on the negative plates — an optimized surface structure with significantly better conductivity. The result? A better current flow within the battery, giving better charge acceptance and two times faster recharging than conventional batteries. These new characteristics in an enhanced flooded battery potentially could be a game-changer for the way stop-start cars operate — regenerative braking, for example, has been given a huge boost. And as an associated benefit Carbon Boost 2.0 helps to dissolve the lead sulphate deposits that consolidate on a battery’s discharged negative plates, reducing its ability to recharge. What Exide has developed with their propriety additive is not breathtakingly new but has been the result of a long line of research into what carbon can and cannot do within the battery for the past generation. Carbon is the transformative element that turns lead into high-performance, dendrite-free gold. This mysterious element is, it seems, the quintessence of battery enhancement. And research continues apace with well known industry names — Cabot, Hammond and East Penn — delving deeper into carbon’s potential. Failure in lead batteries can be the result of sulfation, corrosion of the plates and dendrites associated with temperature and the specific gravity of the electrolyte. “Carbon has multiple benefits in terms of slowing down specific fail-
“The nanotubes form a more uniform and controlled corrosion layer that is more easily maintained during the entire battery service life. Sulfation failure is minimized by many different types of carbon additives, primarily by influencing the pore structure of lead battery electrodes. — Matt Raiford, CBI www.batteriesinternational.com
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 73
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BACK TO BASICS: CARBON THE ROLE OF THE CBI
Matt Raiford, technical manager for the Consortium for Battery Innovation — formerly known as the ALABC — says the routes to improving lead batteries are numerous. CBI is working on new charging algorithms for lead batteries in ESS, assistive machine learning and impedance monitoring in ESS, new carbons for automotive, optimized expander packages for automotive, fundamental studies of how the active material changes during charge and discharge. “Many of our members are pushing the boundaries of what carbon can do, such as Cabot, Hammond, and Birla Carbon, but also at institutions like Fraunhofer in Germany we see new insights to how they work,” he says. “Other member companies, such as Black Diamond Structures in Texas, have introduced high-tech carbon nanotube additives into the market. “Ceylon Graphene in Sri Lanka is actively producing graphene additives for lead batteries. We see carbon playing more of a role, especially in negative lead battery electrodes. Companies such as ArcActive in New Zealand are using specialized carbon materials as the actual supporting electrode material to great effect. “We don’t see carbon going just anywhere, what we do see is it being integrated with other advancements in lead batteries, like gel or bipolar lead batteries. Both of these architectures offer a step up in power and cycle life. Carbon could further promote these enhancements.”
76 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
Carbon improves conductivity by increasing electrolyte access, but also provides a small templating effect that helps knit the crystallites in the active material — Matt Raiford, CBI ure modes, particularly in terms of corrosion and sulfation,” says Matt Raiford, technical manager of the Consortium for Battery Innovation. “New additives like carbon nanotubes from Black Diamond Structures, for example, directly assist during the formative steps of the corrosion layer. “The nanotubes form a more uniform and controlled corrosion layer that is more easily maintained during the entire battery service life. Sulfation failure is minimized by many different types of carbon additives, primarily by influencing the pore structure of lead battery electrodes. “The increase in pore size allows for electrolyte to flow more freely through the active material, providing better movement for solubilizing lead sulfate,” says Raiford. “Carbon improves conductivity by increasing electrolyte access, but also provides a small templating effect that helps knit the crystallites in the active material. This stronger cohesion helps with conductivity, providing longer pathways for charge to move through and along the electrode.” According to Paulina Atanassova, senior new business development manager for energy materials EMEA at Cabot, the key mechanism of how carbon slows down the sulfation of the negative plate is by providing an accessible conductive surface area in near proximity to lead sulfate. This facilitates a lead sulfate dissolution reaction. “Carbon participates in defining the negative electrode morphology — with smaller pores that minimize the formation of large lead sulfate crystallites, which are harder to dissolve during fast charge. There have been reports that some types of carbon can slow down positive plate corrosion,” she says. Atanassova believes that, overall, lead-acid batteries can benefit from a variety of solutions, but it is worth knowing that carbon is not the only one. “In many cases there could be synergies between improvements in separator, plates, and other additives to electrodes or electrolyte to reach
the targets for next-generation leadacid batteries.” Research and challenges As well as advantages there are also challenges, which need to be overcome such as understanding the interaction between carbons and other expander components in the negative active mass — NAM — and better understand the gassing behaviour, says Norbert Maleschitz, senior vice president technology and innovation at East Penn Manufacturing. Maureen Sherrick, senior product engineer, Hammond Group points out that even though carbon additives
There are also challenges that need to be overcome such as understanding the interaction between carbons and other expander components in the negative active mass and better understand the gassing behaviour — Norbert Maleschitz www.batteriesinternational.com
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BACK TO BASICS: CARBON have been helpful in many applications, they also have some negative side effects. For example, depending on the loading and type of carbon, the water consumption characteristics of the battery are usually increased. “Increased water consumption can lead to shortened battery life. Research continues to find ways of balancing this behaviour through additional additives and/or material combinations,” she says. A further problem is that while carbon additives can improve DCA for lead acid batteries, their addition changes NAM properties and could lead to a negative impact on low-temperature performance or water loss on overcharge, says Atanassova. “We have identified that this is related to increased surface area of NAM, and a hydrogen evolution reaction occurring on both carbon and lead surfaces even when the level of metallic impurities in the carbon are monitored and controlled. “Another aspect that is being addressed by the lead-acid battery industry in collaboration with OEMs is to define high-temperature durability tests which adequately predict real driving conditions for start-stop batteries instead of, or in addition to the conventional overcharge tests, which do not adequately predict lifetime for high-DCA batteries.” A more obvious and fundamental challenge is how to bring in new material, especially high-carbon additives, at a reasonably low cost. “Materials can account for 80% of costs and adding a significant amount of carbon plus the processing adds to that cost,” says Babu Chalamala, manager of the Energy Storage Technology and Systems Department and program manager for grid energy storage at Sandia National Laboratories. “This extra cost is all the more important as this is a commodity market and lead acid batteries are an established technology with intense competition. There is not one company controlling the process, but a global supply chain with lots of manufacturers. “If you want high-carbon batteries to perform certain functions you have to pay for it, so you have to find the right application to support the cost increase.” Current research Raiford says that one part of CBI’s remit is research focused on decreasing carbon additives’ negative effect
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Materials can account for 80% of costs and adding a significant amount of carbon plus the processing adds to that cost, this extra cost is all the more important as this is a commodity market and lead acid batteries are an established technology with intense competition — Babu Chalamala, Sandia on electrolyte gassing and producing carbon additives that provide even further performance enhancement. Remaining challenges are focused on producing carbon additives that further benefit the DCA of automotive lead batteries. Atanassova says that while carbon additives can improve DCA for lead acid batteries, their addition changes NAM properties and could lead to a negative impact on low-temperature performance or water loss on overcharge. She says that Cabot researchers have identified that this is related to the increased surface area of NAM, and a hydrogen evolution reaction occurring on both carbon and lead surfaces even when the level of metallic impurities in the carbon are monitored and controlled. “With our most recent product, PBX52, we implemented surface treatment on the carbon surface in a way that it still maintains high DCA but with reduced rates of hydrogen evolu-
tion reaction, leading to reduced water loss on overcharge. “Our research is now focused on designing carbon formulations for high DCA lead acid batteries with various combinations of carbons with different morphologies. Preliminary results
COMPOSITION AND REFINEMENT OF THE EXPANDER The chemical make-up of expanders typically consists of lignosulfonate, a by-product of the wood pulping industry processed from lignin from sulphite pumping; barium sulphate, an inorganic compound mainly derived from the mineral barium; plus, the addition of activated carbon or graphite — carbon being a useful addition to assist the performance of lead batteries and reduce dendrite accumulation. The composition of all this is often confidential and subject to change. “We are constantly seeking new, novel materials for testing within our formulations,” says Hammond’s Sherrick. “The tried-and-true materials are important and are always available for legacy type applications but, as we move to higher levels of electrification in many sectors, we believe there is a
need to find new ways to achieve better results.” The expander for tomorrow is becoming much more complicated with mixtures of components and additional additives to improve overall battery performance. Atanassova says: “Carbon is a key performance additive in relation to DCA, but the overall formulation of the expander needs to be optimized to take full advantage of the carbon. It is important that the interactions between carbon and the other components in the expander are studied and better understood. Cabot is participating in a CBI project led by Borregaard USA, with East Penn Manufacturing and Hammond, to do such an optimization on a battery level and identify key variables that impact performance in standard industry tests.”
