FREYR CEO Tom Jensen (left) and Nidec energy and infrastructure division president Laurent Demortier. Image: FREYR Battery.

FREYR Battery and Nidec intend to form a joint venture (JV) for the manufacture of battery storage modules and packs, using semi-solid lithium-ion technology.

The pair have also increased the size of a battery cell supply deal from an initial 31GWh by 2030, to 38GWh by that time, with the possibility of increasing that further to 50GWh.

Norwegian battery manufacturing startup FREYR is building out battery cell gigafactories in its home country using the semi-solid electrode technology developed by US company 24M, promising higher energy density, safer batteries at lower cost than of competitors using incumbent technology platforms.

The manufacturer is also expanding into the US, having recently established a tech centre in Boston, appointed a North American head of operations and is already listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It has just opened a tech campus and business unit in Japan together with 24M, too.

FREYR recently said it is ready to go ahead with construction of its Norwegian factory complex, Giga Arctic, which combines previous plans for two smaller factories into one, targeting 29GWh of annual production capacity while aiming for the business to have 200GWh of annual production lines in place by 2030 across different locations.

The US$1.6 billion Giga Arctic factory is expected to go into operation in early 2024.

Meanwhile, Nidec has been revealed as one of the manufacturer’s first energy storage system (ESS) sector off-takers. The 31GWh deal was announced in December last year by FREYR, but for reasons of confidentiality, Nidec’s name was not disclosed at the time in connection with the deal.

FREYR said that based on current pricing trends and raw materials cost pass-through for batteries, the Nidec deal could be worth in excess of US$3 billion.

Japan-headquartered Nidec said today that FREYR’s semi-solid lithium-ion batteries, made using 100% clean energy from hydroelectric power supplied by Statkraft, will go into Nidec’s battery energy storage system (BESS) solutions.

Nidec has to date delivered 1.3GW of BESS into 121 different projects in 21 countries including work as an integrator and EPC contractor. Aiming for carbon neutrality by 2040, the company identified FREYR’s low carbon production processes as an important strategic addition to its supply base, although it will continue to speak with other battery makers, Nidec said.

FREYR said that the deal with Nidec will be an important piece of the project financing picture for the Norway gigafactory. The battery maker has already announced other deals with BESS industry players Powin Energy (28.5GWh) and Honeywell (19GWh).

The pair’s JV will be two-thirds owned by Nidec and a third owned by FREYR Battery. A name hasn’t been decided on yet, and its launch is anticipated to happen between October and December this year.

Together, Nidec and FREYR plan to develop, manufacture and sell battery systems using FREYR cells and integrated by Nidec, serving industrial and utility-scale applications and beginning production in the first half of 2024 as Giga Arctic ramps up into mass production.

“Today’s landmark sales agreement inclusive of optional volumes represents roughly 50% of our targeted production from Giga Arctic by 2030,” FREYR CEO Tom Einar Jensen said.

“Combined with Nidec’s trust in FREYR as a joint venture partner for ESS solutions this represents a fundamentally important milestone to support the conclusion of our ongoing project financing efforts at competitive terms.”

Norway’s Morrow Battery also set to construct factory

That 200GWh production target by 2030 represents a doubling of the original goal FREYR was aiming for, with the company identified as a potential cornerstone of a green energy tech economy for Norway by the country’s government.

Last week, Morrow Battery, another battery-making startup in the country, said it has signed a JV agreement of its own, this one covering the construction and financing of a NOK480 million (US$49 million) gigafactory in Arendal, a city on Norway’s southeastern coast.

Morrow has signed up with the Industrial Development Corporation of Norway (SIVA), a government agency, which is tasked with financing and building infrastructure projects. Aligned with Norway’s national battery strategy, construction is expected to begin during September.

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First Solar Inc. is investing up to $1.2 billion in scaling production of American-made, responsibly produced photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. The investment is forecast to expand the company’s ability to produce American-made solar modules for the U.S. solar market to over 10 GW DC by 2025.

The company intends to build its fourth, fully vertically integrated domestic factory, with an annual capacity of 3.5 GW DC, in the U.S. Southeast. First Solar expects to invest up to $1 billion in the new factory, which, contingent upon permitting and pending approval of various federal, state, regional and local incentives, is expected to commence operations in 2025.

