ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

GM launches V2G, V2H power study for PG&E in California

General Motors is to pilot the use of its electric vehicles as on-demand power sources for homes served by the Pacific Gas & Electric utility in California, GM announced on March 8.

The pilot’s first vehicleto-home capable EV and charger will be tested by this summer — including the use of bidirectional hardware coupled with software to enable power to flow from a charged EV into a home — “automatically coordinating between the EV, home and PG&E’s electric supply”, GM said.

After lab testing, PG&E and GM plan to test vehicleto-home interconnection by allowing a small number of customers’ homes to receive power from the EV when power stops flowing from the grid. The goal is to extend to larger customer tries by the end of the year.

GM CEO Mary Barra said the pilot program, using multiple GM EVs, further expands its electrification strategy, “demonstrating our EVs are reliable mobile sources of power. Our teams are working to rapidly scale this pilot and bring bidirectional charging technology to our customers.”

By the end of 2025, GM says it plans to have more than one million units of EV capacity in North America to respond to growing demand, using the company’s Ultium battery technology developed with joint venture partner LG Energy Solution.

According to the sustainable development scenario of the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook 2020, released in June that year, the cumulative total of 16,000GWh of energy expected to be stored in EV batteries globally in 2030 “could actively provide energy to the grid at suitable times via V2G solutions”.

VPP tech firm GridBeyond makes moves into Australian market

Energy tech company GridBeyond said on April 21 it is to start providing virtual power plant services in Australia.

The company, whose investors include Saft battery maker owner TotalEnergies, will work with businesses through Australia’s National Electricity Market, also using GridBeyond’s artificial intelligence and data science technology for commercial and industrial customers to take part in grid balancing, trading energy generation and storage through wholesale markets.

GridBeyond said it started commercially trading in Ireland in 2010 with €800,000 (about $858,000) in backing from the AIB Seed Capital Fund, which is managed by the Dublin Business Innovation Centre. In 2011, the company developed an integrated energy management system for demandside response services.

Canada Pension Plan invests in Hydrostor for A-CAES projects

Energy storage firm Hydrostor said on April 19 it had secured a $25 million investment boost or its Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) projects from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The CPP’s backing follows a $250 million investment pledge for Hydrostor made in January by investment bank Goldman Sachs.

CPP said its financing would support Torontobased Hydrostor’s strategy of developing, constructing, and operating A-CAES facilities globally.

Hydrostor says its ACAES technology works by compressing air using electricity — preferably from renewable sources — then extracting heat from the air and storing it inside a purpose-built cavern, where hydrostatic compensation is used to maintain the system at a constant pressure during operation.

The compressed air is converted to electricity on demand and can provide long-duration storage in a similar way to pumped hydro, the firm says.

Hydrostor has projects underway in Toronto, Ontario, California and New South Wales, and is looking at South America for future installations.

CPP’s managing director and head of sustainable energies Bruce Hogg said: “Long-duration energy storage is a critical component in the decarbonization of electrical grids. Hydrostor’s solutions provide a unique investment opportunity aligned with our focus on the energy evolution.”

On February 22, Hydrostor said a consortium it had formed with French energy group EDF and Io Consulting was awarded £1 million ($1.3 million) from the UK government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to assess Hydrostor’s technology using mothballed gas cavities in the UK.

The firm continued to attract fresh funding and expanded its operations to Great Britain in 2012. GridBeyond entered the US market with an office in Texas in 2020 and opened an HQ in Japan last year. As of 2021, the company said it had a global portfolio of more than 1GW of load.

GridBeyond CEO Michael Phelan said the frequency response market in Australia was similar to ones the company manages in Ireland to handle flexible energy resources and “co-optimise them with wholesale trading”.

“Our microgrid controls that integrate electric vehicles are also a good fit for Australia’s energy market need,” Phelan said.

“Operating in the VPP & DERMS (distributed energy resource management systems) market that is planned to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20% by 2026, GridBeyond is strongly positioned to continue the significant growth we have seen and to continue to support businesses, asset owners and grid operators throughout the transition to a net zero future and beyond.”

Energy Dome, Ansaldo sign ‘CO2 Battery’ storage deal

Italian energy tech start-up Energy Dome said on April 4 it had signed a deal to expand use of its ‘CO2 Battery’ technology in long-duration storage systems across Europe in partnership with Italy’s Ansaldo Energia.

Ansaldo will provide equipment, engineering, and construction for the “grid-scale energy storage projects” across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the companies said.

Energy Dome’s first commercial CO2 Battery storage facility, which the company said uses a non-flammable, non-toxic carbon dioxidebased energy storage solution to store and dispatch power, is nearing completion in Sardinia, Italy.

