It will help ABS ESS to deploy its 30GWh of targeted projects over the next three years. The company was formed in 2018 with the acquisition of the manufacturing and testing assets from Robert Bosch Battery Systems, funded by investor KCK Group. ABS ESS also serves the EV market.

It has a 16,000 square metre facility in Ohio, inherited from the Robert Bosch deal, which has been assembling lithium-ion battery packs for the EV sector since 2009.

“Our collaboration has been in progress for the past year, with an initial agreement reached in Q4 of 2022,” said Steven Chen, Vice President of EVE Energy Co. Ltd. “Extended warranty terms were finalized in Q1 of 2023, and we are very happy to announce this partnership now.”

Rick Cwiakala, VP operations for ABS ESS, added: “Through this strategic partnership and MSA, we are well-positioned to meet much of the growing demand for the TeraStor and for our additional forthcoming systems that are purpose-built for execution of further energy storage scenarios”.

Eve Energy is a Tier 2 battery supplier according to a Benchmark Mineral Intelligence ranking from 2022. Tier 1 companies including CATL, LG Chem, Samsung SDI, BYD and European firm Northvolt.

The deal with ABS ESS was Eve’s second big offtake agreement announced last week – when the industry convened at Ees Europe 2023 in Munich, Germany – after it committed to providing system integrator Powin with 10GWh of batteries for projects around the world.

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As previously reported by Energy-Storage.news, a provisional agreement between the European Parliament and Council was reached in December over the rules, which would replace a previous directive put into force in 2006. The new regulations had been first proposed in 2020, and may change again as talks progress.

Aimed at taking into account a battery’s whole lifecycle from raw materials to end-of-life and recycling, the main provisions that relate to stationary energy storage, in short, include:

Carbon footprint labelling for industrial batteries with capacity over 2kWh.

Introduction of a Battery Passport, labelling all batteries and their components with a digital pass that can be easily accessed, for example with a QR code.

Minimum levels of materials to be recovered from waste batteries: 50% recovered lithium by 2027 and 80% by 2031, an 90% by 2027 for cobalt, copper, lead and nickel rising to 95% by 2031.

Minimum levels of recycled content from manufacturing and consumer waste to be used in new batteries, to be phased in, beginning at eight years after the regulation comes into force: 16% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 6% for lithium and 6% for nickel. After 13 years, these would rise to: 26% for cobalt, 12% for lithium, 15% for nickel and 85% for lead.

Secretary general at the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE), Patrick Clerens, said the trade association was “delighted to welcome the new Batteries Regulation as a significant step forward for the energy storage sector”.

The new Batteries Regulation is aligned with encouraging the use of energy storage to benefit the continent, whether that be behind-the-meter systems that “empower citizens and reduce energy costs for industries”, or front-of-the-meter systems that “maximise the integration of renewable energy sources and contribute to the establishment of a more resilient, sustainable, and efficient power grid,” Clerens said.

Specific points in the regulation picked out for further praise by the EASE secretary general included its focus on carbon footprint labelling, as well as the fact that it addresses end-of-life concerns, as well as how batteries can be repurposed for ‘second life’ applications.

“This legislation offers much-needed legal clarity and guidance to industry stakeholders, enabling them to effectively manage BESS at the end of their operational life,” Patrick Clerens said.

On the eve of the vote last Wednesday (14 June), trade group RECHARGE, which represents the interests of European battery manufacturers and related businesses similarly welcomed the regulation.

“Carbon intensity and due diligence provisions have the potential to not only prevent underperforming batteries from entering the EU market, but to truly work towards the climate-neutrality and sustainability objectives of the EU,” RECHARGE general manager Claude Chanson said.

“The new sustainability measures will set the rules for the game for selling batteries in Europe. This can only be successful with effective enforcement and control of the provisions. Furthermore, if correctly implemented, both the carbon footprint and due diligence have an unsurpassed steering potential to push European competitiveness based on sustainability and responsibility,” Chanson said.

