A BESS project in West Virginia developed by Invenergy, the company developing the solar and storage park in Wisconsin. Image: Invenergy.

Wisconsin investor-owned utilities Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) and WEC Energy have received regulatory approval to buy a 200MW solar and 110MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Kenosha County.

MGE and two WEC Energy subsidiaries have got the go ahead to buy the Paris Solar-Battery Park, which was developed by Invenergy and is set to become operational in 2023.

In summary:

MGE will own 20MW of solar and 11MW of BESS (10% of the total) WE Energies will own 150MW of solar and 82.5MW of BESS (75% of the total) WPS will own 30MW of solar and 16.5MW of BESS (15% of the total)

The total estimated cost of the acquisition is US$433 million according to a Final Decision filing (Docket 5-BS-254) from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s Citizens Utility Board has argued against the deal on the grounds it may not be the most cost-effective solution, in a brief to the commission.

It is MGE’s first ever battery storage which will serve its customers and the following quote from the Final Decision filing alluded to the Utility Board’s objections:

“Due to the novelty of battery storage technology for utility-scale applications, and based on the application materials, data request responses, and testimony received into the record in this proceeding, Commission staff’s financial evaluation was unable to verify the applicants support for the cost-effectiveness of acquiring 110 MW of BESS in this docket,” it read.

Energy-storage.news has asked MGE whether the park is true solar-plus-storage or just colocation with a shared connection to the grid and will update this article with their response.

A passage from the Paris solar park’s application to the Commission back in February doesn’t clarify this but gives an indication of the role the BESS will play:

“The impact to the MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) grid from the integration of a BESS at Paris Solar will be positive, as the storage system can act as an “electrical suspension” system for the grid, to smooth out abrupt ups and downs in solar production that can occur on partlycloudy days,” it read.

“The system can furnish other grid services such as frequency response, voltage support, and output scheduling to potentially shift some afternoon production to later in the day, if needed, to correspond with peak demands.”

WEC Energy aims to achieve a 55% emissions reduction by 2025 and a 70% reduction by 2030, and is investing US$2 billion in solar, wind and battery storage projects by 2025 to achieve this. Its two aforementiond subsidiaries plan to retire 1.6GW of fossil fuel generation by 2024.

It has filed a request for a similar project called to Paris called Darien which is also set to go live in 2023. That would involve more solar (250MW) but less storage (75MW) than Paris and cost around US$446 million under the same 90%/10% ownership structure between WEC and MGE. Paris’ solar portion is smaller than the initial 300MW plan announced last year.

The Midwest is behind market leaders like California and Hawaii (and to a lesser extent Texas and New York) but storage deployments could accelerate in the next few years as the region phases out coal, according to IHS Markit.

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FREYR Battery CEO Tom Jensen. Image: FREYR Battery.

Norwegian lithium-ion gigafactory startup FREYR Battery could easily dedicate half of its 2030 production capacity target of 100GWh to energy storage and is also launching a system integrator play, CEO Tom Jensen has told Energy-Storage.news in an interview.

The company was founded 2018 on three core tenets of speed, scale and sustainability. It has a massive lithium-ion gigafactory pipeline with the first four totalling 36GWh in Mo I Rana, Norway, going online in 2023-2025. But unlike many other players in the space, FREYR’s focus appears to lean towards energy storage as much as if not more than electric vehicles (EVs).

Energy storage focus

“We aim to have 83GWh of installed production capacity by 2028 and more than 100GWh by 2030, and I would say that based on what we see now, we believe that we might easily dedicate half of that to the energy storage system (ESS) market,” Jensen said.

He explained that the technology it has licensed from the US company 24M to build its batteries is highly suited to storage applications because it contains more energy-carrying material thanks to. (You can read an interview Energy-storage.news did with 24M’s management team about its technology here.)

FREYR is therefore targeting all segments of the ESS market and could theoretically dedicate even more than half of capacity to the sector, Jensen said: “We believe that the (storage) market is growing much faster and going to be much bigger than most people think so we could in fact dedicate all our production capacity to energy storage, if we wanted to.”

“But we’re also getting quite a lot of interest from mobility and EV players, so the exact fraction (of production capacity) is going to be a function of multiple different ongoing discussions. But the technology we have and our positioning in the ESS space makes us a leading provider of ESS solutions using decarbonised battery systems, and we will obviously try to capture as much of that market as possible.”