The company said its technology “does not involve scarce and environmentally challenging raw materials like lithium”. Instead, it uses carbon dioxide and “offthe-shelf components to charge and discharge power from four to 24 hours, enabling renewables to serve as fully-dispatchable daily energy resources”.

According to Energy Dome, its technology uses CO2 in a closed-loop charge/ discharge cycle as a storage agent. Before charging, gaseous CO2 is kept in a large dome structure.

During charging, electricity from the grid is used to compress the CO2 into liquid form, creating stored heat in the process. During discharge, the liquid CO2 is evaporated using the stored heat, expanded back into its gaseous form, and used to drive a turbine to generate electricity.

CO2 Batteries “can be deployed anywhere at less than half the cost of similar-sized lithium-ion battery storage facilities and have superior round-trip efficiency, with no performance degradation over a 25-year lifecycle”, Energy Dome said.

As many as 30 such facilities are anticipated to be built under the partnership with Ansaldo over the next five years.

Gravitricity receives £920k for feasibility study

Scotland-based Gravitricity said on February 23 it had secured UK government backing towards a £1.5 million ($1.9 million) feasibility study to develop a multi-weight energy storage system to be built on a brownfield site in northern England.

The Department of Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is contributing a grant of just over £912,000 for the project, in which Gravitricity will work with partners companies to deliver the front-end engineering design (FEED) for a 4MWh, multi-weight system using a custom-built shaft.

The project aims to pave the way for work on a fullscale commercial prototype multi-weight gravity energy store at a grid-connected site in the north of

Meanwhile Gravitricity said it is also moving ahead with plans to build a “fullscale single-weight project in a disused mine shaft in mainland Europe”, starting this year, although it did not disclose details.

Funding for the FEED study was allocated from a BEIS competitive funding scheme to accelerate the commercialization of innovative energy storage projects that can contribute to ‘net zero’.

Gravitricity said analysts at Imperial College predict the Gravitricity’s patented multi-weight concept will offer long duration energy storage at a lower levellized cost than alternative technologies, including lithium ion batteries, the company said.

The feasibility project follows a 250kW demonstration program conducted in Leith, Edinburgh in 2021.

Managing director Charlie Blair said: “Our multi weight concept has been proven by our Leith demonstrator, where two 25 tonne weights were configured to run independently, delivering smooth continuous output when lowered one after the other.

“We were able to demonstrate a round-trip efficiency of more than 80% and the ability to ramp up to full import or export power in less than a second.”

Eos hails revenue boost, announces expansion e-Zinc raises $25m for zinc-air ESS pilot scheme

Zinc-based battery storage developer Eos Energy Enterprises Revenue posted a major jump in full-year revenue of $4.6 million for 2021 on February 25, although reported an operating loss of $135 million.

Revenue increased from $0.2 million in the year-ago period while losses included $30 million to terminate an agreement involving the company’s Hi-Power subsidiary.

But CEO Joe Mastrangelo said in its first full year as a public company, Eos had made “the successful transition” to become an industrial manufacturer — buoyed by booked orders of $137.4 million resulting in a backlog of $148.7 million as of December 31, 2021.

Mastrangelo said the backlog represented an eight-fold increase from the $18.2 million as of December 31, 2020 and the current backlog included $34 million of future recurring services revenue.

And Mastrangelo highlighted Eos’ unveiling of plans just two days earlier to more than triple output at its manufacturing site in Pennsylvania to 800MWh. Toronto-based e-Zinc has secured $25 million in a series ‘A’ financing to start pilot production of its first commercial zinc-air energy storage systems. According to e-Zinc, the company recently validated that its zincair battery “can discharge energy for several days at rated power, compared to only a few hours for most other battery types”.

CEO James Larsen said: “We now have the opportunity to execute high-value commercial pilot projects that provide in-field validation for our batteries.” He said the company had refined its technology since raising seed funding in 2020.

“We have achieved many critical technical milestones, such as demonstrating how our system pairs to solar and grid generation, developing the balance of system and implementing a software and controls layer.

The latest financing round was led by Anzu Partners, with additional funding from BDC Capital, Toyota Ventures, and Eni Next. Existing investors, including Seed Round lead investor Energy Foundry, also participated.

Invinity agrees vanadium storage deal with Hyosung Corporation

Invinity Energy Systems said on April 8 it had agreed to forge a partnership with Hyosung Heavy Industries — the power and industrial systems group of the Hyosung Corporation, one of Korea’s largest conglomerates.

The companies signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for the partnership, including an exclusive relationship in South Korea, after concluding what Invinity said was a successful test and validation program with HHI.

HHI said it had comprehensively tested a 200kWh energy storage system from Invinity, a company created through the 2020 merger of flow battery providers redT energy and Avalon Battery. The ESS has been in operation since HHI bought it in 2020 and “has now been validated as suitable for addition to Hyosung’s growing portfolio of projects across the world”, HHI said.