Chanson highlighted too the important role the regulation could play in facilitating the EU’s decarbonisation and energy transition, but also in making the European battery value chain competitive and “able to set sustainability standards globally”.

‘Get ready for passport implementation’

Meanwhile, Energy-Storage.news also heard from the EU’s Battery Pass Consortium, put together to support the introduction of the digital Battery Passport.

In April, the consortium’s first publicly available guidance emerged, with a lengthy list of the applicable attributes of a battery that will be covered by the passport scheme and metrics for measuring and benchmarking them.

The Battery Pass Consortium’s project lead, Stepanie Schenk, told Energy-Storage.news this morning that stakeholders need to act fast to get on top of the scheme, as well as the wider regulations it is part of.

Following the parliamentary vote, which Schenk called “an important milestone” it is now in the hands of the European Council, which will formally endorse the text. It would then be published in the EU Official Journal and can then enter into force.

With an expectation the regulation could enter into force as early as August this year, the passport scheme would need to start 42 months after that, and will be mandatory for all industrial batteries over 2kWh capacity, as well as EV batteries and light transportation batteries.

“In light of this ambitious timeline, it is of utmost importance for organisations of the battery ecosystem to start preparing for the implementation as soon as possible,” Schenk said, offering up the Battery Pass Consortium “as well as other initiative in the area” that can provide guidance and a discussion forum for stakeholders.

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The Inflation Reduction Act, representing hundreds of billions of dollars in spending and tax incentives, included the introduction of investment tax credits (ITCs) for standalone energy storage. The Act has been widely welcomed by the clean energy industries not just for the dollar value of investment it represents into it, but also for giving them a sense of fiscal certainty over timeline into the 2030s.

It has already been in the firing line of some Republican Representatives that made a legislative attempt to roll back the IRA’s federal support for renewable energy and energy storage in April. However, the Fiscal Responsibility Act ultimately didn’t go in that direction, and in fact included a provision to expedite permitting of large-scale energy storage projects.

Energy-Storage.news asked market research and analysis group Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables what had been at stake from the debt default talks and subsequent deal, in particular if there had been a genuine shadow of threat for the storage ITC and similar measures.

“Given the position of the Republicans in the debt ceiling fight, it was natural to elevate rhetoric against a spending-heavy bill that was passed in reconciliation. That said, in debt ceiling negotiations in particular, it’s unlikely that big, significant cuts are going to come out,” Wood Mackenzie’s analysts told Energy-Storage.news.

“If you look at the compromises that did come out of the FRA, they’re mostly allowances, adding things to existing programmes like a pipeline approval and work requirements for food stamp programmes. These are still more conservative additions, but they don’t represent attacks on high-profile legislation like the IRA.”

Although there was one direct removal in the form of some increased funding earmarked for the IRS, overall, the IRA’s direct stimulus will likely be “popular enough” in traditionally Republican-voting states. This is because many of those by now have “significant amounts of wind and solar,” and in the case of Texas, significant amounts of energy storage, to make a repeal of the IRA “unlikely,” the analysis firm said.

“By the time there is another debt ceiling negotiation in 2025, the bill will likely be too entrenched to repeal.”

Wood Mackenzie has previously said the IRA’s incentives, which also include production tax credits (PTCs) for domestically manufactured clean energy technologies, as well as adders to the ITC for use of US-made and sourced materials, components and equipment, would turbocharge the US energy storage industry. Last week, in its latest quarterly US Energy Storage Monitor report, the firm predicted that despite a challenging Q1 for the sector, installations will pick up rapidly, with nearly 75GW of energy storage at all scales forecast for deployment in the country between 2023 and 2027.