“In passing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration has entrusted our industry with the responsibility of enabling America’s clean energy future and we must meet the moment in a manner that is both timely and sustainable,” says Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar. “This investment is an important step towards achieving self-sufficiency in solar technology, which, in turn, supports America’s energy security ambitions, its deployment of solar at scale, and its ability to lead with innovation.”

Additionally, the company will invest $185 million in upgrading and expanding its Northwest Ohio manufacturing footprint by 0.9 GW DC. As part of its plans, First Solar will invest in expanding the capacity of its two operating facilities in Perrysburg and Lake Township, Ohio, by 0.6 GW DC to 3.6 GW DC of annual Series 6 module capacity. The company will also expand its third Ohio factory, expected to be commissioned in the first half of 2023, to 3.5 GW DC of annual Series 7 module capacity. The expansion will increase First Solar’s total investment in its Ohio manufacturing facilities to over $3 billion, with a cumulative annual production capacity of over 7 GW DC by 2025.

“We are proud of the fact that our manufacturing presence in the U.S. is expected to directly and indirectly support over 18,000 jobs across the country by 2025, while our manufacturing investment will add an estimated $3.2 billion in value to the U.S. economy, reflecting the impact of solar manufacturing on our country. We are investing in America’s future,” adds Widmar.

“While we have made no decisions at this time, we continue to evaluate further investments in incremental capacity and could announce further expansion plans in the future,” Widmar continues. “Any such decision would be developed on a solid foundation of strong demand, a repeatable vertically integrated manufacturing template, a proven technology platform, and a robust balance sheet.”

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The Mobility House expanded into charging-as-a-service in the US recently with the acquisition of fleet charging services group Charge Theory in April. Image: Business Wire.

Energy stored in electric vehicle (EV) batteries will be traded on European power markets by The Mobility House, a specialist in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies.

The company said last week that it has joined EPEX SPOT SE, an exchange for power spot markets active in 13 different EU member and non-EU member countries across the European continent.

There it will be able to trade flexibility in the form of electric power from 4,500 EV batteries, equivalent to 100MW output, The Mobility House claimed. The company’s own software solution, called the EV Aggregation Platform and likened to Tesla Autobidder in its functionality, will enable this aggregation and trading.

While The Mobility House has already been trading on European power markets with both brand-new and second life EV batteries since 2016, until now it has done so through market access of one of its partners.

Now however, with interest in vehicle-to-grid technologies on the rise, leading to greater deployments of bi-directional charging equipment which can feed the grid as well as the vehicle, active participation in a market is mandatory, leading the company to pursue its own membership.

The Mobility House said its EV Aggregation Platform is already in use in Germany, France, and the Netherlands, while launches for the UK and US markets are also planned.

“Over the course of many years, we have gained valuable experience in day-ahead and intraday trading using our EV Aggregation Platform as a basis in numerous projects with well-known partners. So, we are thrilled that we are now even closer to short-term trading as a member of the EPEX SPOT SE power exchange,” The Mobility House’s CEO, Robert Hienz said.

“In this dynamic environment we are increasing our real net output ratio and improving our agility. This will enable us to even better fulfil our promise to partners and customers of generating maximum value in the electrical energy system with electric car batteries.”

V2G has long been considered technically feasible, but some obstacles have stood in the way in the past, largely from regulatory as well as market perspectives – for instance, most manufacturers to date have not launched their EVs with bi-directional interaction with the grid in mind.

That appears to be changing, with the likes of Nissan and Ford among those to put cars onto the market ready to be trialled for vehicle-to-grid applications, and crucially, to be warrantied for them as well.

In early 2020, The Mobility House successfully executed a showcase project in Germany supported by the Germany Ministry for Energy and Economic Affairs’ “Smart Energy Showcases – Digital Agenda for the Energy Transition” (SINTEG) programme and in partnership with regional grid operator TenneT. That project aggregated 40kWh Nissan Leaf EV battery packs to help integrate renewable energy onto the network.