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BACK TO BASICS: CARBON CARBON — THE PLUS SIDE Formation, cycle life, dynamic charge acceptance, increased partial state of charge, improved NAM The addition of carbon provides several key advantages for lead batteries. Formation of the battery electrodes can be shortened and require less energy when carbon is used in the negative and positive electrodes. There are instances where carbon additives increase cycle life in automotive, motive power, and energy storage lead batteries. Carbon in the negative electrodes helps with recharge and DCA, in automotive batteries. Carbonenhanced lead batteries are used in many applications. Start-stop applications greatly benefit from the increased performance offered by carbon-enhanced lead batteries. Also, these types of lead batteries are broadly useful as a high performing variant in motive power and other traction battery applications. Cabot’s Atanassova says carbon additives can significantly enhance the DCA of lead-acid batteries, both for enhanced flooded batteries and AGM designs. Improvement of DCA is of critical importance for lead-acid batteries to continue to be the preferred solution for Starting, Lighting, and Ignition automotive application in start-stop car models. “The targets for CO2 emissions are continually being reduced and becoming more demanding, and improvements in all battery chemistries (lead acid, lithium ion) can pay a role in meeting these targets,” she says. “In addition to improving DCA, carbon additives can also increase Partial State of Charge (PSoC) cycle life in automotive and stationary applications, and this has already been broadly demonstrated,” says Atanassova “To make these improvements a reality, there was a lot of work needed to discover and scale up manufacturing of novel carbon additives, identify the optimal loading in the Negative Active Mass (NAM) and optimize the formulations of the expander blends so that key critical quality param-
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eters for batteries can be met.” Hammond’s Sherrick says that increases or characteristic optimization of carbon in lead-acid batteries has resulted in an improved ability of the NAM to accept higher rates of incoming current that can be used for fast recharge when opportunity arises/ “With this enhancement, leadacid batteries are now able to perform well in applications where full recharge is not guaranteed, or when opportunities come in short high-rate bursts. This opportunity recharge condition is found in many applications today. Hybrid electric vehicles use both vehicle braking and engine braking energy to recharge batteries. “Solar and wind applications similarly charge in times of plenty so that the pack can sustain periods without nature’s assistance. In the golf car industry, limits for charging times and percentage recharge are being put into place to reduce fossil fuel use. “This necessitates a battery pack that can quickly and efficiently charge one or more times per day. “Forklift truck manufacturers desire fast-charging batteries so that recharge is possible during operator breaks, and on load lowering. Battery packs are also being employed for peak shaving, peak shifting and grid smoothing. All these applications run in a partial state of charge cycle. The enhanced carbons help the batteries to achieve longer life by improving their charge acceptance.” Norbert Maleschitz, senior vice president technology and innovation at East Penn Manufacturing agrees that carbon additives have shown a significant impact on charge acceptance — “Specifically in DCA, which can not only lead to opportunities in improving start-stop batteries but can also have a positive impact for motive power batteries to reduce charging time and allow more opportunity charging.”
They have some negative side effects. For example, depending on the loading and type of carbon, the water consumption characteristics of the battery are usually increased — Maureen Sherrick, Hammond show that we can achieve a two times improvement in DCA, and we are optimizing the formulations and planning to share our findings at the LABAT 2021 conference in June.” Another aspect that is being addressed by the lead-acid battery industry in collaboration with OEMs is to define high temperature durability tests to adequately predict real driving conditions for start-stop batteries instead of the conventional overcharge tests, which do not adequately predict the lifetime for high-DCA batteries. Meanwhile, Hammond Group makes use of cell testing equipment to characterize materials and combinations of materials. “Tests are performed using industry standards on 2V test cells to study the performance and compare materials against controls,” says Sherrick. “We can predict performance attributes versus standard materials and help battery manufacturers reduce the number of variables needed for testing and improvement. “We research to find new ways of doing old things and better ways for doing new things. We have a focus on
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BACK TO BASICS: CARBON the improvement of expanders, but we are putting additional resources toward positive plate improvement as well. As the negative electrode gets better, the failure mode gets pushed back to the positive plate. We want to be the supplier for all additive needs, and to do that, we need to focus on the whole battery.” The path ahead Fundamental research and developmental activities in lead acid battery space have intensified in recent years. “We are learning more and more about the mechanism of DCA, understanding how carbons modify the morphology of NAM and affect the DCA performance, and how to achieve even higher charge acceptance,” says Atanassova. “It is clear that broader collaboration is key and there are strong efforts by CBI and leading manufacturers to involve national labs and research institutes in these efforts. This will result in key learnings and stimulate further improvements and new improved battery products.” New processes and technologies are vital to the evolution of energy storage as it reacts to changing circumstances and requirements. Batteries of all types are ushering in a golden age for energy storage. The demand is so high that no single chemistry can address what is needed, says Raiford. “I can tell you what will be needed from the battery of the 21st century: it will need to be safe, because energy storage will be everywhere; it needs to be sustainable and highly recycled; it needs to meet the performance and reliability requirements; and it needs to be locally made and resourced. “Lead batteries of all types hit these four categories already,” he says. “I expect higher performance from lead batteries in the future. We are already seeing demonstrable enhancement
“I expect higher performance from lead batteries in the future. We are already seeing demonstrable enhancement from new lead batteries entering the market now.” — Paolina Atanassova, Cabot www.batteriesinternational.com
from new lead batteries entering the market now.” Atanassova is sure that carbon will continue to play an important role in advanced lead acid batteries, and there is still a lot of room for improvement: “As we all have learned in the last year or so, it is hard to make longterm predictions. The growth of electric vehicles powered by lithiumion batteries is very strong and will likely continue at a high pace. Leadacid batteries will likely maintain their dominance in SLI battery applications and further grow in applications related to energy storage in combination with renewables. Still, if I am to make a prediction, the energy storage solutions of the future could be a hybrid solution combining the strong points of several battery chemistries and fuel cell battery hybrids.” Sherrick believes that the lead-acid battery still has a lot of life left in it because, for example, it maintains its position as the most recycled product in the world and is very green technology. “I believe the carbon performance enhancement has helped to keep leadacid in the race to power new technologies, but much work still needs to be done,” she says. “Achieving higher levels of active material utilization will help lead-acid to work past its weight handicap and make it a sensible choice for many applications in our future.”