HHI is a supplier of heavy electrical equipment and one of the Korean region’s largest energy storage and

Redflow hails milestone US project, posts further losses but revenues rise

Australian flow battery maker Redflow said on February 28 it had completed a 2MWh zinc-bromine energy storage system in California — its biggest single deployment to date.

The announcement came as Redflow posted revenue of A$1.2 million ($863,000) in first-half results for fiscal 2022, a year-on-year increase of 172%. However, the company recorded a loss after income tax of A$6.5 million, compared to a loss of A$2.9 million in the yearago period.

Redflow said the loss was the result of increased costs for raw material and consumables and higher fixed costs, as the company positions the business for a “scale up” from the 2023 financial year.

But the company said it had raised a total of A$10.8 million in capital to underpin its push into international markets, “with the aim of converting opportunities into sales and revenue”.

Redflow CEO Tim Harris said the California project — for Anaergia’s Rialto Bioenergy Facility — was “a very significant milestone, providing a high visibility 2MWh reference installation for our growth into the US and other global markets”.

The Anaergia system comprises 192 zinc-bromine flow batteries, validating the technology and providing a live reference for customers, Redflow said.

Meanwhile, Mark Higgins, who has been supporting the company’s US growth plans as a strategic adviser, has been appointed as Americas president and chief commercial officer.

Higgins is a former chair of the US Department of Commerce’s renewable energy and energy efficiency advisory committee.

In Australia, Redflow completed its delivery of flow batteries for the Optus bushfire resiliency program — supporting the federal government’s ‘strengthening telecommunications against natural disasters’ initiative.

ESS expands European storage business

Iron-based flow battery storage company ESS said on March 16 it is expanding its European operations — to meet expected demand for long-duration storage as the continent attempts to scale back its dependency on Russian gas.

ESS said the RussiaUkraine conflict is set to accelerate Europe’s ramping up of renewable power and give new impetus for investments in long-duration energy storage as countries seek to reduce use of gas-powered generation of electricity.

The company intends to expand deployment of its LDES systems in Europe during the second half of 2022 — and has appointed Alan Greenshields as Europe director. He brings more than 25 years of executive experience to the company.

ESS has already announced orders from ENEL in Spain for 17 ESS Energy Warehouse iron flow battery systems, providing a combined capacity of 8.5MWh, which will be used to support an EUbacked solar farm and provide resilience for the local power grid.

According to ESS, the European region is to require up to 20TWh of long-duration energy storage capacity if it is to meet UN climate change goals of ‘grid net zero’ by 2040.

ESS chief executive Eric Dresselhuys said: “Based on our success in the US, it makes sense to bring our technology to the European market where demand is so strong.” renewable energy project developers, with around 2GWh of operational projects worldwide.

HHI will become the exclusive representative for Invinity’s VS3 products in Korea, with further nonexclusive rights to sell Invinity’s products in Hyosung’s other global markets.

Under the terms of the companies’ agreement, Hyosung could also manufacture “elements of Invinity’s VS3 products”.

Redflow said it delivered a total of 241 batteries to customers across the US, South Africa and Australia during the first half, while the start of commercial production for its next iteration ‘Generation 3’ batteries was “on track” for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.

Key improvements to the batteries include major advancements to stack technology, tank architecture, improved cooling and a new electronics control system, which Redflow said will enable it to achieve a 30% reduction in costs.

Separately, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) said on February 24 it was using batteries from Australia’s Redflow to conduct research to characterize the operating and safety profile of redox flow batteries under nominal and off-nominal conditions.

Redflow’s zinc-bromine batteries are the focus of the test program conducted by UL’s Electrochemical Safety Research Institute, in collaboration with Stress Engineering Services (SES), to understand key technical attributes of redox flow batteries, study their cycle life and aging properties.

The program also aims to establish how the batteries behave under over-discharge and external shortcircuit conditions.

UL bought six Redflow batteries in 2021, which arrived at SES’ Texas facility in December.

Reliance Industries’ unit to acquire Lithium Werks

India’s Reliance Industries said on March 14 a subsidiary unit had agreed to acquire battery maker Lithium Werks in a $61 million deal to expand energy storage and EV battery development for the Indian market.

Reliance New Energy Limited said it had signed definitive agreements to “acquire substantially all of the assets”, including the entire patent portfolio of the Netherlands-based lithium iron phosphate (LFP) group, its manufacturing facilities in China, “key business contracts and hiring of existing employees as a going concern”.

Reliance Industries chairman, Mukesh Ambani, said the deal “will enable us to accelerate our vision of establishing India at the core of developments in global battery chemistries — and help us provide a secure, safe and high-performance supply chain to the large and growing Indian EV and energy storage markets”.