Another approach is to aggregate fleet vehicles, such as electric buses, where the daily usage profile and patterns are scheduled and well-established, meaning that operators are aware of when their batteries will need to be used for transport and when they can be used for grid applications.

In the UK, a recent project between sustainable energy tech company Octopus Energy Group and electricity system operator National Grid ESO proved that V2G could be used successfully in the Balancing Mechanism, through which energy supply and demand on the grid are matched in real time.

Elsewhere, Energy-Storage.news reported on a V2G microgrid trial in Switzerland in which power electronics engineering group Eaton will connect bi-directional chargers and aggregate EV battery capacity. The company noted that Swiss regulations allow for privatised microgrids to supply energy along parts of the electricity network, allowing the large-scale trial of up to 250 chargers to go ahead.

In the US, utility Duke Energy is to try out Ford’s F-150 electric truck’s capabilities as a V2G resource, while one of the country’s fastest moving vehicle-to-grid startups, Nuvve, just reported that it now has 16.1MW of V2G under management from assets including electric buses and contracts and pilot projects with utilities and power producers like Vistra Energy and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).

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As much as 160GWh of energy storage could be required to help integrate a planned 500GW of non-fossil fuel resources by 2030, according to India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA). Image: Tata Power Solar.

Bidding took place last week in a reverse auction to contract for 500MW/1,000MWh of standalone battery energy storage capacity with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

Various news outlets reported on Friday (26 August) that JSW Renew Energy Five, a special purpose vehicle formed by the renewable energy subsidiary of power producer JSW Energy had submitted a winning bid.

SECI tendered for two 250MW BESS projects to be constructed at the same location, connecting to India’s Inter-State Transmission System via a substation at Fatehgarh in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Bidding continued for more than 10 hours, with bids from major Indian companies like ReNew Solar Power, NTPC Renewable Energy and Azure Power, as well as international entities such as energy trading investment company Hartree Partners Singapore.

According to a bidding portal seen by Energy-Storage.news, JSW won with a bid of IR1,083,500 (US$13590) per MW. With a broad spread of bids seen, this was 111% lower than the lowest-ranked bid out of eight entries in total.

Officially launched by SECI in April after several months of anticipation from the industry, the pilot tender is designed to be replicable for other tender programmes and help to inform how they will be conducted.

A total of 4,000MWh of pilot tenders for standalone energy storage are expected to be launched in total by the government of India. This is in addition to activities at state level, such as the current 500MW tender for renewables with storage being run by the electricity board in the state of Gujarat, to give one example.

Energy-Storage.news has reached out to SECI for official confirmation of the tender result and further comments.

At our webinar on India with Clean Horizon, which took place in June, Dr Bharath Reddy, SECI additional general manager, explained that the pilot deployments’ applications will include energy arbitrage, helping utilities to shift surplus energy from off-peak times to be used on the grid during peaks and could help reduce curtailment of renewable energy.

SECI will also be “reserving some capacity to the grid operator” so that the use of battery storage for ancillary services like frequency response will be trialed. As yet, India has not rolled out widespread programmes for ancillary services in which batteries are eligible to take part, but this is understood to be changing.

Developers will also be able to sell some of their battery storage capacity in the open market, Dr Reddy said. SECI will sign contracts to utilise 60% of project capacity through a battery energy storage purchase agreement (BESPA), leaving 40% of BESS capacity for the developer to monetise as appropriate.

Performance criteria included 95% minimum availability of resource on an annual basis, factoring in annual degradation expected.

Project owners should maintain 85% or higher roundtrip efficiency of their asset. Charging and discharging schedules will be set by the off-taker, with a ‘resting period’ of one hour with BESS assets to be utilised for up to two full charge-discharge cycles per day. Non-availability and lower-than-promised efficiency will be penalised.

Watch our June webinar, which includes a breakdown of economics for the SECI tender and other business models for energy storage in India, from Clean Horizon analyst Rachel Loquet as well as contributions from Dr Bharath Reddy, SECI and Dr Rahul Walawalkar of the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), here on our YouTube channel.