Permitting reform for projects in federal jurisdiction

As noted in corporate blogs by law firms including Akin Gump and Sullivan & Cromwell as the Fiscal Responsibility Act went through, as well as suspending the debt ceiling to US$31.4 trillion by 1 January 2025, it also streamlines environmental review of energy infrastructure projects and provides accelerated permitting of energy storage projects.

Energy storage projects have been included in an amendment to section 41001(6)(A) of Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (FAST Act), making them eligible for speeded-up permitting.

However, while that’s broadly a positive, not many real-world projects may be found to be eligible. Wood Mackenzie said applicability is the main issue here.

“The addition of energy storage to the FAST Act applies, under the text of that original bill, to projects subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and ‘is likely to require a total investment of more than US$200,000,000’,” Wood Mackenzie’s team told Energy-Storage.news.

A project worth as much as that, would likely be at least around 500MW in size. Only the very largest handful of projects around the US will fall under the bill’s purview. In addition NEPA permitting requirements govern decisions by federal agencies, whereas in most cases, energy storage projects will fall under state jurisdiction and instead have to comply with state permitting requirements instead.

Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables said projects that these permitting provisions will apply to, will be those within federally controlled power systems such as Bonneville Power Administration and Tennessee Valley Authority, or on federal land, such as Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.

“The change will have a positive impact on projects that fit the requirements, but the majority of storage projects right now are both too small for the law to apply and are usually constructed on either private land or utility-owned land,” the analysts said.

Outside of those permitting reforms, “few, if any,” of the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s provisions will “affect the energy storage industry in a material way,” Wood Mackenzie said, emphasising again that “pushing out the next debt ceiling negotiation to 2025 makes it likely that the IRA will be fully entrenched and unable to be used as a bargaining chip in the future”.

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The company hosted visitors at the facility for the Vancouver facility’s official opening last week (16 June). The visit coincided with a US$380,000 grant from the British Columbia Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE), an independent not-for-profit that funds clean energy technologies originating in the region.

The grant from CICE will support the manufacture and deployment of a 1.2MWh project near its production facility, called Mistral. Further details of the project, which Invinity said will use its “next-generation vanadium flow battery”, will be announced later in 2023.

“As the number of intermittent renewable energy sources grows, so does the need for world-class energy storage technology that can stabilise utility grids. Invinity Energy Systems has exceptional global market potential and is quickly becoming a recognised leader in this field,” said Dr. Ged McLean, Executive Director of CICE.

The company has been recently moving up to larger project sizes, securing a 15MWh order from Taiwan last year before winning a grant from the UK government to partially fund a 30MWh system connected to National Grid’s network.

Speaking to Energy-Storage.news whilst at Energy Storage Summit USA in March this year, Invinity’s VP business development Matthew Walz said the company is in talks for 100MWh-plus projects from 2025 onwards.

He also described Invinity’s solution as an “excellent fit” for the US Department of Energy’s US$330 million in grant funding for non-lithium long duration energy storage projects, for which award notices are expected to be announced this summer.

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In this article we examine four typical technical challenges BESS assets face at the beginning of their lifecycle and how battery analytics can help to overcome them. All are based on real-life BESS projects with sizes between 20MW and 200MWh. Insights are anonymised and modified to respect the confidentiality of ACCURE’s customers.

1. Battery cell quality

Battery cells are the heart of a BESS; their quality makes or breaks a system’s ability to provide value. But high battery quality is not a given. Even the best cell manufacturing lines have significant scrap rates and produce batteries of varying qualities. New cell chemistries, exponential growth, accelerating product development cycles, and the advent of new suppliers hyper-scaling into the market have not improved this situation.

Today, the industry typically uses end-of-line (EOL) testing and sorting at the factory to ensure a minimum cell quality and to deal with the inevitable spread in cell properties during battery production. One typical test is to use an AC power source providing a current pulse at 1,000 Hz to measure the internal resistance of the cells. Cells with similar properties are grouped, and outliers go straight to recycling. Internal resistance is not typically evaluated during commissioning and operation, but it should be. Today, internal resistance can be tracked by combining battery management system (BMS) readings and advanced cloud computing capabilities.