“LFP is fast gaining as one of the leading cell chemistries due to its cobalt and nickel free batteries, low cost and longer life compared to NMC and other chemistries,” Ambani said.

Other commentators say that the advantages of safety and price with LFP batteries ignore the fact that there is no commercial gains to be had by recycling them. Their lack of valuable elements such as cobalt, manganese and nickel, makes them an end-of-life drawback and expense.

Reliance said that, combined with agreements announced last December to acquire UK sodium-ion battery tech developer Faradion, it plans to set up an “end-to-end battery ecosystem”, including the manufacturing of battery cells, cathodes, anodes and electrolyte.

Lithium Werks was founded in 2017 through acquisition of various assets of Valence Technology and A123 Systems and has nearly 200MWh annual production capacity including coating, cell and custom module manufacturing capabilities.

The acquisition should be complete by June, subject to various regulatory and other conditions.

NREL looks for ‘sweet spot’ in behind-the-meter ESS

Research underway at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory aims to find the best way to maximize battery technology in behind-the-meter stationary storage (BTMS) systems, the lab said on March 24.

NREL researchers, as part of the US Department of Energy’s BTMS Consortium, are developing new lithium ion battery designs specific to stationary storage requirements. Project leader and NREL research Yeyoung Ha said: “We already know a lot about lithium ion batteries, but batteries for different applications have different requirements.

“Our research looks at how to leverage the developments from electric vehicle battery research for new applications in stationary storage.

“Our goal is to identify a ‘sweet spot’ to leverage the advantages of electrode loading and increased temperatures to maximize the performance of LTO/LMO battery cells. Our research refined material designs for BTMS specifically, converting this well-known power

Zenobe unveils plans for Scottish BESS first

UK headquartered Zenobe announced on April 28 it had started construction of what will be the largest battery built in Scotland to date — and the country’s first transmission-connected battery storage project.

The 50MW/100MWh facility in North Lanarkshire will help ease grid constraints, stabilize the system and enable 640GWh more renewable generation to travel from north to south of the country over the next 15 years, Zenobe said.

Fluence’s Gridstack lithium-based energy storage system technology will be deployed for the project, which should start operations by the end of 2022.

James Basden, co-founder and director of Zenobe, said the battery is the first of a series of “major battery flexibility projects” by the company and part of around £500 million ($630 million) worth of investments it intends to invest in Scotland in the next five years. Duke Energy announced a “first of its kind” project for the US utility on March 10, as part of three new battery storage projects.

The company said completion of the near-18 MW lithium ion battery facility, at its 45MW Lake Placid solar power plant, in Highlands County, was the first time it had added battery storage to a utility-scale solar facility — allowing solar energy to be dispatchable by the company’s grid operators to improve overall plant efficiency.

The other projects completed included the 11 MW Trenton lithium battery facility, 30 miles west of Gainesville in Gilchrist County and the 5.5MW Cape San Blas lithium facility — about 40 miles southeast of Panama City in Gulf County.

Duke said the latter project was an “economical alternative” to replacing distribution equipment necessary to support increasing local demand.

This year Duke Energy says it will have six battery sites in operation in Florida totalling 50MW of energy storage.

chemistry to energy cells.”

NREL said the research had already evaluated the temperature-dependent performance of LTO/LMO cells with various electrode loadings. Researchers determined that using thicker electrodes in battery designs can increase the cell capacity and energy density, while decreasing overall cell costs.

The NREL team’s work showed that by allowing batteries to have intermittent rest during discharge, instead of being fully discharged as for electric vehicles, the electrode utilization was “significantly improved”.

Researchers found this type of pulsed discharge is well suited for BTMS stationary applications, where the batteries are used only when there is intermittent demand and then transitioned back to a resting stage.

Details of the research have been published in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.

Duke Energy in solar-battery storage first for US utility

Eurocell shortlists sites for first European gigafactory

Anglo-Korean battery company Eurocell has shortlisted six potential locations for its first European gigafactory to target the region’s energy storage market, the company said on February 25.

A Eurocell spokesperson told Batteries International that the company was in “deep discussions” concerning the possible sites, which are spread across the UK, the Netherlands and Spain, for its two-phase $800 million investment.

Eurocell said its technology is ‘battery ready’, “perfectly suited to energy storage” and ready for scaling up to “full capacity” as early as 2025.

The company said its ability to “capture any input charge under any condition at a 10C rate makes it the ideal storage solution in combination with renewable energy”.

But Eurocell declined to give details about the proposed gigafactory’s manufacturing capacity.

Partner company Korean Eurocell has produced batteries at a plant it has in South Korea – from where its processes and technology would be sourced to launch production in Europe.