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Jonathan Gross

Monarch Private Capital, an ESG investment firm, has closed on a tax equity investment in the 113 MW Longbow Solar project located in Brazoria County, Texas, within the ERCOT Houston Zone. The $160 million renewable energy facility will generate clean power.

Expected to be fully operational this year, the Texas Longbow Solar project will bring the firm’s total clean power generation capacity to 1.6 GW DC with the ability to abate nearly 17 million MT CO2e over a 35-year lifespan.

“The closing of Longbow Solar marks yet another significant milestone for Monarch and the continued growth of our renewable energy division,” says Jonathan Gross, director of renewable energy at Monarch. “Solar power is quickly becoming an integral part of the nation’s energy mix and a powerful tool on our quest to fight climate change and foster a better future for our planet and the next generations to inherit it.”

“The 113 MW of clean power generated by the Brazoria County project help diversify the local energy infrastructure, enabling emissions reduction and preserving resource reliability,” states Marsha Harrington, director of renewable energy at Monarch Private Capital. “Our direct investments in renewable energy projects like Longbow support a positive, progressive energy transition and help our clients and communities achieve their sustainability goals.”

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The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is accepting applications from all 50 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia for $425 million in formula funding through the State Energy Program (SEP). This expanded funding provided by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will enable states to develop and implement a variety of clean energy programs and projects that will create jobs, spur economic growth, cut Americans’ energy costs, and reduce carbon emissions.

“States are the vanguard of our nation’s energy planning and implementation efforts, driving the deployment of clean energy infrastructure to lower utility costs and ensure an equitable clean energy transition,” states U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding expands foundational, longstanding programs like the State Energy Program to help every state and territory manage their energy resources and accelerate gains in energy efficiency and add more clean energy onto the grid.”

This funding announcement will transform SEP by expanding formula grants to nearly 10 times of recent funding levels, allowing states to ramp up their clean energy planning and deployment efforts and deliver benefits to more American families, businesses and communities. SEP funding affords states broad flexibility to finance a range of activities and projects, such as installation of renewable energy systems and clean energy infrastructure, innovative clean energy technology demonstration projects, energy efficiency upgrades, clean energy financing programs, and critical planning for clean energy and workforce development programs.

In recent years, states have used SEP funding for a variety of innovative and impactful clean energy and energy efficiency projects, from building solar canopies and electric vehicle charging stations in Maryland parking lots, to helping repurpose Kentucky mine lands as sites for solar energy generation. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law further expands the scope of SEP-supported activities by adding new elements states should include in their State Energy Conservation Plans – a foundational piece of a state’s SEP application. These new elements include a requirement covering transmission and distribution planning and optional activities focused on the promotion of demand-response technology and transportation efficiency and electrification.     

DOE is prepared to support states’ clean energy deployment efforts with the recent establishment of the Office of State and Community Energy Programs, within the Office of the Under Secretary for Infrastructure. The Office of State and Community Energy Programs partners with state and local governments and organizations to significantly accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies, catalyze local economic development, create jobs, reduce energy costs and reduce pollution. SEP will serve as the cornerstone of the office’s work and relationships with state governments and territories across the country.

DOE will also leverage funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to develop and deliver targeted technical assistance to states to help facilitate and amplify the impact of their SEP funding. This technical assistance strategy allows states to opt-in to cohort-based assistance built around an initial set of key topics aligned with state and Biden-Harris Administration priorities: transmission and distribution planning; system-wide planning for grid expansion, modernization and clean energy technology integration; state energy security plans; community energy planning; and clean energy manufacturing planning.

Through these topic-based cohorts, states will invest portions of their SEP funding in related programs and projects and receive hands-on technical assistance from DOE, including modeling and analytics support, peer convenings and networking opportunities, and more. These cohorts will begin in 2023, and topics may change based on state input. 

Funding guidance and application documents for states and formula funding allocations are found here.

Image: Andreas Gücklhorn on Unsplash

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Commission Chair Katie Sieben

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved site permits and related transmission routes for the Big Bend Wind and Red Rock Solar projects in Western Minnesota. The state’s largest hybrid renewable energy project consists of up to 300 MW of wind and up to 60 MW of solar generation. Once contested by several stakeholders for its proximity to the Jeffers Petroglyphs, the PUC received accolades for the respectful and open public engagement process that led to agreement among many of those stakeholders.