Preliminary results show that we can achieve a two times improvement in DCA, and we are optimizing the formulations and planning to share our findings at the LABAT 2021 conference in June — Paolina Atanassova, Cabot
REASONS TO BE COMPLICATED Empirical evidence suggests that there are at least three ways by which the presence of carbon can modify the performance of the negative plate of a lead acid battery, namely as: a capacitive contribution; the extension of the surface-area on which the electrochemical charge and discharge processes can take place; and physical processes. The effectiveness of any particular form of carbon in enhancing performance is likely to be influenced by a number of factors. These include: • the presence of metal contaminants at the carbon surface • surface functional groups • electronic conductivity • the size of any pores in the carbon • the affinity of the carbon for lead • interaction with the organic component of the expander mix • wettability by the aqueous electrolyte • specific surface area. The challenge of the optimization process is to identify which properties are the important ones, and this can only be achieved through a full understanding of the mechanisms. Source: Lead Acid Batteries for Future Automobiles, Elsevier, ISBN: 978-0-444-63700-0
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BACK TO BASICS: CARBON Since 1881, lead battery electrodes have had a standard configuration; a lead grid with a lead paste inserted on to it. There have been many improvements to the base invention over the years, but the fundamental architecture has remained the same. Here three firms have looked at using lead in a different way — with varying degrees of success.
Re-jigging the building blocks of a battery ArcActive — AACarbon New Zealand firm ArcActive is widely regarded in the lead battery industry as the next technology to watch. Last year it was awarded the BCI Innovation Award. In 2009, John Abrahamson, an associate professor at the University of Canterbury, envisioned a different way to make a lead battery negative electrode. The idea was turned into a business in 2011 and Abrahamson became chief technical officer. ArcActive uses a carbon fibre fabric as the structural and electrical framework for the electrode’s active material. Lead paste is inserted into this fabric. The use of a carbon fibre fabric allows the electrodes to contain much higher carbon content (by unit mass), but the electrochemically active, permanently electrically connected carbon fibre dramatically constrains sulfation (the agglomeration of lead
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sulfate particles) and allows for the regeneration of the fine lead and lead sulfate structures with use. The idea was to overcome sulphation, by allowing lead nanoparticle generation on the carbon fibre surfaces as the battery is charged and discharged, and from this, retain fine lead
Abrahamson: envisioned a different way to make a lead battery negative electrode
(and lead sulphate) structures within the electrode — thereby overcoming sulphation. The result is a configuration that might be viewed as analogous to the UltraBattery (see below) but with the carbon layer under the negative active-material instead of above. ArcActive batteries are unique in being able to achieve the high DCA targets promoted by the CBI of 2A/Ah which maximizes the CO2 benefits of micro hybrid vehicles, while still achieving very low water consumption results of less than 3g/Ah. The batteries also operate well in PSoC applications and this is being evidenced further. The company reckons the technology has the potential to double the fuel efficiency of the hybrid system in micro hybrid vehicles — which are forecast to be the mass-market car for decades to come.
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BACK TO BASICS: CARBON The idea was to overcome sulphation, by allowing lead nanoparticle generation on the carbon fibre surfaces as the battery is charged and discharged, and from this, retain fine lead (and lead sulphate) structures within the electrode — thereby overcoming sulphation. The UltraBattery The UltraBattery — once the bright hope for advanced lead batteries — was invented by LanLam a leading researcher in Australia’s CSIRO group and in 2007 a commercial company Ecoult set out to commercialize it. Furukawa Battery in Japan did this to a limited extent having the licence to make it in Thailand and Japan.
LanLam: advanced the idea of a supercap/lead negative electrode
In May 2010, East Penn Manufacturing acquired Ecoult from CSIRO, along with the global licence to manufacture the UltraBattery. Last July East Penn announced it was winding down its investment in Ecoult and in January this year the ecoult.com website announced that Ecoult has ceased operations. UltraBattery technology has higher energy efficiencies, a longer lifetime and superior charge acceptance under partial state of charge (SoC) conditions. The battery itself has a compound negative plate with the usual sponge lead active-material as one part but the other part consists of supercapacitor-grade carbon. Everything else is similar to that found in a conventional lead battery. In addition to providing a sustained DCA during high-rate HRPSoC operation, the UltraBattery provides self-balancing of individual cells. Combining the two technologies in one battery cell means that UltraBattery works very efficiently compared with conventional lead acid technologies largely due to the fact that it can be operated for long periods in a partial state of charge (PSoC), whereas
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conventional lead acid batteries are more typically designed for when the battery is close to being fully charged. Operating in the partial SoC range extends the battery’s life chiefly by reducing sulfation and by reducing time spent operating at very high and very low states of charge, where various side reactions tend to cause deterioration. Axion Power — the PbC battery Combine Russian technology with North American commercial knowhow. That was the thinking in 1999 when a consortium of Russian scientists, led by Igor Filipenko, decided to create a Canadian start-up R&D firm named C&T Technology, later to be known as Axion Power International. Axion aimed to give lithium-ion a run for its money with an advanced lead-acid battery equipped with carbon electrodes. Its PbC battery has a negative plate with carbon as the sole active material. Everything else is similar to that found in a conventional lead battery. Given that there is no lead sulfate to limit charge-acceptance at the negative plate, the technology sustains DCA well. The carbon acts as a capacitor to provide a high degree of DCA but also enables self-balancing of series-connected cells during PSoC cycling. The PbC battery had, however, two drawbacks, — a specific energy lower than that of a regular lead battery and a voltage that varied with the state-ofcharge.