System integrator play

The emphasis on storage as a target market is clear from the fact its two major announced offtake agreements have both been in that space. Technology group Honeywell will buy 19GWh of batteries from FREYR between 2023-2030 while a second, unnamed partner will purchase 31GWh in the same period in a partnership that will see FREYR contribute to a system integrator play.

“Once finalised, we believe that these two initial offtake agreements may take the bulk of our first gigafactory’s capacity (operational in 2023) for the first four to five years,” Jensen said.

“We expect to enter into a joint venture with the unnamed partner for developing full containerised solutions, which will basically be the final product including BMS (battery management system) and everything. That will effectively be a system integrator approach together with that partner.”

FREYR Battery’s gigafactory pipeline. Source: company presentation (January 2021).

Jensen also touched on three massive topics of discussion in the BESS space but also the wider battery ecosystem: the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) versus nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) debate, current supply chain issues with lithium battery materials, and sustainability, one of FREYR’s key tenets.

LFP vs NMC

LFP cathode-based batteries are growing in adoption by the energy storage industry thanks to a lower fire risk and fewer ESG concerns around its materials’ supply chain than the NMC market standard.

“Our technology platform is chemistry flexible. In the first facility, we’ll produce LFP only because the customers demand it, and we see a lot of automotive stakeholders are increasingly interested in LFP,” he said.

“We do also have an ambition and customer interest for NMC based materials or high nickel content materials. But to the extent we use cobalt, it will be responsibly and sustainably sourced through our partnership with Glencore.”

He pointed out the lower energy density for LFP compared to NMC doesn’t really matter in an energy storage context where cycle life is king and for which the 24M technology also has benefits thanks to the ability to make larger cells.

Supply chain and new financing

The discussion then moved on to global supply chain issues which have temporarily caused LFP battery cathode prices to reach parity with NMC ones for the first time, or even surpass them according to other sources.

“What we’re seeing now are temporary bottlenecks that are challenging, of course, with the near-term pricing, but we’re in dialogue with our customers and aim to have relevant commercial arrangements that allow us to pass through some of those raw material price increases if they reach certain thresholds.”

“I think everyone who’s building anything in the world today is subjected to the same challenges. So relatively speaking, things will become more expensive but the relative cost advantages of this technology are still the same.”

He suggests that FREYR’s capital requirements might have increased since a year ago but that any necessary additional financing – it has a market cap of over US$1 billion since a SPAC merger listing in July last year – would draw on strong interest and an increasing understanding from governments and capital markets about storage’s role in the energy transition.

Sustainability

As alluded to earlier, sustainability is one three tenets upon which Jensen said FREYR was built, along with speed and scale. “We have the ambition to be produce the world’s cleanest or greenest batteries,” he said.

“Our initial ambition is to have by 2025 an 80% reduction in CO2 footprint on a lifecycle basis for the batteries compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries today, and then over time we aspire to a net zero ambition. How fast we get there depends on how fast we can mitigate the harder to abate parts of the value chain.”

Norway is one of a handful of countries with 100% renewably energy thanks to an abundance of hydroelectric power. Jensen said that FREYR’s production power needs, which will be 60% lower than conventional lithium-ion production, will be serviced by “almost completely renewable hydropower but also a little bit of wind”.

“In addition, we plan to selectively partner and invest upstream, meaning input materials that go into battery cell manufacturing. A very large part of the CO2 footprint of the battery comes from the way in which the materials are produced, so if we really are serious about decarbonizing the battery itself, we need to get these materials to be produced in areas with renewable energy and we want to be a catalyst in this regard.”

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Another Standard Solar, Ogos Energy LLC, and Earth and Air Technologies collaboration, the Old New Windsor Solar Project in Maryland

Standard Solar Inc. is partnering with The Catholic University of America to build the Washington metropolitan region’s largest urban community solar array on the university’s campus in northeast D.C.

The 7.4 MW project will provide access to locally generated, renewable energy through the D.C. community solar program to residents, nonprofits and businesses. Standard Solar will own, operate and maintain the system.

