A collaboration between the innovation arm of fossil fuel company Shell and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) selected the maker of an organic flow battery among a group of “startups with the potential to dramatically alter the future global energy landscape”.

Adam Duran, programme director at Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL (styled as CGxN), spoke with Energy-Storage.news about the selection of Jolt Energy Storage as one of three startups selected to receive technical and capital resource assistance to accelerate commercialisation of their products, and de-risking investment somewhat.

Duran said the three companies, the third tranche of selected cohorts, “represents startups that are increasing efficiency of solar and energy storage technologies and standardising manufacturing processes at a lower cost than available solutions,” with the overall accelerator programme focusing on “accelerating the commercialisation of disruptive, novel technologies”.

Beechwood, Michigan-headquartered Jolt makes flow batteries “with the same large-scale storage capabilities as lithium-ion, but at a lower cost,” a press release sent out by GCxN said. The devices use organic compounds for electrolytes and claim an energy density around four times that of vanadium redox flow batteries.

Selected alongside Jolt and its redox flow energy storage batteries were BluDot Photonics, which is attempting to create cost-effective and scalable solar cells using perovskite and Icarus RT, which is making a hybrid solar-thermal photovoltaic system that recycles “waste heat” from solar panels.

“As renewables adoption increases over time, the need for large-scale energy storage technologies will continue to grow,” NREL staffer Duran said, in explaining Jolt Energy’s selection.

Satisfying the energy needs of a growing population in a sustainable way calls for some inventive solutions, and ones not necessarily limited to the confines of battery chemistry. Solutions to storing energy in mechanical systems instead could include huge towers of swinging blocks or, at the other end of the spectrum, tiny bundles of ultra-fine carbon threads, as a new study from Australia’s Queensland University of Technology has shown.

The researchers behind the study describe their proposed energy storage system as a diamond nanothread bundle, which are tiny structures that material scientists have been exploring for some time due to their unique physical properties. These bundles consist of very fine one-dimensional carbon threads, which can be twisted or stretched as a way of storing mechanical energy.

“Similar to a compressed coil or children’s wind-up toy, energy can be released as the twisted bundle unravels,” says study author Dr Haifei Zhan. “If you can make a system to control the power supplied by the nanothread bundle it would be a safer and more stable energy storage solution for many applications.”

Zhan and his team conducted computer modeling to investigate the energy density of a hypothetical diamond nanothread bundle. According to the results, these systems could store 1.76 MJ per kilogram, which is around four to five orders higher than a steel spring of the same mass, and up to three times that of lithium-ion batteries.

While this superior energy density is a huge incentive to develop a system like this, its safety another. Because it doesn’t involve the types of electrochemical reactions that take place in lithium ion batteries, it avoids the risk of leaks, explosions or simple chemical failure.

“At high temperatures chemical storage systems can explode or can become non-responsive at low temperatures,” says Zhan. “These can also leak upon failure, causing chemical pollution. “Mechanical energy storage systems don’t have these risks so make them more suited to potential applications within the human body.”

Since scientists demonstrated the first rechargeable lithium-ion battery in 1976, the technology has proven its world-changing potential in the electronics industry. But even as applications in electric vehicles and stationary storage record massive growth, the technology has issues to overcome and scientists the world over are hard at work on integrating new materials and pushing more performance out of batteries still based on the concepts illustrated by scientists almost half a century ago.

And looking back over these developments can be valuable in informing the future direction of research. Arumugam Manthiram has been a professor at the University of Texas at Austin for 20 years, and has also worked on lithium-ion technology alongside Nobel Prize-winning scientist John Goodenough. In a review paper published in Nature Communications, Manthiram delves into the history of lithium-ion technology and examines the issues influencing current research into new battery concepts.

“Cost and sustainability are becoming critical as we move forward with large-scale deployment of lithium-ion batteries,” says Manthiram. “Also, there is an appetite to increase the energy density beyond the current level to keep up with the advances in portable electronic devices and enhance the driving range of electric vehicles.”

Big three

The paper outlines three major discoveries that brought about the lithium-ion batteries we see on the market today.

The first demonstration of a rechargeable battery with a lithium-metal anode and titanium sulfide cathode by M. Stanley Whittingham at Exxon in the 1970s provided proof of concept for recent advances in the understanding of intercalation chemistry. This battery was hampered by low voltage and energy density, as well as dendrite growth on the lithium-metal anode – a problem scientists today are still working to solve.

Next Manthiram focuses on work by John Goodenough’s group in the 1980s, which was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. This concerns the design of oxide cathodes, which allowed for increased voltage in the battery. Goodenough’s group also divided oxide cathodes into three classes (layered, spinel and polyanion), which remain the only practical cathode types to this day, and serve as the basis for future developments.

Finally, further work by Goodenough’s group in the 1980s, led by visiting researcher Koichi Mizushima, provided the first demonstration of a lithium battery with a carbon anode and lithium cobalt oxide cathode. It represented the first time the technology overcame safety and energy density issues, and was presented as something ready for commercialization.