The company said it would not discuss its battery chemistry, but CEO Recardo Bruins said the batteries’ performance, safety and longevity “make them ideal for ‘smart’ homes and offices, where you can store renewable energy, or energy from the grid at the cheapest tariff and then deploy it when you want to”.

Bruins said: “Quite rightly, a lot of the debate so far has been about the electrifi-

Italvolt moves ahead with Italian gigafactory project

Italian gigafactory developer Italvolt said on April 21 it had signed an agreement that paves the way to start production of lithium ion batteries in the second half of 2024.

Italvolt said its memorandum of understanding with regional and Turin city authorities would “ensure efficient administrative action” for construction of the 45GWh gigafactory, on a 1,000,000m2 site that was previously home to Olivetti in Scarmagno, northeast of Turin.

The final design for the facility — which is set to become a key producer of batteries for energy storage systems and electric vehicles — is to be finalized by June, followed by the receipt of construction permits by early 2023.

Italvolt founder and CEO Lars Carlstrom said: “After the presentation of the preliminary project and the subsequent authorization obtained at the beginning of 2022, the signing of the memorandum of understanding confirms the progress of a project that is proceeding rapidly thanks to constant collaboration with all the local authorities.”

Carlstrom was the cofounder and CEO of UK gigafactory project, Britishvolt, until he announced in December 2020 that he was stepping aside from that project.

On October 12, 2021, Italvolt announced a partnership agreement with Swiss technology group ABB that included consultancy on robotics and autonomous operations for transportation and handling of material in the process units of the gigafactory. cation of vehicles but we think it’s time to discuss the wider electrification of society. That’s not just about how we electrify our cars, but how we will charge them while providing renewable off grid solutions and powering our industry and homes.”

Envision AESC plans US gigafactory in move to supply Mercedes-Benz

China’s Envision AESC unveiled plans on March 16 for a new US gigafactory to supply battery cell modules for Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles produced in the country.

A spokesperson for the battery tech group told Batteries International details of the project are to be announced next month.

The planned facility aims to start operations in 2025 and will supply a MercedesBenz lithium-ion battery factory in Bibb County, Alabama — which the auto giant confirmed on March 15 had been opened a few months ahead of the start of production of all-electric Mercedes-EQ vehicles in the US.

Envision AESC executive chairman Lei Zhang said: “Our planned investment in a new gigafactory will form part of an ecosystem in the region, aimed at growing the local supply chain and developing the whole life cycle opportunities of batteries.

“This marks a significant step forward in our company’s mission to be a leading technology partner to support the global transition to carbon neutral transportation.

Mercedes-Benz Group’s chairman of the board of management, Ola Källenius, said: “The opening of our new battery plant in Alabama is a major milestone on our way to going allelectric.

“With our comprehensive approach including a local cell sourcing and recycling strategy, we underline the importance of the US, where Mercedes-Benz has been successful for decades.”

KORE finalizes gigafactory site deal

US-based battery cell tech company KORE Power has finalized the purchase of a site in Arizona to produce around 12GWh of lithium ion batteries annually for energy storage and electric vehicles, the company said on April 6.

The company said it will build its two million square foot KOREPlex manufacturing facility on the site in Buckeye.

Construction begins this summer and the company said it expects the facility to be fully operational in 2024. KOREPlex will be powered by on-site solar and storage, “making it a net-zero facility”, KORE said.

Founder and CEO Lindsay Gorrill said: “With the land secured, we can now move forward with our schedule to begin construction later this year and keep us on track to provide USmade lithium ion cells to EV and storage solution providers.”

On March 23, KORE announced the launch of KORE Solutions — a new energy storage division in the US — following its acquisition of ESS company Northern Reliability.

KORE Power launches new division after acquisition

US-based battery cell tech company KORE Power said on March 23 it had acquired energy storage company Northern Reliability for an undisclosed sum — and had launched a new division called KORE Solutions.

KORE chief executive Lindsay Gorrill said the new unit would combine NR’s decades of storage engineering and product development expertise with KORE Power’s battery cell capabilities.

“KORE Solutions was formed to tackle global challenges, and with NR’s engineering and problemsolving capacity, we’ll develop better products and services across the energy storage sector,” Gorrill said.

Gorrill also highlighted NR’s experience in deploying more than 1,000 energy storage projects to some of the most inhospitable locations on the planet, from remote islands to Antarctica.

$20Africa fund boost to aid energy storage

An Africa-focused fund to promote private investment in battery storage and energyefficient technologies has received a $20 million equity boost, the African Development Bank confirmed on March 10.

The AfDB said it had made the combined equity investment in the AfricaGoGreen Fund with the bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.

The investment boost follows a $11.5 million equity contribution to AGG approved by the Nordic Development Fund in December 2021.

AGG was launched in December 2020 by Germany’s stateowned investment and development bank, KfW, which anticipates it to grow to around €150 million ($164 million) later this year. The fund is managed by LHGP Asset Management, part of the Lion’s Head Global Partners investment bank group.