Generating approximately 10,000 MWh of solar energy annually, the project will make a significant contribution to the district’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2032 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

“Catholic University is showing tremendous leadership with this innovative solar project to bring clean energy to the region,” says John Finnerty, director of business development at Standard Solar. “The project goes beyond expanding the University’s sustainability initiatives and environmental stewardship to directly creating benefits for the Washington, D.C. community and generations of students.”

In addition, the project will provide educational opportunities for students at all levels from K-12 to graduate level. Students will learn about sustainability and environmental stewardship through field trips, STEM projects, and access to a real-time, web-based energy production monitoring tool.

The solar array will be installed on an undeveloped portion of the University’s 173.4-acre campus. The project is currently in the design process, with construction anticipated to begin in 2022.

This project is the latest in Catholic University’s commitment to sustainability. The campus already has 2,700 solar panels; four LEED-certified buildings; EV charging stations; solar carports; a new energy-efficient, central hot and chilled water generation and campus distribution system that replaced a century-old steam system; and a five-year sustainability plan.

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Photo credit: Courtesy of California State University, Dominguez Hills

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has proposed a new pilot to help California universities reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in support of the state’s climate goals. If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), PG&E would team up with the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems to introduce a Clean Energy Optimization Pilot (CEOP) to campuses across Northern and Central California.

First unveiled by Southern California Edison for UC and CSU campuses in their service area, the program focuses on substantially lowering GHG emissions at the source. Universities would receive incentives directly based on their GHG reductions. PG&E also proposes to consider the expansion of this program to similarly situated customers in the future.

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most critical and impactful steps an organization can take to reduce its environmental impact,” says Aaron August, PG&E’s vice president of business development and customer engagement. “Innovative and collaborative programs like the Clean Energy Optimization Pilot are essential to the future of a clean California, and PG&E is proud to collaborate with California universities on this exciting proposal.”

In the CPUC filing, PG&E seeks to use approximately $50 million of unspent, unallocated GHG auction revenues over a four-year period. Funding would result from California’s Cap-and-Trade Program, not from customer rates.

UCs and CSUs in PG&E’s service area would be eligible. Participants could take a variety of steps to receive incentives, including retrofitting buildings to be more energy efficient; building new construction efficiently with energy usage top of mind; investing in on-site renewables, such as solar and energy storage; and installing electric vehicle charging stations and electrifying customers’ fleets to run on clean electricity. If approved, the program could begin as early as 2023 and would run for four years.

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Sol-REIT LLC has signed an exclusive partnership to finance over 100 MW of community solar development projects, focused within the Northeastern United States, to bring solar to disadvantaged and underserved communities. Source Renewables will develop the projects. Sol-REIT will provide capital to Source Renewables for construction and long-term financing of solar projects in their pipeline.

“We are playing our part to address one of the greatest challenges in today’s solar energy market: access to capital for solar developers targeting projects in underserved communities,” states Mark Settles, CEO of Sol-REIT. “These underserved communities are those who need access to clean renewable energy the most, and Sol-REIT is helping to serve that need in this partnership with Source Renewables.”

Sol-REIT’s financial structure for renewable energy development provides access to construction capital and long-term financing for middle-market solar developers who seek to retain equity in their projects. This financing allows developers to maintain ownership beyond Notice-to-proceed (NTP), improving the economics for developers. Sol-REIT applies the REIT financial structure used in the commercial real estate industry to empower solar developers and streamline funding timelines via its proprietary fintech portfolio management system.

By financing solar projects in a similar model to real estate, Sol-REIT offers the potential of solid investor returns with predictable cash flows backed by long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with high credit quality off-takers. Sol-REIT is also committed to democratizing the solar industry increasing access to affordable, clean energy to homes, businesses, and governmental entities across North America.

“We are excited to work with Sol-REIT to expand our efforts in providing access to clean energy for all residents in the Northeast region. This is a meaningful partnership between two companies that are committed to transforming the region and bringing over 100 MW of community solar infrastructure to underserved communities,” mentions Andrew Day, partner and founder of Source Renewables.

Source Renewables’ sister company, Source Power Co., enables clean energy access to communities in New York state by committing to programs and projects targeted to both subscribers and developer sponsors. Source Power can offer a streamlined billing solution, greatly reducing community solar challenges. Property owners can choose to sell or lease their land to Source Renewables. The firm then develops solar farms that are compliant with all municipal zoning guidelines as well as all federal, state and local environmental regulations.