The principles were sound but commercialization proved elusive and messy. The early life of the firm was plagued with legal squabbles and lengthy litigation that lasted many years. In 2007 the firm was awarded the Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award for North America in the field of lead acid batteries. Axion’s new PbC batteries have “the potential to revitalize the lead-acid battery industry by breathing new life into an established technology,” said F&S. Existing lead acid batteries were unsuitable for regenerative braking and the potential of Axion’s battery was explored by automobile manufacturers who were investing in finding better ways of introducing stop-start technology. Axion pursued other markets and in 2010 the firm created the PowerCube. In November 2011, Axion set an industry first by providing frequency regulation, demand response and the mechanism for other services using the PowerCube to PJM Interconnect, the largest of the nine regional grid systems operators in the US. What the firm thought would signal the end of its development phase was a large injection of funds — just over $26 million — through a private placement of some 46 million shares. Unfortunately, the money was still never enough as the firm tried to switch from development to manufacturing and selling a product. In the event the firm suffered cash problems and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the US in August 2018.
Axion set an industry first by providing frequency regulation through the PowerCube
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OPINION The idea is emerging for a battery passport to track and ensure that precious finite materials are reused. How will the battery industry view the idea of a passport — an opportunity or a threat? Mike Dunckley looks at the value of the process.
Do batteries really need a passport? Raw material shortages are going to be a major topic of debate in the coming years. This isn’t just a battery industry issue, but covers many other sectors. For battery manufacturers, industry forecast demands for production volumes are huge. Avicenne, the Parisbased research consultancy — and largely seen as the go-to place for accurate forecasts—estimates that the business will grow from around $100 billion to $150 billion in the next 10 years. Most of this will due to lithiumbased chemistries. To make all this happen there will be a huge need for raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel and many other resource finite materials. In the debate on resources, the idea of a battery passport emerged in 2019 from the minds of the great and the good (not to mention the privileged) at the annual Davos summit. The exten-
sive agenda of the conference flagged batteries as a key component in trying to cap the global 2% temperature rise objective. It’s clear to see that as we move away from a dependence on oil we move into a new reliance on batteries and that in turn means raw materials. This brings us back to the topic of sustainability. Where will all these materials come from and will there be enough? In this brave new world, powered by renewables there are going to be batteries everywhere. Forecasts by major agencies suggest that we will be generating 70% of our energy from green sources by 2040. But our new era batteries will be nothing like those of the past. They will be intelligent systems capable of communicating across a global network and informing their owners of their current status. These are so-
Figure 1: A typical electric vehicle battery — an intelligent, highly engineered platform of renewable energy…a complex array of materials and technology…and not easy to disassemble and recover raw materials.
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phisticated systems are complex and costly and demand new ways to manage them. At the end of life, they will not be discarded in some hidden landfill. We will need to recapture as much of the raw material as possible and reuse it. At this point enter the concept of a battery passport. Some of the big picture-thinking may still be in its infancy but battery manufacturers have already taken some steps along this route. EnerSys subsidiary Northstar, for example, developed a remote monitoring system five years ago that did part of this. It produced two products here, first was an inbuilt GPS tracking system aimed to design theft and a battery monitoring system using Bluetooth to connect to a mobile app. But now is the time to bring this a lot further. In the battery world the idea is that when a battery is produced it is electronically tagged with the core information such as the volume of materials used as well as other data. This information is then placed in an indelible and encrypted blockchain date base and will stay with the product until it is finally dismantled and the material reclaimed. It’s a perfect example of the circular economy. There is a lot of discussion taking place about how this can be made to work and if it will be enforced with regulation. One Italy-based company called Legenda has won a development contract to design a prototype platform unit. The project was sponsored by the European Institute of Innovation Technology on Raw Materials (EIT-Raw Materials) and is a limb of the European Community whose focus is on material supply. The brief behind the project was to develop and prove that a system could monitor the life cycle of materials from source through to recovery and reuse. This multi-disciplined team trained in robotics, artificial intelligence and different aspects of software development. Their challenge was to build a platform that could track and record materials. (The original concept for the platform is shown in the diagram.) The project harnessed the power of blockchain, which can keep indelible records of information, and extended it, through an advanced system architecture, to the realm of real time business intelligence and industrial process optimization in a context of millions of
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OPINION connected products. It also integrated machine learning to examine data and mine for insights and trends. As a result, the platform is more scalable in terms of operating performance and running costs than existing blockchain based architectures. To bring the project together a sponsoring battery company was needed on the battery side. Although the system was aimed primarily at the lithium industry, regional battery company partners were sought and the group turned to the lead-acid market. The Ledgenda passport is being trialled by one major battery manufacturer as an opportunity to solve two problems. The first is traceability, the second warranty. By tagging a battery at a point of production information can be encoded into each battery. The information that the producer chooses to put into the tag is almost limitless. This information can then be divided off into different information ports that give different groups access to specific information. As an example, an end-user could be given access to information on the material content of the product, its place of manufacture as when it was made. The Ledgenda team developed a free smartphone app for android and Apple platforms that can be downloaded free and which can be used to sense the product and reveal such information the manufacturer chooses to reveal. Confidentiality is a key part of the system. All manufacturers safeguard certain aspects of their information such as production volumes and other statistics. The advantage of a blockchain system is its complete security. Among many benefits of the system, it allows for customer engagement, market transparency, anti-counterfeiting and a sustainable supply chain. Another feature of the platform is its ability to track warranty claims. Warranty is a key part of any industry and ensuring that no system defrauds the manufacturer is key. The Legenda system allows end-users to trigger the date of purchase and for the data to be recorded centrally and from anywhere in the world. The system also throws up data about where the battery is located. Security is another issue and as the battery passport moves into further development there will be an opportunity to consolidate data at an industry level and disclose information either privately to each manufacturer or col-
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To bring the project together a sponsoring company was needed on the battery side. Although the system was aimed primarily at the lithium industry, regional battery company partners were sought and the group turned to the lead-acid market. lectively at an industry level. The major question is, will the battery passport be seen as another layer of bureaucracy that will stifle the industry or an opportunity? There is no doubt that as an industry we need to use precious raw materials more carefully and reuse them as much as we can. The battery passport, once all stakeholders in the supply chain participate in the system, will have many benefits. When the battery passport was born in 2019 in Davos some 70 members signed up with their commitment. Just three at that early stage were battery producers; India’s Amara Raja, Saft/ Total from France and Clarios. They are to be commended for their forward-thinking. The battery passport is an opportunity for the battery supply industry to display its green credentials but also to use the platform to create new levels of competitiveness. The Legenda team completed the trial in early 2021. The company plans to approach the industry to find new stakeholders the would like to use the platform. The project lead, Fabio Manola, said “the project has great potential not
only for the tracking and sustainability of materials but also for marketing. “We’ve developed a free smartphone app that is available to anyone. By just touching a sensor on the battery or scanning a code the end-user can see whatever information the manufacturer chooses to disclose. The platform will provide transparency for the producer to know where and how the battery is being used. “We know that a lithium battery for example can have several lives…we can track that and know, that even after more than a decade of use, the materials have been recovered and reused. The system will shine a light on the importance of tracking products and materials anywhere in the world.” The battery passport will be an opportunity for innovative producers. With a well managed and effective passport system in place, different stakeholders in the value chain will be able to monitor and analyse data either collectively or in a secure data area. The passport will also give more visibility to the battery producer and will enable some strong branding opportunities that will help take upgrade the humble battery from a commodity status.