KfW’s director of global equity and funds, Jan Martin Witte, said: “These new investments are also expected to trigger additional investments by commercial investors and financiers either directly or through co-funding of projects.”

Last October, the AfDB approved a $57.7 million loan, co-financed with the World Bank and New Development Bank, to South African national utility Eskom Holdings for a total of 800MWh of energy storage capacity across seven sites in the country.

EU urged to adopt climate laws to expand storage

Industry members of the European Battery Alliance said on March 23 that EU leaders must move quickly to adopt new climate laws, to encourage increased investment in stationary battery storage projects.

The EBA said the European Commission’s ‘fit for 55’ plan — a package of proposed laws aimed at achieving a 55% net cut in emissions by 2030 — should be enacted swiftly, to promote an expansion of stationary storage at grid level and roll-out widespread development of integrated vehicle-to-grid systems.

Energy storage and batteries have the potential to deliver a 100% renewable energy system, representatives of the EBA’s more than 750 battery industry member organizations said in a joint statement.

“Both the Covid pandemic and war in Ukraine have highlighted the fundamental need for resilient industrial value chains, including batteries, for the EU’s economic growth and decarbonization as well as for its strategic autonomy,” the statement said.

Nala Renewables boosts US BESS expansion with Long Island projects

UK-headquartered Nala Renewables said on March 29 it is to develop four new battery energy storage projects in New York State.

The renewable energy investor and developer is working with New York-based power and infrastructure firm, Rhynland Energy, to start building the facilities by mid-2024. The units will have a combined expected storage capacity of 280MW.

Nala said the Long Island area sites have been procured and interconnection and entitlement work has started.

Rhynland Energy managing director Gus Hadidi said the projects “will help provide much needed dispatchable capacity on Long Island and will support the development of renewable resources in New York State”.

Nala, which is jointly owned by IFM Investors and Trafigura, has a presence in six countries and sees the US as a growth market in its expansion plans.

The company recently started construction of a 25MW BESS in Belgium.

UK-based Gore Street ramps up overseas ESS expansion

London-listed Gore Street Energy Fund said on March 10 it was extending its push into international markets with the acquisition of its first battery storage projects in the US.

Gore Street is taking ownership of a portfolio of eight individual 9.9MW storage projects in Texas for an undisclosed sum from Perfect Power Solutions Texas, part of SER Capital Partners.

The US acquisition followed Gore Street’s announcement on March 4 that it had completed its first acquisition in continental Europe — purchasing a 90% stake in a 28MWh operational energy storage facility based on LG Chem lithium ion tech in Cremzow, Germany.

The Cremzow site was developed by Leclanché, Enel Green Power and Enertrag and Gore Street’s stake was purchased from Italy’s Enel Group subsidiary Enel X Germany.

Gore Street’s combined energy storage portfolio after the Texas purchase will be 708MW, including the German acquisition.

Fluence secures second order for BESS in Taiwan

Fluence is to supply a 60MW/96MWh battery energy storage system to Taiwan — its second in the country — under contract to the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), it was announced on April 22.

US-based Fluence will work with engineering services firm the TECO Group to supply the system for Taipower’s Taoyuan Longtan ultrahigh voltage substation, which is one of 29 such facilities and an important node of the 345KV power grid, Fluence said.

The Taoyuan Longtan BESS will be the biggest built with an investment of more than NT$2.6 billion ($89 million) and

will account for 37.5% of Taipower’s total electricity storage capacity on completion.

Fluence announced on December 20, 2021, that it had been chosen by Ina Energy, to deliver a 6MW/6MWh Gridstack BESS battery-based energy storage system (BESS) in Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Batteries International reported on February 3 that Fluence was forming a 50-50 joint venture with Indian renewable energy company, ReNew Power, to target India’s fastdeveloping energy storage market.

Ameresco $262 million increase is boost for California BESS

US-based renewables developer Ameresco announced on March 7 it had secured a $262 million credit increase to support work on new projects, including a ramp up of battery energy storage systems in California.

Ameresco confirmed last October that it had been awarded a design-build contract by Southern California Edison (SCE) to install a combined total 535MW of new battery storage across three of the utility’s substations.

The company said the increase, which takes its total facility to $495 million, will be used to fund “various near and long-term growth objectives” — including its project for SCE.

Ameresco said the new battery storage units in California should start commercial operation in August.

PG&E starts up California Megapack to boost grid stability

Pacific Gas and Electric Company said on April 18 it had commissioned its 182.5MW Elkhorn Battery — a Tesla Megapack battery energy storage system — at the US utility’s Moss Landing electric substation in California.

The BESS was fully energized and certified for market participation by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) after final testing on April 7.