While considering the permits, the PUC held multiple public meetings, and heard significant concerns from the public, Tribal Nations and stakeholder groups, including the Minnesota Historical Society, regarding the visual impact of the wind turbines to the sacred historic Jeffers Petroglyphs site near Comfrey, Minn.

In considering the preliminary stages of this matter in 2021, Commissioner Joseph Sullivan asked for additional engagement. “This project was not on a good path, and I would not be able to support it if the turbines were so close to the petroglyphs. I was blunt about my concerns and told the applicants more work needed to be done.”

As the project moved through the permitting process, the project applicants, the Lower Sioux Indian Community, the Upper Sioux Indian Community and the Minnesota Historical Society were able to reach a settlement agreement that addressed concerns about the visual impacts to the Jeffers Petroglyphs.

“Hearing President Larsen (of the Lower Sioux Indian Community) use words like ‘respectful’ and ‘fostering sovereign to sovereign cooperation’ to describe the permitting process was very encouraging,” says Commission Chair Katie Sieben. “The Public Utilities Commission is called on to make difficult decisions and we know not everyone will always agree, but we do strive to have stakeholders, partners and community members feel heard, respected, and part of the process. It is rewarding to know that the Commission created a space for all voices to come together to help pave the way for the building the largest hybrid project in the state.”

Along with power generating facilities, the Commission also approved a permit for an 18-mile transmission line to deliver the power to the energy grid. The projects will be built in Cottonwood, Martin and Watonwan Counties.

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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (OH)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded more than $540 million for university- and National Laboratory-led research into clean energy technologies and low-carbon manufacturing. Most greenhouse-gas emissions come from the production and use of energy, so building strong scientific foundations for reducing emissions across the energy lifecycle is crucial to meeting President Biden’s goal of creating a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

“Meeting the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious climate and clean energy goals will require a game-changing commitment to clean energy – and that begins with researchers across the country,” says U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The research projects announced will strengthen the scientific foundations needed for the United States to maintain world leadership in clean energy innovation, from renewable power to carbon management.”

Secretary Granholm traveled to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. to announce the awardees, which include researchers at 54 universities and 11 National Laboratories across 34 states and the District of Columbia.

Other institutions receiving funding include Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio; Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.; the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo.; the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder); and Ames National Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

“Renewable energy research and technology will allow for a more resilient future while creating good-paying jobs in Ohio,” states U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (OH). “Case Western Reserve University is one of Ohio’s great institutions of higher education. This award will continue Ohio’s leadership in innovation and position our state to lead in the industries of the future.”

More than $400 million will go toward establishing and continuing 43 Energy Frontier Research Centers, which bring together multi-disciplinary scientific teams to tackle the toughest scientific challenges preventing advances in energy technologies. The projects, led by 28 universities and nine National Laboratories with more than 75 additional partner institutions, will study everything from energy storage to quantum information science.

“I’m excited to see this nearly $1.5 million award heading to Dartmouth to invest in cutting-edge scientific research around commercial solar technologies,” adds U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (NH). “This research will help position the U.S. to transition to a clean energy economy and net zero carbon emissions. Time is of the essence to combat the climate crisis, and New Hampshire continues to lead in innovative clean technologies and solutions.”

In addition, 53 projects led by researchers at 33 universities and 11 National Laboratories will receive a combined $140 million through the Chemical and Materials Sciences to Advance Clean Energy Technologies and Low-Carbon Manufacturing funding opportunity. The funding will go toward fundamental research that could advance technologies to make energy production more efficient through technologies such as direct air capture and carbon storage and sequestration.

“NREL and CU Boulder, among others, continue to lead our nation in their cutting-edge research and development of a variety of clean energy technologies and low-carbon manufacturing,” comments U.S. Representative Ed Perlmutter (CO-7). “Their work is essential in the fight to combat climate change and achieve important climate and clean energy goals in the future.”