Figure 2: The Ledgenda Battery Passport platform architecture
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LITHIUM SULFUR BATTERIES For the past decade there’s been speculation that lithium-sulfur will be a major battery chemistry. Theoretically it should have a specific energy in excess of 2,700Wh/k —that’s nearly five times higher than that of lithium-ion — but turning theory into reality is hard work.
Li-S ... still struggling to attain its full potential Lithium-ion batteries may have changed the way the world works but there are good reasons to believe it won’t always be the case. There are question marks over the supply of nickel and cobalt, problems with the supply chain availability — highlighted by the recent coronavirus pandemic — and concerns over the environmental friendliness of their manufacture and disposal. “There’s a huge energy cost of making lithium batteries,” says Mahdokht Shaibani, a research fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. “It takes 400kWh to make 1kWh of Li-ion battery, plus the CO2 emissions — 75kg per 1kWh (35 litres of gasoline) in manufacturing and recycling a battery. Yet producing 1kWh of electricity from burning coal produces 1kg of CO2.” Other alternatives are now being discussed. “It could be that lithiumsulfur batteries tick all the boxes and outperform lithium-ion in a number of areas,” says Shaibani, who has been studying lithium-sulfur technology for the past seven years. In January 2020 her research team had a filed patent (PCT/AU 2019/051239) approved for their manufacturing process. “No one can deny that energy density in lithium-sulfur is worth exploration — it’s several times higher
than lithium-ion and only lower than lithium-air, which is too immature to be taken into consideration. Practically, the realizable specific energy, the potential gravimetric energy density of the future lithium-sulfur battery, is probably 400Wh/kg-600Wh/kg,” she says. “The electrode ingredients come from the right menu of inexpensive and abundant materials — particularly the sulfur, for the cathode, which is cheap and abundant. Lithium is also available and a lot comes from Australia, a reliable country — we don’t process it here but that can be changed. “When it comes to cost, some say it could be four times cheaper, which could make it a game changer, particularly for large-scale applications.” Backing off Yet for all these potential benefits some of the former leading players in lithium-sulfur chemistry have backed off. Solid Power, based in Colorado, showed some early interest with conversion reaction materials like FeS2, says marketing manager Will McKenna. These are similar to Li-S batteries. “That work was always in a solidstate system with a sulfide-based solid electrolyte,” he said. “While
“We’ve been able to push the gravimetric energy density of the technology further towards 450Wh/kg, which has allowed us to look at pursuing a lot of different applications in the aerospace sector, which we find one of the most promising sectors for us. We believe we can go to 500Wh/kg in the next two years, and we think that’s good enough for most of the target applications we’re looking at.” — David Aninsworth, Oxis Energy 88 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
conversion reaction cathodes like FeS2 remain very attractive in terms of cost and specific energy, they have fundamental challenges leading to poor cycle life. “As such, the majority of Solid Power’s work today combines a NMC622 cathode with a sulfide solid electrolyte and a lithium metal anode — which provides superior energy density to Li-ion and cycle life that is in line with electric vehicle targets.” After working with the chemistry for 20 years, Sion Power, based in Arizona, dropped the chemistry completely five years ago. “We’re not using sulfur, although we are constantly being called to consult or experiment on it because for 25 years we were at the forefront of lithiumsulfur technology and putting those batteries into various technologies,” says Tracy Kelley, CEO of Sion Power, which is about to launch its Licerion battery pouches. “We decided to move away from it because although it had some particular advantages — we were getting from 350Wh/kg-400Wh/kg, which was very good, especially at that time, when it was probably some of the highest rechargeable battery chemistry out there and available for particular applications. “But there were shortfalls. Although it has the potential for very high specific energy and very high density, once you’d distilled the chemistry down to something that was a commercial product, and pushed what you needed to push from performance parameters, we found that we were able to get the high gravimetric energy from the system, but from a volumetric standpoint it was low compared to say lithium-ion.” Over to Oxis But volumetric energy density, says David Ainsworth, chief technical officer at UK-based Oxis Energy, is
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LITHIUM SULFUR BATTERIES irrelevant for his company’s target applications. “Volumetric energy is certainly lower today for Li-S (around 450Wh/l versus 650Wh/l-700Wh/l for the highest Li-ion cells),” he says. “But this is only an issue for applications such as compact EVs and consumer electronics, neither of which are target markets for Oxis. “Longer term, after 2025, we expect to develop all-solid state configurations of Li-S batteries, which have the potential to deliver 1,000Wh/l. For certain applications in aerospace and marine sectors, a very high gravimetric technology with lower volumetric energy density can be advantageous, ie buoyancy in boats.” Where lithium-sulfur really comes into its own is density compared to its mass — where lithium-ion will peak, agree Shaibani and Ainsworth, at a capacity of 300Wh/kg. “Lithium-ion has increased its energy density, but what you have to appreciate is that it’s already at the top of the development curve. It’s quite a mature technology, so there’s been some movement in producing cells around 240Wh/kg-260Wh/kg and there have been some specialized cell variants towards 300Wh/ kg, but they’re not mainstream developments,” says Ainsworth. “We’ve been able to push the gravimetric energy density of the technology further towards 450Wh/ kg, which has allowed us to look at pursuing a lot of different applications in the aerospace sector, which we find one of the most promising sectors for us. “We believe we can go to 500Wh/ kg in the next two years, and we think that’s good enough for most of the target applications we’re looking at.” Making Li-S batteries uses a similar
production methodology to current lithium-ion batteries, so it can be produced on quite a large scale without reinventing the wheel, says Ainsworth. “I also like the sustainability aspect, using sulfur which is available abundantly at low cost, and we believe they can be recycled. Such a process hasn’t yet been established, but with lithium-ion batteries that’s only just starting even though they’ve been around for 30 years. “When we get to the realms of mass manufacture, recycling will be a regulatory requirement so we’ll have to be able to do it.” Aircraft applications Ainsworth says Oxis’s batteries were first going to target applications that needed high density over anything else, such as high-altitude platforms aircraft (HAPS), somewhere in between drones and satellites, which are positioned at an altitude of 20km to support telecommunications or remote sensing applications. Oxis has worked with a few companies to build prototypes of batteries for these, to power the motors and use internet connectivity, mapping and surveillance. “There’s a lot of demand for a range of military applications like radio backpacks, remote power banks and underwater vehicles, which might not be large in terms of the number of cells, but large in terms of the value of the battery pack — up to 100 times the value of a battery in an EV,” says Ainsworth. Oxis is producing 10,000 cells a year to customers across these market segments for testing and validation, with a lot of the major car and aerospace companies testing and building prototypes. There are other applications in the target line, such as electric buses and
“We found that as we pushed up the total life of the cell at those types of energy levels, the cycle life began to decline — so we had very high energy, but relatively low cycle life. Once we removed the graphite anode and supplanted it with our lithiummetal technology, we found we could essentially double the energy of the conventional lithium-ion system and we found we were able to get a lot more cycle life out of it.” — Tracey Kelley, Sion Power 90 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
mid-size trucks, but Ainsworth says there is no plan to look at grid-scale storage for the time being. “There’s a lot of talk about this market but they want the cheapest technology available and if you think of static storage it doesn’t matter how light the battery is — you need them to be mechanically robust,” he says. “We’ve moved away from static energy because it’s a price-sensitive sector and as we’re not competing on the same scale we won’t be able to compete for quite a few years, until we’ve scaled up production.” But that doesn’t mean this can’t ever happen — Oxis has already scaled up its production, both with its pilot operation in the UK, where it has added semi-automated equipment and stepped up cell production, as well as its plant in Brazil, which will begin producing five million cells a year by 2022, the firm says. The aim is to supply Brazil with cells for its buses, 700,000 of which are internal combustion engine buses and are being replaced by electric equivalents over 25 years. “Oxis Energy is at the forefront of developing lithium-sulfur. It has a good patent portfolio and they share knowledge with academia,” says Shaibani. “As a scientist I can say this company has contributed the most to the development of this technology, and now it is opening the first Li-S manufacturing plant in Brazil. “The announcement has excited the energy world, in particular the world of academia — the fact that this challenging technology is being realized has encouraged the scientific community to adopt more practical approaches in conducting research. This is important to bridge the gap between academia and industry.” Obstacles to overcome While there is little doubt that Li-S outperforms Li-ion in terms of specific energy, before the chemistry can be called revolutionary it needs to fix various things — such as its low cycle life, says Shaibani. “Every single component is problematic and needs further improvement,” she says. “Lithiumsulfur can’t withstand a lot of cycles because of dendrites. It has a reactive lithium anode, unstable cathode, the electrolyte suffers from a loss of active material and the battery degrades. “Challenges include the fact that a lot of electrolyte is needed but that makes it too heavy.”