Elkhorn was designed, built and is maintained by PG&E and Tesla and is owned and operated by PG&E.

PG&E said the system includes 256 lithium ion battery units, with the capacity to store and dispatch up to 730MWh of energy to the electrical grid at a maximum rate of 182.5MW for up to four hours during periods of high demand.

Eaton starts work on critical power HQ

Power management group Eaton said on April 12 it had started construction of a UPS and energy storage manufacturing plant in Finland. Eaton said the 16,500 m² site in Vantaa will serve as the group’s critical power solutions headquarters and a “center of excellence for data centers” when it is

world wide

High-tech design and manufacturing for the battery industry and the chemical industry

Two station KOH electrolyte filler LF4-8D, for bi-polar Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery modules

Our specialties include custom designed equipment utilizing the very latest in technology for Filling, Mixing and Dilution systems, and various equipment for handling corrosive liquids.

North America

Chris Glascock Office +1 (706) 841-1184 Mobile +1 (423) 595-2326 glascockinternational@gmail.com

Head Office

Office +46 40-671-1200 Åkerivägen 19 SE-241 38 Eslöv Sweden

office@kallstrom.com

Digatron Power Electronics representative in Scandinavia

South Korea

Gabriel Kim Office +82 32-438-3347 Mobile +82 10-5307-0459

gabyeolk@naver.com

India

Suresh Pemmaiah Office +91 80 40 976620 Mobile +91 98 45 021623

hpi@hpinstruments.com

For more information visit kallstrom.com

completed by the end of 2023.

The decision to expand was prompted by growing demand for grid-interactive UPS and energy storage systems produced at Eaton’s existing factory in Espoo, Finland, the group said.

Karina Rigby, president of Eaton’s critical systems and electrical sector for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “It’s exciting to see how UPS technology has evolved over time. It not only ensures business continuity for critical applications but also plays a role in the switch to renewables, by acting as a source of flexibility that supports grid stability.”

Eaton announced last September that it was working with Microsoft to identify ways for data centers to “monetize existing assets and integrate more renewable energy sources to help create a more sustainable and stable grid”.

Honeywell to supply New Mexico BESS for solar farm

Honeywell is to supply a 200MW energy storage system for a solar park in northern New Mexico, the company announced on February 28.

The ESS will be supplied to Chicago-based Hecate Energy for a 50MW solar farm that should be completed in the middle of this year.

Hecate said the solar farm will be capable of supplying enough electricity to power up to 16,000 average New Mexican homes for a year.

The project is a part of an initiative by the Public Service Company of New Mexico and will help meet the state's decarbonization goals.

Honeywell’s system will include its Experion energy control system that integrates asset monitoring, distributed energy resource management, supervisory control and analytics functionality.

Ujjwal Kumar, president and CEO of Honeywell Process Solutions, said: “Hecate Energy, much like Honeywell, is focused on innovation and the latest technologies to lead the change in energy transition, making them an ideal collaborator in bringing renewable energy options to the table.”

Queensland go-ahead for Chinchilla battery storage

Australia’s Queensland state government is backing construction of a 100MW/200MWH Tesla Megapacks energy storage plant, CS Energy announced on March 30.

CS Energy, the stateowned power company, will build the grid-scale plant near Chinchilla. Queensland treasurer and trade and investment minister, Cameron Dick, said the A$150 million ($113 million) plant should be in operation by the end of 2023.

CS Energy CEO Andrew Bills said the plant would be built next to the company’s coal-fired Kogan Creek Power Station, providing its employees with exposure to new assets, training and skills as Australia’s energy sector transforms.

“Large-scale batteries are an important next step in creating a more flexible and diversified energy portfolio for CS Energy and our owners, the people of Queensland,” he said.

According to CS Energy,

the project “will have a relatively small footprint” (100 meters x 150 meters) and be connected to the grid via a substation.

Fluence’s Gridstack chosen for Irish wind farm storage project

Europe-focused renewable power investor, Greencoat Renewables, has chosen Fluence’s Gridstack system for its first investment in energy storage technologies, Fluence announced on February 21. The 10.8MW Gridstack lithium iron phosphate utility-scale system has been supplied to Greencoat for its Killala Community Wind Farm in County Mayo, Ireland. Fluence said that, once fully operational, the battery would help Final Ad.pdf 1 9/17/2019 3:13:17 PM increase system stability in the Irish electricity grid as Greencoat — which is managed by Greencoat Capital — uses the system “to participate in energy flexibility markets”. The project is Fluence’s third involving batterybased energy storage co-located with wind farms in Ireland, and its 10th publicly announced venture in the Irish single electricity market. The Gridstack system is built on Fluence’s proprietary, sixthgeneration utility-scale technology, which the company said is designed “for the most demanding grid applications”, including frequency regulation, flexible peaking capacity and enhanced transmission and distribution services. Fluence’s MD for the UK, Ireland and Israel, Marek Kubik, said the Irish government had increased its target percentage of renewables in the national generation mix in 2030 from 70% to 80%.