Over the course of the next two years, this partnership is poised to facilitate the construction of at least 100 MW of solar projects. “In the current economic climate and the volatility of oil prices, solar and clean energy renewables are becoming increasingly critical to the stabilization of the energy markets,” comments New York State Sen. Kevin Parker. “The need for renewables, like the projects Sol-REIT finance and Source Renewables develop, are of vital importance to this region’s energy independence.”

Image: Photo by Derek Sutton on Unsplash

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ESS Inc executives and staff ring the NYSE opening bell in October. ESS Inc and Stem were among several energy storage companies that publicly listed this year and last year. Image: ESS Inc via Twitter.

NYSE-listed iron flow battery group ESS Inc is expanding into Europe with its first deployments on the continent later this year and local manufacturing capability expected by 2024/25.

The company is scheduled to book its first revenues in the US in the current quarter and will begin European deployment of its long-duration batteries during the second half of 2022.

Its iron flow batteries provide 4-12 hours of duration and claim unlimited cycles with no capacity loss, versus Li-ion’s average of 6,000.

It says its product is made using earth-abundant materials like iron, salt and water making it safe, low-cost and sustainable. It concedes that lithium-ion has a lower capital cost per kWh but claims parity at 4 hours with iron flow winning thereafter.

Its has two main products: the 400kWh Energy Warehouse for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers and the Energy Center for utility-scale applications which provides 6MW/74MWh per acre footprint. It expects to ship 40-50 Energy Warehouses this year but has not guided on Energy Center orders.

ESS Inc expects to start manufacturing its Warehouse and Center products on the European continent in 2024, according to a company presentation, with Power Module manufacturing arriving on the continent the following year.

Long-term customers include Softbank’s clean energy arm SB Energy, Enel Green Power España and Chilean utility Edalaysen.

The company says the European region will need a whopping 30 TWh of long-duration energy storage to make its grid net-zero by 2040, citing the Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Council which published a report finding that 85-130GWh will be needed globally. The LDES Council has some 30 technology members providing a range of technologies for long duration including iron flow, gravity-based and green hydrogen solutions.

As part of ESS Inc’s expansion into Europe it recently appointed Alan Greenshields as Director of Europe to oversee adoption and deployment of its solutions. Energy-storage.news recently interviewed him along with the CEO and CCO of competing long-duration battery storage group Invinity Energy Systems.

In it, Greenshields highlighted the commercial & industrial (C&I) sector and colocation with solar or wind as ideal use cases for its product, though claimed it was getting interest from all corners of the market.

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Jaguar Land Rover says the system has been used to power diagnostic equipment during testing by its Formula 1 team. Image: Jaguar Land Rover.

Jaguar Land Rover is developing an energy storage system (ESS) unit using second life batteries from its electric vehicles.

It has launched the Off Grid Battery Energy Storage System (ESS) in partnership with power application supplier Pramac. The ESS will use lithium-ion battery cells batteries used in prototype and engineering test Jaguar I-PACE vehicles, its first electric SUV.

The flagship system has a capacity of up to 125KWh, can be portable or fixed, and is charged from solar panels. Its battery system is linked to bi-directional converter and the associated control management systems. It has Type 2 EV charge connections with dynamic control and up to 22kW AC.

Pramac will be able to use 85% of the Jaguar I-PACE’s battery components, including modules and wiring, and the remainder will be recycled back into the supply chain. The ESS has been used by the Jaguar TCS Racing team during race car testing and will also be deployed at a customer experience centre in South Africa to mitigate against power outages.

It is the company’s first step in creating circular economy business models as part of its ambition to reach net zero by 2039 and is several years in the making. Research on whether its I-PACE batteries could be used in domestic applications was first announced back in 2017, as reported in Energy-storage.news‘ sister site Current.

The European Union is pushing for higher recycled content in batteries through legislation and automative companies have made similar moves to Jaguar’s. Used lithium-ion batteries from Audi’s EVs were recently used in a 4.5MWh BESS at a pumped hydro plant in Germany. Hyundai is developing a BESS product using second life EV batteries in partnership with solar developer OCI Solar Power and Texan utility CPS Energy, with testing scheduled for September 2022.