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LITHIUM SULFUR BATTERIES Sion Power CEO Tracy Kelley agrees. “We found that as we pushed up the total life of the cell at those types of energy levels, the cycle life began to decline — so we had very high energy, but relatively low cycle life. “Once we removed the graphite anode and supplanted it with our lithium-metal technology, we found we could essentially double the energy of the conventional lithium-ion system and we found we were able to get a lot more cycle life out of it. We decided at that point to make the transition, and we are now ready to introduce our first energy storage packs based on our Licerion technology. “Looking at what we wanted to do, which is transitioning this battery into EV applications, we made the strategic decision that there wasn’t a clear path to a Li-S battery being used for that. So we decided to step back and look at what was a chemistry that was more applicable and we decided on Licerion technology. “We pulled everything we knew from working with Li-S all those years and looked at the traditional system that was out there, and the big shortfall was the energy level you were able to achieve.”
But as far as Oxis and David Ainsworth are concerned, their key short-term target applications — marine, aerospace and defence — do not require more cycles than a few hundred, which they already achieve. “To meet our longer term goals of addressing EV applications like e-trucks and buses we are actively addressing improvements to cycle life through research on protected metal anodes and alternative Li-S configurations,” he says.
Safety and stability
With lithium-ion technology there is often a safety concern, and with lithium sulfur it’s no different, says Kelley. “Managing the safety parameters of the system at those very high energies — sulfur and lithium are very hyperactive together and managing the safety profile of that system was a challenge,” he says. Yet back at Oxis, nail penetration, overcharge and short circuit testing has proved that the chemistry is stable. “We get very good safety performance from our cell technology in abuse tests, especially considering the high gravimetric energy density of >400Wh/kg,” says Ainsworth.
“Safety is further improved through the use of cell design features such as thermal shut-down separators, thermal fuses and vent points in the cell design. Other aspects of safety are dealt with at the system level.” Shaibani says most of the research into lithium-sulfur batteries is being done quietly in China, the US, South Korea, Germany and Japan. PolyPlus, a California firm, uses a non-aqueous electrolyte, patented in the 1990s, which Shaibani says is used in nearly all Li-S batteries, whether sold commercially or in development. She says the company is extensively exploring lithium-metal and using glass-protected lithium batteries. PolyPlus, which did not respond to requests for an interview, claims it has solved the problem of poor cycle life with protected lithium electrodes in the Li-S cell, with hundreds of cell cycles and no significant capacity loss. “Rechargeable Li-S batteries are still in development at PolyPlus,” the company says. “Initial commercialization will be focused on high-margin applications where weight is a premium. PolyPlus will likely work with a partner and/or license the technology for high volume, cost-sensitive markets.”
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF LI-S OUT FURTHER A group of researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin announced in April 2020 they had found a way to stabilize one of the most challenging parts of lithiumsulfur batteries by creating an artificial layer containing tellurium. This created a seven-fold improvement in cyclability, according to their research paper, Anodefree, lean-electrolyte lithium-sulfur batteries enabled by telluriumstabilized lithium deposition, and brings the technology another step closer to greater adoption. “We have discovered that introducing tellurium into the Li-S system as a cathode additive significantly improves the reversibility of Li plating and stripping by forming a tellurized and sulfiderich solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer on the Li surface,” says Arumugam Manthiram, a professor of mechanical engineering and a director of the Texas Materials Institute.
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“A remarkable improvement in cyclability is demonstrated in anode-free full cells with limited Li inventory and large-area Li-S pouch cells under lean electrolyte conditions. “Tellurium reacts with polysulfides to generate soluble polytellurosulfides that migrate to the anode side and form stabilizing lithium thiotellurate and lithium telluride in situ as SEI components. “A significant reduction in electrolyte decomposition on the Li surface is also engendered.” Put more simply, lithium is a reactive element that tends to break down other elements around it. Every cycle of charging and discharging a lithium-sulfur battery can cause dendrites to form on the lithium-metal anode, the negative electrode of the battery. The deposits break down the electrolyte that shuttles lithium ions back and forth. This can trap some of the lithium, keeping the electrode from delivering the full power
necessary for the ultra-long use the technology promises. The reaction can also causes the battery to short-circuit and potentially catch fire. The artificial layer formed on the lithium electrode protects the electrolyte from being degraded and reduces the dendrite growth, according to Amruth Bhargav, who, with fellow graduate student Sanjay Nanda, co-authored the paper. Manthiram says this method can be applied to other lithiumand sodium-based batteries. The researchers have filed a provisional patent application for the technology. “The stabilizing layer is formed by a simple in-situ process and requires no expensive or complicated pre-treatment or coating procedures on the lithiummetal anode,” Nanda said. Sulfur is also more environmentally friendly than the metal oxide materials used in lithium-ion batteries.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 91
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Disruption to the events programme As we move further into the 2021 events season for the battery and energy storage industry, hosts and organizers are still struggling to decide whether to go ahead with events that have been in the diary for months, if not years. When this issue was released, and with the situation still changing on an hourly basis, a variety of energy conferences and meetings have been postponed or hosted online. While we have taken every effort to ensure these details are correct, please contact the conference organisers with any queries, or check websites below and throughout the listings. Battcon Rescheduled for November 2-5 Hollywood, Florida, US See full listing in November entry.
