Nala’s Belgium BESS set for commercial start

UK-headquartered Nala

Renewables is on course to start commercial operations at one of Belgium’s largest battery energy storage systems to date in the first quarter of this year, joint owner Trafigura said on December 8.

The 100MWh Balen lithium ion battery project (pictured) involves investment of up to €30 million ($32 million) said Trafigura, which is the 50-50 partner with IFM Investors.

BASF in materials supply first for Toyota-Panasonic joint venture firm

BASF has delivered the first batch of customized nickelcobalt manganese cathode active materials (CAM) for high performance EV battery cells being produced by the Toyota-Panasonic joint venture Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES).

BASF said on December 19 that its majority-owned BASF Toda Battery Materials company produced the

CAM at its Onoda calcination plant in Japan. Work to expand cell production capacity at Onoda to up to 45GWh is underway and the increased capacity will come online in the second half of 2024.

Toyota holds a majority 51% stake in PPES, which started operations in April 2020 to produce automotive prismatic batteries.

Construction launch for Neoen’s 200MW Blyth Battery in South Australia

Neoen said on January 5 had launched construction of its 200MW/400MWh Blyth Battery in South Australia.

Blythe is one of seven new grid-scale battery projects across the country that will be supported in part by financial backing from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

NHOA Energy will be the battery storage specialist for the project. Details of the battery tech were not disclosed, but NHOA produces a range of lithium ion-based energy storage systems.

Blyth will mainly be deployed in combination with Neoen’s Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm to deliver 70MW of renewable baseload energy to mining group BHP.

Neoen said the energy will power BHP’s Olympic Dam operations in South Australia.

The construction period will last between 12 and 16 months and the battery will be Neoen’s fifth biggest in the country, taking the company’s overall Australian asset portfolio close to 3GW in operation or under construction.

Balen is being built at a zinc smelting facility owned by Trafigura subsidiary Nyrstar.

Trafigura said the BESS will be able to store 25MW for more than four hours and provide stability and balancing services for the Belgian grid, as well as help shift renewable energy pro - duction into high-energy demand periods.

Nala is developing renewable energy generation and storage assets in Belgium, Chile, France, Greece, Netherlands, Poland and the US.

The company has grown its renewable energy asset portfolio to 2.8GW and is on track to meet its 4GW target by the end of 2025, Trafigura said.

Nala announced last March that it would also be developing four new BESS projects in New York State.

The company 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 storage capacity of 280MW.

US ‘set for 1,000GWh surge in EV battery capacity by 2030’

EV battery manufacturing capacity in North America is set to accelerate from 55GWh annually in 2021 to nearly 1,000GWh by 2030 as a wave of new manufacturing facilities come online, according to a US government forecast published on January 2.

The figures underline separate analysis, which indicated that the US is outpacing Europe in the battery gigafactories investment race, following tax incentives unveiled by the federal government in the Inflation Reduction Act last August.

According to the latest forecast by the federal Vehicle Technologies Office, most of the announced battery plant projects are to begin production between 2025 and 2030.

By 2030, this production capacity will be capable of supporting the manufacture of roughly 10 to 13 million allelectric vehicles per year, the report said.

Many of the battery plants will be co-located with automotive plants to optimize supply chains, according to the report.

Most of the planned projects in the US are concentrated along a north-south band from Michigan to Alabama. Based on current plans, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Michigan are projected to see the highest growth in battery manufacturing capacity.