Several projects will involve basic research underpinning DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiatives, which set goals for significant improvements in clean energy technology. The Energy Earthshots Initiatives include the Hydrogen Shot, which aims to decrease the cost of producing hydrogen; the Long Duration Storage Shot, whose goal is to reduce the cost and increase the duration of grid-scale energy storage; and the Carbon Negative Shot, an all-hands-on-deck call for innovation in technology to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it at gigaton scales for less than $100/net metric ton of CO2 -equivalent. 

“The Ames Lab at Iowa State University is at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies to make our country energy independent again and lower carbon emissions while also strengthening our economy and bolstering our thriving energy industry in Iowa,” mentions U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra (IA-4). “I am excited that the Ames Lab has been awarded this significant DOE grant that will allow students and researchers alike to continue their important work in fields like renewable energy and domestic manufacturing. I look forward to all that ISU and the Ames Lab will achieve thanks to this significant investment.”

These investments will support research that is foundational to the development of solar and nuclear energy technologies, energy storage, carbon capture, novel manufacturing processes, and the more efficient use of critical minerals in energy technologies and manufacturing. Legislation spearheaded by President Biden – the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act –will enhance this work by investing in these types of clean energy technologies and building out the infrastructure to deploy them.

Projects were chosen by competitive peer review under two funding opportunities open to universities, National Laboratories, industry and other research organizations. Award selections were made in accordance with the outcome of peer review and the consideration of program policy factors in the Funding Opportunity Announcements. The final details for each project award are subject to negotiations between DOE and the awardees.

The lists of the awards from these two funding opportunities, supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences within the Department’s Office of Science, can be found here.

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Battery storage company Powin Energy has been selected to partner Hexagon Energy on its 200MWh project. Image: Powin Energy.

Proposals for two large-scale battery storage facilities have been put before decisionmakers at Riverhead Town Council on New York’s Long Island.

Plans for the projects are under review and comprise a 100MW/200MW battery energy storage system (BESS) at one site and a 60MW/120MWh BESS at another, according to regional news outlet Riverhead Local.

For both projects to get approval, exemptions to local zoning laws would have to be granted, as the battery facilities do not fall under permitted use for the land selected under existing designations.

The larger project is being proposed by developer Hexagon Energy. Called Riverhead Energy, the 100MW BESS and associated infrastructure would be built on approximately 1 acre of a 3.5-acre project site currently under industrial use.

BESS system integrator and manufacturer Powin Energy has already been contracted as the battery system supplier to the project with its lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology.

Riverhead Energy would help alleviate grid constraints in a particularly congested area of Long Island’s Suffolk County, Hexagon Energy claimed.

The use of existing industrial land means there will be limited disturbance to nature and the environment, while the site is also close to grid infrastructure through which it could connect to the network, the company has said.  

Hexagon Energy was founded in 2015. The Charlottesville, Virginia-headquartered developer has already developed more than 1GW of clean energy projects representing around US$2.5 billion investment.

The other BESS being considered is under development through a partnership between commodities trading giant Trafigura and power and infrastructure developer Rhynland Energy, Riverhead Local said. The latter is developing battery storage projects in New York State along with EV charging infrastructure in the US Northeast.

As reported by Energy-Storage.news in March, Rhynland’s partnership is with renewables investment and development group Nala Renewables, Trafigura’s joint venture (JV) with investment manager IFM Investors.

Rhynland and Nala Renewables are working together on a pipeline of four BESS projects, totaling 280MW, all on the Long Island peninsula.

The 60MW/120MWh BESS project put before the Riverhead Town Council is called EC Battery Storage, with the developers trading under the name Edwards Calverton Battery Storage LLC for it. Proposed for construction on another industrial site, this one adjacent to a Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) substation that a number of proposed solar farms would also be closely situated to.

Replacing Long Island’s fleet of peaker plants

With New York aiming for its electricity sector to go emissions-free by 2040 and setting a policy target to deploy 6GW of energy storage in the state by 2030, decarbonising Long Island has been identified as a challenging aspect of that transformation.

The peninsula is home to 4,357MW of fossil fuel-fired peaker plants. A 2020 study by Strategen Consulting found that those plants, which operate on average for around 15% of the year but cost LIPA’s customers about half a billion dollars a year in maintenance cost alone, could largely be replaced by renewables and energy storage cost-effectively by 2030.