In Figure 1 above, ACCURE’s advanced cloud analytics platform depicts the distributions of internal resistances in a BESS shortly after its commissioning. The batteries fall into three distinct groups:

(a) The left-most group shows highly desirable properties: The distribution of internal resistances is centered around a low value and has a small standard deviation. The EOL testing and sorting at the factory clearly worked here.

(b) The middle and right group show the opposite: The distributions are centered around higher values, with higher standard deviations. In layman’s terms: The cells in the middle are B stock, the cells on the right are trash.

A deeper look into the electric and electrochemical properties suggests that the cells came from different production batches and probably used different components (e.g., a different electrolyte or separator). It was also clear that the right group did not fulfill the quality criteria promised to the client. These battery cells were liabilities.

2. Battery management system (BMS) failures

The BMS is the brain of a battery. It ensures the battery is not operated outside of its specifications and provides abstract values like state of charge (SOC) to the overlying energy management system. To operate, it continuously tracks the voltage, current, and temperature of all battery modules. If a sensor fails or the BMS logic is corrupted, potentially dangerous situations can arise:

Unexpected shutdown of a battery rack because the BMS (falsely) believes a battery has reached its operational limits

Erroneous SOC calculation, leading to an underutilization of the asset and increasing system imbalance

Deep discharging, leading to the dissolution of copper from the anode tab and the risk of internal short circuits

Overcharging, leading to a thermal runaway event

Figure 2: Deep discharging of a battery during commissioning

Figure 2 shows a case of deep discharging that happened during commissioning. During commissioning, deep discharges can easily occur by accident – through parasitic loads or faulty active balancing. If a battery is deep discharged beyond a certain depth and duration, its warranty can be voided, and it can no longer be considered safe. The dissolution of copper can lead to internal short circuits weeks for months later. Such a battery needs to be taken out of operation. Digital monitoring can inform these discussions.

3. SOC errors and imbalanced racks

Since 2020, most new BESS use lithium-ion LFP batteries rather than NMC. These batteries generally have a higher raw material availability, lower costs per kWh, and a lower energy density. This lends itself well to stationary applications. However, one major challenge when working with LFP batteries is SOC estimation.

Figure 3 shows the SOC of a BESS during a late part of the commissioning phase. The greater than 30pp SOC difference between the racks is striking – and in this case incorrect. Using cloud-based algorithms, it was shown that the actual spread at the time was significantly smaller and that some of the initiated balancing activities actually increased the problem. In the given example, the error was pinpointed using ACCURE’s cloud-based analytics, and the issue was quickly addressed through recalibration. In the given example, the error was pinpointed using ACCURE’s cloud-based analytics, and the issue was quickly addressed through recalibration.

Figure 3. SOC of a BESS during late stages of commissioning

4. Water leak and heat damage

Problems with water have been a repeated source of worry for BESS. Failures of the cooling or fire suppression system started several high-profile fires over the past few years. But not every water issue automatically leads to a fire. And if the water did no apparent damage, a contractor might be incentivised to find pragmatic ways to deal with seemingly minor incidents.

Figure 4: Current and temperature profile of one container ina BESS.

One example of such a pragmatic solution was found by ACCURE when analysing the temperatures of battery containers during the commissioning phases. One plausible solution to this riddle is using a dehumidifier after water damage. It was probably well-intended. However, it had violated the battery’s warranty conditions.

This is an extract of a feature which appeared in Vol.35 of PV Tech Power, Solar Media’s quarterly technical journal for the downstream solar industry. Every edition includes ‘Storage & Smart Power,’ a dedicated section contributed by the team at Energy-Storage.news. Access to PV Tech Power, including more than five years of back issues, is part of the Energy-Storage.news Premium subscription package.