Energy-storage.news recently featured a guest blog from Matthew Lumsden, CEO at Connected Energy, which specialises in using second life EV batteries, which argued that designing batteries to be used should be a priority for industry, alongside designing for recycling at end-of-life.

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The average UK grid-scale battery project size went from 6MW in 2017 to more than 45MW in 2021. Image: RES Group.

From 2016 onwards, the UK energy markets’s appetite for battery energy storage systems (BESS) has grown and grown, making it one of the leading centres of activity in the global market today. Solar Media Market Research analyst Mollie McCorkindale offers an insight into that trajectory and illustrates where the market is today.

Utility-scale energy storage activity in the UK saw strong growth during 2021 with annual deployment growing 70% compared to 2020. Additionally, the pipeline of future projects increased by 11 GW to over 27 GW by the end of 2021.

This article discusses the factors behind the recent growth of the UK utility-scale energy storage market and what led to the strong annual deployment last year.

Strong growth of installed capacity during 2021

Previously, 2018 had the highest annual installed capacity of utility-scale energy storage in the UK with 442 MW added. In 2021, deployment levels exceeded this marginally, with 446 MW, mainly across 10 large-scale sites; going forward,  deployment levels are likely to see further Y/Y increases.

Total installed capacity of utility-scale storage is now approaching 1.7 GW across 127 sites and the figure below shows annual installed energy storage capacity by project size. 

The UK installed 446 MW of utility-scale energy storage in 2021, close to the previous high seen back in 2018. Image: Solar Media Market Research.

The average size of utility-scale energy storage sites has also increased. In previous years, there was more of a mix of project sizes. In 2021, the majority of sites installed were stand-alone and 7 out of the 10 key projects completed were 49.9 MW. The main projects ranged from 30 MW to 49.9 MW each, which supports the trend for large stand-alone projects to dominate installations in the future.

Focusing on average project size by annual deployment capacity, the average project size in 2017 was less than 6 MW: in 2021, the average project size was 45 MW.

Deployment levels for projects less than 5 MW has decreased, with many of these being co-located with existing wind or solar sites. There are now 56 sites of this size (less than 5 MW) installed, out of the total 127 sites; this segment makes up almost half the number of total operational sites so far. Most of these were installed between 2016 and 2018. Further growth here will likely be seen as new wind and solar farms become operational.

Operational utility-scale energy storage projects between 5 MW and 30 MW have mostly been from stand-alone sites, but are now becoming less common as average project size is increasing.

When looking at the asset owners of these operational sites, specifically in 2021, many are owned by large asset owners such as Gresham House and Pivot Power. These companies have huge pipelines of energy storage projects, which are now starting to be constructed, meaning installed capacity could rapidly accelerate in the near future.

The majority of projects deployed in 2021 were submitted into planning between 2017 and 2019 and from this we can see that there is still a large amount of pipeline submitted during this period that is still pending construction; this underlines the potential for growth in 2022 and beyond.

Substantial growth of UK pipeline during 2021

The figure below shows annual capacity of submitted applications by project size with 2021 being a record-breaking year by some margin.

2021 was a record-breaking year for annual submitted energy storage capacity; 11 GW was submitted across 225 sites. Image: Solar Media Market Research.

During 2021, the pipeline jumped by 11 GW to more than 27 GW, partly due to the increase in the 50 MW threshold. Another reason for this particularly high surge in applications is because companies are becoming more experienced in the services available, allowing for more attractive revenue streams. As such, the overall risks in build-out have been reduced and the key stakeholders in the market appear to understand better how to operate projects profitably.

In 2021, two pre-applications were submitted for 500 MW stand-alone sites, the largest energy storage sites seen in planning so far. Both projects are to be located in Scotland and were submitted by Alcemi Storage Developments.

Before last year, 2017 had the highest annual submitted capacity at 4.2 GW across 203 sites where the average project size was close to 20 MW. The average project size submitted in 2021 was almost 49 MW. This is mostly from large stand-alone sites but also from many smaller co-located sites. However, the average project size for co-located sites is also increasing as the overall size of co-located technologies increases also; the large-scale ( >30 MW) segment also contains some co-located sites within the total capacity.