The Battery Show Europe May 18–20 V Virtual Event The Battery Show is presented in partnership with the Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo and together they bring more than 350 International suppliers to Stuttgart. Combined, the two shows make up Europe’s largest advanced battery and H/EV technology trade fair manufacturing solutions across the battery and H/EV supply chain. Contact Informa Markets Email: thebatteryshowcs@informa.com www.thebatteryshow.eu
European Graphene Automotive 2021 May 24–25 Manchester, UK This year’s conference is set to become the world’s leading exhibition and conference exclusively for graphene researchers and automotive manufacturers to meet and explore new uses of graphene in automotives, and to address the specific challenges associated with the commercialisation of graphene for use in a multitude of new applications. Contact IQ Hub Email: delegates@iQ-Hub.com www.graphene-automotive-conference.com
49th Power Sources Conference Rescheduled for June 20–23, 2022 Jacksonville, Florida, US See full listing in June 2022 entry.
LABAT — International Conference on Lead-Acid Batteries June 8–11 V Virtual Event Since 1989, the Lead-Acid Batteries Department of Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences has been organizing a series of triennial conferences on lead-acid batteries, named LABAT. The LABAT Conference is a globally recognized scientific forum gathering leading battery experts, technologists and academic researchers from all over the world. LABAT’2021 technical sessions will once again offer you an insight into the latest research achievements and development trends in the field of leadacid battery manufacture, operation and recycling, as well as an in-depth discussion of the new challenges facing lead-acid batteries, while the exhibition fair will present a perfect opportunity to showcase your new products and services. Contact Mariana Greganska Tel: +359 287 31552 Email: greganska@labatscience.com www.labatscience.com/conference/index
ees Europe + Power2drive Rescheduled for October 6-8 Munich, Germany See full listing in October entry.
Stay in, but stay informed: Many events have been successfully hosted online during lockdown.
92 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
Munich: ees Europe + Power2drive rescheduled for October.
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS Pb Online 2021
Future Energy Asia
June 22-24
June 30–July 2 Bangkok, Thailand
V Virtual Event In place of this year’s International Lead Conference, ILA will host a series of two-hour seminars taking place over three days in June. The seminars are free to attend and will include: • June 22 ILA webinar: In-depth market analysis from leading industry experts • June 23 ILA webinar: Focussed briefings on key issues facing the industry worldwide • June 24 ILA webinar: Online workshop-Managing worker exposure to lead. All three webinars will take place 13.00-15.00 UK time. More information and registration details will be shared soon.
EUROBAT General Assembly/Forum June 17–18 — TBC Brussels, Belgium. EUROBAT is the association for the European manufacturers of automotive, industrial and energy storage batteries. EUROBAT has 52 members from across the continent comprising more than 90% of the automotive and industrial battery industry in Europe. The members and staff work with all stakeholders, such as battery users, governmental organisations and media, to develop new battery solutions in areas of hybrid and electro-mobility as well as grid flexibility and renewable energy storage. Contact Eurobat www.eurobat.org
ITEC 2021 June 21–25 V Virtual Event ITEC is aimed at helping the industry in the transition from conventional vehicles to advanced electrified vehicles. The conference is focused on components, systems, standards, and grid interface technologies, related to efficient power conversion for all types of electrified transportation, including electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs, HEVs, and PHEVs) as well as heavyduty, rail, and off-road vehicles and airplanes and ships. Contact ITEC Conference www.itec-conf.com
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Contact International Lead Association Tel: +44 207 833 8090 Email: PbOnline@ila-lead.org www.ila-lead.org/events/pb-2021/
As we look to 2021, investment and demand growth are all set to accelerate. Future Energy Asia 2021 is best placed to connect you to the leading Asian Energy stakeholders and buyers driving the region’s energy transition mission forward. The conference will focus on the continuous energy shift within the region towards a cleaner and more sustainable future and the 3 days have been carefully designed to help drive collaboration between New Energy Suppliers, Electricity Generators, and the Energy Transitions supply chain. With an expected total audience of 4000, of which 1000 conference delegates and a planned 150 speakers with focus on Thailand and her energy partners including IndoChina (Super Grid Customers), Europe (hydrogen), USA & the ME (LNG) we feel this year’s programme will be the leading event of its kind! Contact DMG Events Tel: +971 4438 0355 Email: info@dmgevents.com www.futureenergyasia.com
International Automobile Recycling Congress — IARC 2021
Battery Cells & Systems Expo
June 23-25 Geneva, Switzerland
July 7–8 • Birmingham, UK
Onsite & V Virtual Event IARC 2021 is the international platform for discussing the latest developments and challenges in automobile recycling, bringing together more than 250 decision-makers in the ELV recycling chain such as car manufacturers, metal and plastic scrap traders, recyclers, shredder operators, policy-makers and many more. Contact ICM AG Susann Schmid Tel: +41 62 785 10 00 Email: info@icm.ch www.icm.ch
Battery Cells & Systems Expo will bring together automotive manufacturers, electric utilities, battery system integrators, cell manufacturers and the entire manufacturing supply chain. A truly unique showcase, companies from around the world will use the show to launch products and demonstrate their technology to an audience of over 3,000 professionals. Co-Located with Vehicle Electrification Expo and The Advanced Materials Show, this will be a highly concentrated two days of networking, lead generation and education featuring the leaders and innovators responsible for shaping the future of this industry. Contact Event Partners www.batterysystemsexpo.com
Birmingham, UK: Hosts Battery Cells & Systems Expo and Conference in July.