About the Author

Dr. Kai-Philipp Kairies is a scientist and entrepreneur focusing on innovative battery energy storage solutions. He worked as a battery researcher and consultant in Germany, Singapore, and California.Since 2020, he is CEO of ACCURE Battery Intelligence, a battery analytics solution provider that supports companies in understanding and improving their batteries’ safety and longevity to reduce risk and increase value and sustainability.

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CVS Health has entered an 18 MW agreement with Constellation to purchase zero-emission, renewable energy equivalent to the annual electricity use of its 147 CVS Health locations throughout Michigan.

Through a 12-year agreement beginning in April 2025, CVS Health will purchase energy and renewable energy certificates (RECs) from Swift Current Energy’s Double Black Diamond Solar Project in Illinois. This is made possible by a long-term agreement between Constellation and Swift Current Energy under which Constellation will purchase a portion of the energy and RECs generated by Double Black Diamond. Construction of the project began in earnest in March 2023.

In total, CVS Health will procure approximately 35,000 MWh of energy each year from Double Black Diamond, which is expected to help the company reduce its carbon footprint by nearly 17,000 metric tons calculated on an annual basis.

CVS Health will use the Constellation Offsite Renewables (CORe) product to facilitate its renewable energy transaction. CORe connects customers to the economic and sustainability benefits of large-scale, offsite renewable energy projects.

“By entering into this enduring relationship, CVS Health is embracing sustainable energy sources, while supporting a newly constructed renewable resource,” states Jim McHugh, CCO at Constellation. “We take great pride in supporting CVS Health on its path toward sustainability and providing them with a carbon-free energy solution that propels their efforts in reducing emissions.”

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Reactivate, a joint venture of Invenergy and Lafayette Square, and Solstice Power Technologies have entered into an agreement in which Solstice will provide subscriber acquisition and ongoing subscriber management services to Reactivate community solar projects across the United States over the next several years.

Reactivate and Solstice will unite to achieve their shared goals of delivering hundreds of megawatts of community solar projects to low-income, environmental justice and energy transition communities nationwide. The partnership will leverage Solstice’s expertise in community-building and LMI customer acquisition and Reactivate’s community solar project development and operation and workforce training to focus on communities that have been historically left out of the clean energy transition.

In January 2023, Reactivate and Solstice held a successful open enrollment launch for three low-income community solar projects through the Illinois Solar For All: Community Solar program; these projects have now surpassed 75% of their subscription capacity.

Two new community projects in Illinois began enrollment last month, bringing the total projects to five. The Illinois projects will generate over 20 million kWh of renewable electricity annually with the capacity to serve more than 3,500 households statewide. Solstice has already enrolled more than 1,500 income-eligible households in the Illinois solar farms, partnering with community organizations and municipalities to simplify the process.

“We’re excited to announce that we will continue working with Reactivate on multiple projects over the coming years. Subscribers have already enrolled at record speed for the projects and we are honored to get to work with a mission-driven development partner who not only understands the energy burden excluded communities face, but is actively doing something about it,” says Steph Speirs, Co-Founder and CEO of Solstice.

Distributed solar energy and storage development is on the rise in the U.S., protecting many homeowners from rising utility rates, and that growth is expected to continue in the coming years. However, 77% of Americans are still unable to participate in rooftop solar. This includes renters and households who may not qualify due to credit scores, incomes below minimum thresholds, unsuitable rooftops, or inadequate sun exposure.

Community solar bridges that gap, providing the opportunity for more households to access local renewable energy with monthly savings on their electricity bill by subscribing to a portion of a solar farm. Community solar reduces electric bills, supports local businesses, fuels job growth, improves public infrastructure and increases property tax revenue – all crucial for strengthening energy transition communities.

“Our goal is to save low- to moderate-income households $50 million in energy costs by 2030,” says Utopia Hill, CEO of Reactivate. “By joining forces with Solstice, we’re not only investing capital, but fostering local economic development in communities that have been historically marginalized. This partnership will truly make a difference and create a lasting impact.”