In an interview with this site in August 2021, Taylor Quarles of energy storage developer Key Capture Energy said that those “extremely expensive” thermal power plant resources are largely coming offline during this decade as their contracts run down, offering an opportunity for batteries to come in.

“They’re spread across a variety of plants across the island, largely sort of at the periphery of the island, where you can site a large fossil facility. But the beauty of energy storage is that we can target their specific locations,” Quarles said.

Riverhead Local reporter Denise Civiletti wrote on 25 August that applications for both projects had been reviewed by Riverhead Town’s planning department but were denied by the town zoning officer, while the planning department also told teams behind both projects that their applications were considered incomplete.

A possible way forward appears to be to apply to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which could issue a variance determining that the use of land for BESS is not covered by existing rules and making an exception. Meanwhile, the Riverhead Town Board is also working to create legislation to allow special permitting for battery storage projects in various pockets of industrial, agricultural and some residential areas.    

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Ambri’s battery uses particles of the semi-metal antimony (pictured) in its cathode, together with a molten salt electrolyte and liquid calcium alloy anode. Image: Flickr user James St. John.

Liquid metal battery storage from tech startup Ambri will be demonstrated by US utility company Xcel Energy in Colorado.

Ambri, a spinout from MIT’s labs, was founded in 2010 and has developed its high temperature battery as a potential low cost, long-duration energy storage resource. It raised US$144 million in an investment round last year, at the same time securing a supply deal for antimony, a key ingredient of its battery’s cathode.

The company claims that its battery avoids many of the degradation mechanisms that impact lithium-ion batteries. It is also claimed to be free from the risk of thermal runaway and recently received its UL 1973 safety certification.

Xcel Energy, which serves close to four million customers in eight US states including Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and various Upper Midwestern states, will demonstrate the technology at Aurora, Colorado’s Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC).

The project will last a year at the centre, which is run by non-profit research group MRIGlobal, testing technologies in a real-world, grid-connected environment, while it also has microgrid and grid edge research capabilities too.

In 2018, the utility set itself a target date of 2050 to provide all customers with net zero emissions electricity, heat and transport. On the way there, it aims to reach 80% CO2 emissions reductions from 2005 levels by 2030 and retire all of its coal power plants by 2034.

Its clean energy plan for Colorado includes deploying 2,400MW of wind, 1,600MW of large-scale solar PV and 1,200MW of distributed solar. Alongside that it will seek to deploy 400MW of battery storage and 1,300MW of dispatchable resources.

The company has similar renewable energy ambitions for the Upper Midwest and southwestern parts of its service area. Overall, it wants to more than double its proportion of renewable generation from 36% in 2021 to 67% by 2030, while in its 2021 sustainability report, it identifies that long-duration energy storage is among the dispatchable low carbon energy technologies that will enable it to make the transition to fully emissions-free by 2050.  

“Partnering with a progressive and innovative utility such as Xcel Energy is an exciting opportunity for Ambri as their clean energy vision is directly aligned with our mission to leave the planet a better place for future generations,” Ambri CCO Adam Briggs said.

It’s the latest long-duration, non-lithium battery technology to be trialled by a utility in the US. Other recent examples include Portland General Electric’s installation of an iron electrolyte flow battery system made by ESS Inc in Oregon, Duke Energy’s commitment to testing Honeywell’s new flow battery next year and Form Energy’s forthcoming pilot deployment of a 1MW iron-air battery with up to 150 hours storage duration with Minnesota utility Great River Energy.

“We look forward to learning what their technology can accomplish in a range of extreme environmental conditions as we look to build out the long-duration energy storage that will help us reach our carbon reduction goals,” Xcel Energy chief planning officer and senior VP for system strategy Alice Jackson said of the Ambri demonstration.  

Ambri’s tech was picked out for use in longer-duration energy storage projects by NEC ES in 2019, shortly before that company pulled out of the industry. More recently, the company announced a deal two months ago to deploy 300MW/1,400MWh of its batteries with South African renewable energy power producer Earth & Wind at a combined solar PV and wind power plant in the country’s Eastern Cape region.

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