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 93
FORTHCOMING EVENTS Plugvolt 2021 Battery Seminar July 13–15 Plymouth, Michigan, USA PlugVolt will be hosting its next Battery Seminar in Plymouth, MI (USA) featuring an entire day of in-depth technical tutorials on fundamental materials’ challenges for electrochemical energy storage, opportunities and challenges with solid-state batteries, best design practices for cell engineering, battery modeling and health monitoring, second life design considerations for energy storage, etc. Contact Plugvolt Email: info@plugvolt.com www.plugvolt.com
World Battery Industry Expo — WBE 2021 August 16–18 Guangzhou, China World Battery Industry expo, formally Asia GBF, is one of the professional demonstration and trade platforms of battery & energy storage industry, in which hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of professional visitors will gather there. Contact Guangzhou Honest Exhibition Co., Ltd Tel: +86 2028 9677 66 Email: grand@grahw.com www.battery-expo.com
Shanghai International Lithium Battery Industry Fair — CNIBF August 25–27 Shanghai, China Shanghai International Lithium Battery Industry Fair will be held on Shanghai New International Expo Center, China. The exhibitions of new energy vehicles, super capacitors, charging equipment and energy storage will be held at the same time. The show area is expected to reach 30,000 square meters, while more than 600 exhibitors from the whole industry chain will show their latest products and technology at the scene. Furthermore, over 100 visitor groups and 35,000 people are going to visit the site with a purpose to purchase or communicate, making sense to promoting industrial innovation and development. Contact CNIBF www.cnibf.net
Intersolar Mexico September 7–9 Mexico City, Mexico Intersolar Mexico serves as the industry’s go-to source for invaluable technology trends and premier B2B contacts in the promising Mexican solar market. Intersolar Mexico sit at the crosssection of photovoltaics, solar heating & cooling technologies, and energy storage. Together, the two events will be the largest gathering of professionals in Mexico for international manufacturers and distributors looking to meet regional buyers in the fields of solar, renewable energy and cleantech. Contact Solar Promotion www.intersolar.mx
The Battery Show North America September 14–16 Novi, Michigan. US The Battery Show connects you with more than 8,000 engineers and executives, and more than 600 leading suppliers across the advanced battery supply chain. A powerful, end-to-end showcase, this leading global industry event covers today’s emerging advanced battery technology for the automotive, portable electronics, medical technology, military and telecommunications, and utility and renewable energy support sectors. Explore the full spectrum of cuttingedge solutions you need to make faster, smarter, and more cost-effective products at the most comprehensive industry event in North America. Contact Informa Markets Tel: +1 833 202 3467 Email: registration.battery@informa.com www.thebatteryshow.com
International Congress for Battery Recycling — ICBR 2021 September 22–24 Onsite (Geneva, Switzerland) & Virtual ICBR is the international platform for presenting the latest developments and discussing the challenges faced by the battery recycling industry. The 26th edition of ICBR will bring together many experts and decision-makers of the battery recycling value chain such as battery manufacturers, battery recyclers, OEMs from the electronic and e-mobility industry, collection schemes operators, service and transport companies, policy-makers and many more. Contact ICM AG Tel: +41 62 785 10 00 Email: info@icm.ch www.icm.ch/en/icbr-2021
94 • Batteries International • Spring 2021
San Diego
BCI Convention + Power Mart Expo September 22–25 San Diego, California, US Battery Council International (BCI) is a not-for-profit trade association established to promote the interests of the lead battery manufacturing and recycling industry. As the industry’s principal association, BCI’s member services have a global impact. BCI brings together the leading lead battery manufacturers and recyclers in North America and around the world, and establishes technical standards for battery manufacturing and actively promotes workable environmental, health and safety standards for the industry. Contact Battery Council International Tel: +1 312 245 1074 Email: info@batterycouncil.org www.convention.batterycouncil.org
ees Europe + Power2drive Rescheduled for October 6-8 Munich, Germany Discover future-ready solutions for renewable energy storage and advanced battery technology at ees Europe! Europe’s largest, most international and most visited exhibition for batteries and energy storage systems is the industry hotspot for suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and users of stationary electrical energy storage solutions as well as battery systems. In 2021, more than 450 suppliers of products for energy storage technology and systems will be present at ees Europe and the parallel exhibitions of The Smarter-E Europe taking place in Munich. The exhibition will be accompanied by a two-day energy storage conference where leading experts delve into current questions of this industry. Contact Solar Promotion www.ees-europe.com/en/home
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS Batteries Event 2021 September 29–October 1 Lyon, France The Batteries Event will cover all aspects of the battery circular economy, beginning from the production of the battery through raw materials, battery manufacturing, battery use and safety, management and applications, going through market trends, research and development, new technologies and finally closing the loop with a focus on recycling, second life and regulations. International battery industry key players such as OEM, battery manufacturers, end users, experts, researchers and recyclers will come together to discuss and exchange on new chemistries, manufacturing process, battery components, battery second life, recycling, producer regulatory obligations in Europe, future expectations and innovations. Contact Claude Foubert Tel: +33 247 2733 30 Email: registration@batteriesevent.com www.batteriesevent.com
FENIBAT 2021 October 17–19 Londrina, Brazil The 5th FENIBAT will gather in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil, from September 26-28, 2021, the Brazilian and Latin American battery and lead recycling industry and its suppliers. Its objective is to disseminate new products, services and technologies from all countries of the world to the South American market, as well as the exchange of information and knowledge. The FENIBAT will bring information of interest to entrepreneurs, administrators and investors; managers, supervisors and technicians of administration, purchasing, production, maintenance, projects and product development, quality control, laboratories, work health and safety, environment,
and more ... Exhibitors talk here with the people who use their products. It´s a biannual event and its last meeting, in 2019, registered close to 800 attendees from 27 countries. Its conference included 20 presentations and its expo, 121 exhibitors. Contact Jayme Gusmão Tel: +55 43 99937 4911 Email: gusmao@fenibat.com www.fenibat.com
ees South America October 18–20 São Paulo, Brazil The special exhibition ees South America is the industry hotspot for suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and users of stationary and mobile electrical energy storage solutions. It will be hosted for the second time at Intersolar South America, taking place at the Expo Center Norte in São Paulo. Covering the entire value chain of innovative battery and energy storage technologies–from components and production to specific user applicationit is the ideal platform for all stakeholders in the rapidly growing energy storage market. The focus at ees is on energy storage solutions suited to energy systems with increasing amounts of renewable energy sources attracting investors, utilities, installers, manufacturers and project developers from all over the world Contact Solar Promotion www.ees-southamerica.com
The Battery Technology Show October 26–27 Coventry, UK The Battery Technology Show will showcase the incredible developments happening across the battery and energy storage markets. If you are look-
ing to keep up with the latest news in breakthrough technologies, gain invaluable insight from Key Players in the market, and discover the emerging technologies which are at the frontier of the energy revolution, this is the event for you. This show will feature a select lineup of world-leading manufacturers in the battery and energy storage space on our Expo floor, alongside a first-class conference programme featuring three thought-leading symposiums: The Future of Battery Technology, The Future of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles, and The Global Battery Market. Come and experience the Power of the Future. Contact Evolve Media Group Tel: +44 1179 323 586 Email: info@edpltd.co.uk www.batterytechnologyshow.com
Battcon Rescheduled for November 2-5 Hollywood, Florida, US Battcon is a high-energy mix of industry specific presentations, panels, seminars and workshops, plus a trade show. More than 600 stationary battery users meet at Battcon for three days of professional development and networking with industry experts and peers. It’s a forum focusing on design, selection, application and maintenance for those in the data center, telecom and utility industries can learn from and network with industry experts. Contact Vertiv Group Email: Events@Battcon.com www.battcon.com
49th Power Sources Conference Rescheduled for June 20–23, 2022 Jacksonville, Florida, US The Power Sources Conference is the oldest continually held biennial conference devoted to research and development of power source, energy conversion, power distribution and management technologies for military use. The conference goal is to bring Government, industry and academic researchers and developers together to discuss advances in power and energy technologies to support the growing power demands of military platforms and electronic systems.
Coventry, UK: Hosts The Battery Technology Show in October.
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Contact Samantha Tola Email: stola@pcm411.com www.powersourcesconference.com/index. html
Batteries International • Spring 2021 • 95
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