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Ideematec Inc., a provider of utility-scale solar tracking systems, has reached an agreement with Parliament Solar LLC, the initial asset for Parliament Energy Holdings LLC, to deliver 640 MW of Ideematec’s Horizon L:TEC 1P solar tracking system in Texas. Parliament Solar is a portfolio company of EnCap Investments L.P. and Mercuria Energy.

Ideematec’s solar tracking system is designed to maximize the efficiency of large-scale solar systems. It is based on a patented decoupled drive technology and Ideematec’s innovative locking system for maximum stability and minimal maintenance requirements.

“Our product delivers optimized solutions to overcome technical challenges, whether it is hurricane wind speeds, difficult terrain or expansive clay soils, says Philipp Klemm, CEO of Ideematec Inc. “We look forward to working with all participating parties to supply GWs of our advanced Horizon L:TEC product into additional projects.”

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SolarEdge Technologies, a smart energy company that develops and markets solar inverters, has introduced its Commercial Storage System (CSS), which is expected to be commercially available in the second half of 2024.

Designed for small-to-medium commercial PV installations, the DC-coupled CSS provides 58 kWh of battery capacity and is suitable for indoor use. Able to connect up to eight batteries per inverter, it will deliver up to 460 kWh of storage capacity and offers the ability to synchronize solar battery and site-level energy management.

The DC-coupled battery architecture eliminates the triple-conversion penalty, with two less AC-to-DC power conversions compared to AC-coupled alternatives, delivering industry-leading round-trip efficiency and higher PV oversizing.

The CSS is designed to integrate with SolarEdge’s Energy Management ecosystem, enabling system owners to further reduce payback periods by utilizing more stored energy for peak shaving, leveraging higher PV self-consumption and capitalizing on Time-of-Use rates, grid services and support for EV charging.

Lightweight, compact and modular, the CSS is designed for easy transportation and installation; it can be handled by a two-person team. Small and medium-sized enterprises will also have the flexibility to scale-up their storage capacity by adding more batteries as their needs increase.

The battery will feature SolarEdge’s multi-layered suite of embedded safety features, which includes arc detection, and is expected to be certified for UL 9540A for indoor use.

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BayWa r.e., a fully integrated utility-scale solar developer based in California, is partnering with Meyer Burger Technology AG, a global solar technology company headquartered in Switzerland, to procure high-performance solar panels from its production site in Goodyear, Arizona. The offtake agreement is one of two Meyer Berger initiated this spring, resulting in the increase of the annual capacity of their module production in Goodyear from approximately 1.6 GW to approximately 2 GW.

As part of this collaboration, BayWa r.e. agrees to procuring 1.25 GW of modules over a span of five years from Meyer Burger’s Arizona facility. BayWa r.e.’s long-term commitment, spanning from 2025 to 2029, ensures a steady supply of domestically produced solar panels for its extensive solar projects pipeline exceeding 9 GW across the nation.

“With the offtake agreement with BayWa r.e., we are strengthening solar manufacturing made in the U.S.,” says Ardes Johnson, president of Meyer Burger Americas. “It enables us to provide toxin-free, high-performance solar modules manufactured to the highest ethical and social standards.”

Meyer Burger’s proprietary heterojunction cell technology and patented SmartWire module technology enable the production of top-quality solar components. The company is finalizing the construction of the 2 GW production site for high-performance solar modules in Goodyear, Arizona. The facility is expected to create more than 500 skilled manufacturing jobs.

“We are excited to be partnering with Meyer Burger on their state-of-the-art solar panel manufacturing facility in Arizona,” says Geoff Fallon, COO at BayWa r.e. Solar Projects LLC. “BayWa r.e. and Meyer Burger have a long history of working together to advance clean energy innovation and we look forward to continuing that relationship in the U.S

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