Advances in energy-storage technology and rising demand for batteries from the global electric vehicle (EV) market are driving the need for technology minerals – such as lithium and graphite – which are increasingly used in lithium-ion batteries.

The sectors mining these industries are “young and niche” and not commoditised yet, says London-based research firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence director Simon Moores.

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Last Thursday, California regulators issued a decision modifying the Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), a 2001 program which provides incentives for energy storage and behind-the-meter generation. Under the new rules, 75% of the SGIP budget will be allocated to energy storage.

Additionally SGIP will move to a declining block grant incentive system, similar to the California Solar Initiative (CSI), with incentives for most systems starting at US$.50 per watt-hour (Wh) in the first step and declining to $0.30 per Wh in the fifth. Large-scale energy storage projects which receive the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) will start at $0.36 per Wh and decline to $0.16 per Wh.

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BYD Company Limited (Shenzhen, China), the world’s largest battery manufacturer, and EDF (Electricité de France, Paris) signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop energy storage in both companies’ global subsidiaries and markets where they operate.

EDF branches in the United States, France and the United Kingdom are expected to carry out comprehensive cooperation with BYD in the near future, reads the press release.

BYD’s proprietary iron-phosphate battery is the basis for an extensive range of energy storage and electrified transportation products, and more recently BYD has also ventured successfully into solar photovoltaic (PV) module production.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA–(Marketwired – Jun 28, 2016) – Viridity Energy, Inc., announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded it a patent for systems and methods used to generate an operating schedule for energy storage assets, such as batteries, used in connection with transportation systems, such as rail operations, and with electric vehicles. The patent reflects the value stacking capabilities of Viridity software, which maximizes the value of flexible load, energy assets and energy storage. It is the latest in a series of patents awarded to Viridity, including patents related to data center operations and battery/solar asset-combined operations. 

The new patent addresses a variety of functions, including optimizing use of the storage asset to maximize the combined market revenue derived from integration of storage into regional markets, with cost savings associated with the capture of regenerative braking power from rail systems or electric vehicles. 

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2015 was a dynamic year for energy storage. A proliferation of energy storage deployment, declining costs and Tesla’s Powerwall announcement contributed to a successful year. But the start of 2016 did not begin as auspiciously as the previous year’s headlines might suggest.

There were 18.3 MW (21.2 MWh) of energy storage deployed in the United States in the first quarter of 2016, representing 127% increase from first quarter of 2015, according to a recent energy storage report from GTM Research. But those numbers represent an 84% decline from storage deployments in fourth quarter 2015.

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The energy storage industry enjoyed a moment in the spotlight last week when theWhite House hosted a summit on that topic. Now this burgeoning sector will work to capitalize on this new exposure to get policies in place that allow storage markets to grow.

The core message energy storage companies are trying to send is that their products provide a value to the grid, but it’s a value that the markets currently aren’t designed to compensate. The rules were written before this technology came into its own, and now they’ll need to be amended for storage providers to recoup investments that yield tangible services to the grid. As electric generation shifts away from central, thermal plants to more distributed and variable renewable sources, the ability to flexibly store energy will play an ever more critical role. 

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A team of energy storage researchers based at Texas A&M University has identified a nanoscale bottleneck as the culprit behind low performance in lithium-ion batteries. The discovery could lead to the use of new, improved materials that enable a rechargeable battery to attain more of its maximum theoretical capacity and maintain it through more of its lifecycle.

Considering the widespread use of Li-ion energy storage tech, the discovery has significant implications for energy efficiency and energy conservation in the low-carbon economy of tomorrow.

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Clean energy and energy storage go together like peanut butter and jelly. But the falling cost of renewable energy threatens to break up this indispensable pair.

According to a new paper in Nature Climate Change, energy storage stands at a critical juncture. For now, energy storage can make wind and solar more profitable, but that may not always be the case.

“If storage isn’t adopted now and renewables’ costs continue to fall, then the added profitability of storage would go away, because at that point it would make more sense to build more solar or wind than it would to install storage,” the study’s co-author, MIT professor of energy studies Jessika Trancik, said in an interview.

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We’re getting some interesting news lately about the pace of cost reductions in the lithium ion battery industry and it could bode well for new industries forming today. According to energy storage company Stem’s Chief Technology Officer, battery prices have fallen a whopping 70% in the last 18 months. 

Battery prices are key to unlocking energy storage in homes, at large buildings, and at utilities that could shave peak energy costs and allow more renewable energy to hit the grid. And for electric vehicles, falling battery costs could make it attractive for millions more people to buy an EV.

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