In 2021 most of the proposed projects under 30 MW were co-located with source of generation and projects above 30 MW were stand-alone. In the past, we have seen much smaller stand-alone projects and co-located projects were typically smaller than 5 MW.

So far, the market has been dominated by sites with 1 hour duration storage, with some half hour duration in early years. However, there is an increasing amount of longer duration storage sites starting to emerge within the pipeline which is partially due to the treatment of longer duration projects in the capacity market but also reflected in the access to the other services available for battery storage to participate in.

Most projects completed last year were of 1 hour duration or less and when looking at projects likely to be completed this year there are more 2 hour duration storage sites, with this trend likely to continue. In the latest results for the UK T-4 (2025-2026) Capacity Market auction, around 60% is of 2 hour duration or longer, similar to the results for the UK T-4 (2024-2025) results. Previous UK capacity auction results have been dominated by one hour duration batteries.

All these trends continue to evolve in a rapidly growing market. Average project size will continue to increase for energy storage sites and the market will remain dominated by large stand-alone sites with large capacities, although co-location with renewables will account for a larger number of projects as solar deployment in the UK increases during 2022 and beyond. Annual deployment is expected to rise each year as large-scale projects begin construction and this is shown by the large pipeline that has built up in previous years. We expect to see 2 hour duration storage becoming more prominent within the market and there is likely to be a mix of 1 hour and 2 hour duration storage with some longer duration making an appearance.

Full details of all completed and future projects are contained within the UK Battery Storage Project Database Report. To learn how to subscribe to this report, please complete your contact details at the link here.

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Large-scale vanadium flow battery demonstration project in Hubei, China. Image: VRB Energy.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced financial support for four technology sector manufacturing projects in the country, including a vanadium processing plant.

Morrison said during a speech at an industry event in Western Australia that AU$243.6 million (US$177.47 million) in funding will support efforts to establish a homegrown value chain for critical minerals, batteries and electric vehicles.

It is part of his government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative, a drive to put a total of AU$1.3 billion investment into the economy.

Along with AU$30 million towards establishing the world’s first rare earth separation facility outside China – a project with a total cost of AU$90.8 million, three projects relating directly to battery energy storage will benefit.

One is Australian Vanadium’s vanadium processing plant, which will receive AU$49 million of its expected AU$367 million cost. The company is seeking to process high-purity vanadium from a mining deposit it is developing in Meekatharra, Western Australia at a plant in Tenindewa, about 500km away.

Australian Vanadium will utilise green hydrogen to transport the metal, with the aim of using the processed material for flow battery production.

Also receiving funding is a nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion material refinery ‘hub’ in development by Pure Battery Technologies – which claimed to have a process for producing high quality materials at lower cost than others.

Pure Battery Technologies (PBT) and its partner, Poseidon Nickel, will receive AU$119.6 million through the scheme. The project’s total cost is expected to be AU$399 million and it is set to be built in Kalgoorlie, also in Western Australia.

PBT’s process for making precursor cathode active materials (PCAM) was developed at the University of Queensland. The company is commercialising two processes, one called Selective Acid Leaching, the other Combined Leach, which it said on its website can make materials with a lower environmental footprint than other processes and either primary intermediate materials or recycled ‘black mass’ can be used as feedstock.

Another partnership, between minerals exploration company Alpha HPA and mining and construction support services group Orica, is developing a AU$330 million high purity alumina production plant in Gladstone, Queensland.

The government has awarded the project AU$45 million in funding, with the alumina to be used for products like lithium batteries and LED lighting.

“Projects like these make for a stronger economy and a stronger future for Australia,” Morrison said.

“These projects are about manufacturing the products and materials Australians need and the world needs, by making them right here at home.”

Australia is belatedly joining a race which Europe and latterly the US and India are participating in, each hoping to reduce the world’s almost total dependency on East Asia – and mainly China – for processing materials for, and manufacturing of, batteries.

Morrison’s Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said that the initiative is designed to address China’s dominance in key industries including batteries.

“Australia is lucky to have some of the largest reserves of the critical minerals and metals which drive the modern global economy. But China currently dominates around 70 to 80% of global critical minerals production and continues to consolidate its hold over these supply chains,” Taylor said.

Recognition of home advantage on vanadium

It is the second award of funding for Australian Vanadium through the initiative, after the company was awarded AU$3.9 million last year to help fast-track its vanadium processing capabilities.