Lower Prices. Better Service.

Using the expertise acquired through more than 25 years, we offer our international customers top quality, excellent service and the lowest prices.

New Equipment

From All Major Manufacturers

Spare Parts

Quality built, reliable replacements keeping your machines up and running

Material Supplies

Negative Expander, Fiber Flock, Flux, Cork Powder, Pasting Belts & More Clean-All Heavy Metals®Soap

The only soap that allows workers to eliminate lead residue from their skin without harsh scrubbing. Keep your workers safe and clean.

Global Shipping

We offer full air, ocean and courier services at low rates. Or ship with your own carrier. You are in control.

LOCATIONS: CONTACT:

Miami Beach, FL 33139 U.S.A. TEL: 305-695-8990 Denver, CO 80234 U.S.A. FAX: 305-695-8991 www.sashas.net Email: sashas@sashas.net

Sasha’s International, Inc.

The World’s Price Leader for the Battery Industry

English · Français · Español · Italiano · Deutsch · български · Pусский

Northvolt selects Germany for third gigafactory

Swedish batteries developer Northvolt said on March 15 it had selected a site in northern Germany to build the company’s third gigafactory.

The ‘Northvolt Drei’ plant in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, will have an annual potential production capacity of 60GWh — increasing the company’s pipeline of battery manufacturing capacity under development to more than 170GWh.

Investment costs for the new plant were not disclosed, but Northvolt claimed the facility would start producing high-performance, lithium ion batteries for the electric vehicles market in 2025, “with the lowest environmental footprint in continental Europe”.

Northvolt said Schleswig-Holstein had been chosen because the region “hosts the cleanest energy grid in Germany… with a surplus of electricity generated by onshore and offshore wind power and reinforced by clean energy provided through grid interconnections to Denmark and Norway”.

The new plant is also set to have an on-site battery recycling facility.

Peter Carlsson, co-founder and CEO of Northvolt, said: “It matters how we produce a battery cell. If you use coal in your production, you embed a fair amount of CO2 into your battery, but if we use clean energy, we can build a very sustainable product.”

Northvolt’s latest project follows its announcement on February 24 that it would convert a closed paper mill in Sweden to produce up to 100GWh of cathode material to support cell assembly at Northvolt’s facilities.

Northvolt has signed a letter of intent to buy the Kvarnsveden Mill and surrounding industrial area in Borlänge, central Sweden, from Stora Enso — a Swedish manufacturer of products from wood and biomass. Financial details were not disclosed.

Initial operations at Kvarnsveden, which will have an eventual potential annual production capacity of more than 100GWh of cathode material, should start in late 2024.

Production at Kvarnsveden will support the assembly of battery cells at a number of Northvolt’s plants, including the Northvolt Ett gigafactory in Skellefteå, where the company announced last December it had produced its first lithium-ion cell.

The mill, which was founded in 1900, produced pulp and paper for more than 120 years until Stora Enso announced its closure in April 2021, with the loss of more than 400 jobs.

Northvolt said it planned to keep key managers from the Kvarnsveden site working to support a swift transfer of operations to the new activities.

Co-founder and CEO of Northvolt, Peter Carlsson said: “Since Northvolt’s founding, we have focused on circular battery production, but this is the first time we will reuse an entire production site.”

“With its access to energy, industrial water and the broad production knowhow in the region, Kvarnsveden is an optimal site for a gigafactory.”

“There is a massive global demand for sustainable, highquality lithium-ion battery cells and systems,” Carlsson said. “With the blueprint developed at Northvolt Labs and Northvolt Ett, we will now put in another gear to scale up production even faster and larger than before.”

YOUR ITALIAN PARTNER FOR BATTERY RECYCLING AND LEAD PRODUCTION

LEAD SMELTING UNIT

STC designs and supplies complete lead smelting units for new smelters to process lead-bearing materials such as lead paste (desulphurized or non-desluphurized), metallic lead, drosses, flue dust, residues from other non-ferrous metal operations, cerussite ores. Supply of single equipment or unit is also available in case of revamping or modernization of existing facilities.

The range of STC equipment includes: rotary furnace single or double passage up to 12.000 lt useful volume metal and slag pouring system (ladles or receiving kettle) molten lead and bullion handling system oxyfuel or standard burner charging machine charge preparation system air pollution control system including after burner, baghouse filter, scrubber and HEPA filters

Contact our experts for inquiries and technical details at info@stcitaly.com

WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU www.stcitaly.com

Excellence in Engineered

Formation Solutions.