TOKYO, March 21 (Reuters) – Panasonic Corp 6752.T said on Saturday it will temporarily suspend production at its battery joint venture with U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Inc TSLA.O in Nevada because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Japanese electronics company, which supplies battery cells for Tesla’s electric vehicles, will scale down operations at so-called Gigafactory 1 early next week before closing it for 14 days, Panasonic said in an emailed statement.

A Panasonic spokeswoman declined to comment on how the suspension would affect Tesla, which produces battery packs using Panasonic cells at the Nevada plant.

Tesla on Thursday said its operations at the Nevada battery plant would continue, while it would suspend production at its San Francisco Bay Area vehicle factory on March 24.

Panasonic said Nevada plant employees affected by the shutdown will receive full pay and benefits for the entire period. During the closure, the facility will undergo intensive cleaning, it said in the statement.

TechCrunch, which first reported the planned suspension, said Panasonic has about 3,500 employees at the Nevada plant.

Lithium ion batteries will be the fastest growing energy storage technology, with annual growth expected to reach more than 28 GW by 2028. The technology is expected to account for 85% of newly installed energy storage capacity, according to analysis by Navigant Research.

A new report from Navigant Research provides a database of global energy storage projects along with a regional analysis of technology choice, capacity, and market share for deployed projects and projects in the pipeline.

Regulatory policy, government incentives, deployment mandates, grid modernization programs, and declining technology costs created market conditions in which hundreds of energy storage projects were deployed around the world between 2018 and 2019. In this growing market, Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries have maintained a prominent place in the transformation of the power grid.

“Although pumped hydro storage (PHS) still accounts for 96% of installed energy storage capacity worldwide, Li-ion is the choice technology among project developers and system integrators,” says Ricardo F. Rodriguez, research analyst with Navigant Research. “The technology is expected to account for 85% of newly installed energy capacity.”

In addition to the growth of Li-ion, three types of storage projects typified deployments across the globe in 4Q 2019. According to the report, these include commercial and industrial applications located behind-the-meter (BTM), utility-scale battery storage projects that replace gas peaker plants, and utility-scale storage projects co-located at large solar PV or wind generation facilities.

The report, Energy Storage Tracker 4Q19, provides a comprehensive resource of global energy storage projects. The Tracker includes a database of 2,169 projects (encompassing at least 64,664 individual systems) and tracks the country, region, market segment, capacity, status, technology vendor, systems integrator, applications, funding, investment, and key milestones of each project.

A new lithium battery recycling facility, established by operator Li-Cycle on a commercial basis at the well-known Eastman Business Park in New York State, answers both a growing need and an opportunity in an “unprecedented phase” of deployment, the company has said.

The Canadian company has previously penned a technical feature article for Energy-Storage.news and PV Tech Power on the science and technology underpinning its two-step process for recycling, claiming that 80% to 100% of battery recycling is possible through mechanical size reduction (shredding packs and cells) and then recovering materials through a hydrometallurgical process. Li-Cycle announced its first commercial shipment of recycled lithium battery materials to a customer at the beginning of this year.

Eastman Business Park in Rochester, New York, is also host to a number of other battery industry operations, including Kodak’s battery production centre. Li-Cycle representatives said via email that the announced facility will be a “spoke” of the companies operations (as opposed to a “hub”), with capacity to process 5,000 tonnes of spent lithium-ion batteries per year.

“The ‘Spoke’ technology transforms lithium-ion batteries into an inert, non-hazardous intermediate product consisting of the electrode material, while separating plastics and other metals contained in the battery for further downstream recycling by third parties,” the company’s representatives said in an exclusive commentary sent to Energy-Storage.news this week.

‘First step to addressing mass market global opportunity’
According to Li-Cycle, the Monroe County, Rochester, site location offers several strategic advantages including EBP’s on-site analytical labs, with trade association / technology accelerator NY BEST also hosting some R&D, testing and innovation facilities at the park. Being in New York also gives good access to battery materials from EVs, portable electronics and energy storage from a broad area of the US, from the Midwest through to the Northeast.

The U.S. Trade Representative lowered tariffs on Chinese lithium-ion batteries to 7.5 percent from 15 percent.

The new rate goes into effect on Feb. 14. The change in the tariff will ease the adverse economic effects on grid energy storage deployments in the country.

The U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) applauded the move but believes more is necessary.

“This week’s action demonstrates movement in the right direction; however, ESA looks forward to timely and full removal of the tariffs,” ESA CEO Kelly Speakes-Backman said.

ESA has concerns about any tariffs on lithium-ion battery imports. Organization officials say the tariffs are inconsistent with the federal government’s efforts to encourage growth in storage deployment and create jobs.

“ESA and its members continue to call on the U.S. Trade Representative for the full removal of the tariffs on grid energy storage components, due to storage’s critical role in improving electric system resilience, energy security, and job creation. We look forward to working with the Administration to remove impediments to America’s efforts to modernize its electric system,” Speakes-Backman added.

ESA is the national trade association for the energy storage industry. With more than 190 members, ESA represents independent power producers, electric utilities, energy service companies, financiers, insurers, law firms, installers, manufacturers, component suppliers and integrators involved in deploying energy storage systems around the globe.

More information on the impacts of import tariffs on the American energy grid infrastructure can be found on their web site, www.energystorage.org.