The vanadium flow battery was invented in Australia at the University of New South Wales and the country is thought to have rich raw material resources in the ground.

 Yet none of the world’s three primary vanadium producers have operations there, nor are there electrolyte or flow battery production plants in the country, which one of the technology’s main inventors, UNSW professor Maria Skyllas-Kazacos, told our quarterly journal PV Tech Power is an unfortunate fact.

Australian Vanadium and others are seeking to change that and establish operations further downstream in the value chain. Australian Vanadium is developing a vanadium electrolyte production plant which it claimed will be able to produce enough liquid electrolyte for 33GWh of flow batteries each year. It has already selected contractor Primero for the first stages of construction, the company told Energy-Storage.news last September.

Australian Vanadium has set up a flow battery subsidiary, VSUN Energy, through which to market and commercialise flow batteries using its own raw and processed materials, with a manufacturing partner, V-Flow Tech, based in Singapore.

Other companies are looking to establish flow battery supply chain capabilities in Australia from deposit to electrolyte. One, Vecco Group, is developing a mine in north-east Queensland and an electrolyte plant with 2 million litres annual production capacity, targeting the start of commercial operations next year.

Approval for another vanadium mine in Queensland has been granted by the state’s government, which is also looking to directly invest capital into establishing a processing plant.

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GREP will sit in the Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone (GREZ). Image: CEFC.

Australian superannuation (pension) fund Hostplus will invest in a joint venture between Octopus Australia and the national Clean Energy Finance Corporation to build a 3,000-hectare, 1.5GW renewable energy park.

The Gippsland Renewable Energy Park (GREP) will provide clean energy to the grid to help replace the power currently delivered by the 1,450MW Yallourn coal power station which will close by 2028.

GREP will investigate the deployment of various technologies at utility scale, including solar, wind, battery storage and also the potential of green hydrogen. A government document says that the GREP project will provide 1.5GW of power though no source is specific on the generation mix or the expected energy storage capacity.

It is is set to start construction in 2024 with completion in 2026, according to its website and sits within the Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), one of six in the state of Victoria.

Hostplus will invest via an Octopus Australia-managed platform to help develop GREP, while Octopus itself is investing too with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) providing AU$8.5 million (US$6.2 million). Octopus Australia is part of the investment firm Octopus Group which owns UK-based group Octopus Energy, while the CEFC is an Australian government body.

CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “Gippsland has been a powerhouse for the National Electricity Market (NEM) for many years. This development will contribute to the region’s transition to a clean energy future, while continuing to supply the power that helps keep Australia’s lights on.”

The project is one of several at different stages of development in the Gippsland REZ, including the Perry Bridge Solar and Fulham Solar projects which are also being developed by the joint venture between Octopus Australia and the CEFC. The JV bought the projects from developer Solis Re when it was formed in July 2021, and they are sometimes referred to as part of GREP and sometimes as separate entities.

Others in the Gippsland REZ include the Delburn Wind Farm, Star of the South offshore wind farm, Marinus Link, Morwell Solar Farm, Frasers Lane Solar Farm Ramahyuck Solar and Maffra Solar. Large BESS have been proposed for Jeeralang gas power station (EA), Morwell Solar and AGL Loy Yang.

On top of that, investor-owned utility EnergyAustralia, which runs the Yallourn plant, says it will build a 350MW/1400MWh utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) near the plant. Its peer Origin Energy has also called for suitably qualified firms to install an even larger, 700MW BESS near its 2,880MW coal plant in Eraring.

Origin has said that coal is no longer able to compete economically with renewable energy and storage in the NEM and brought forward the planned retirement of its Eraring plant by seven years to 2025 from an originally announced 2032 date.

Coal plants are also expensive to run. Yallourn costs EnergyAustralia more than AU$200 million a year in Opex, while Eraring costs about half that.

However, Australia’s federal government still seems reluctant to commit to a coal phase-out despite belatedly introducing a net zero by 2050 policy target. Non-profit group Environment Victoria has highlighted that coal is the biggest single cause of climate and air pollution in Australia. The group’s CEO Jono La Nauze said last year that all of the remaining 20 or so coal plants in the country should be closed down by 2030, stating that Australians should not “leave such an important task to the market to decide”.

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