Scientists from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), and the Institute of Automation and Control Processes of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IACP FEB RAS) have studied a correlation between the shape of thermal energy storage (TES) used in traditional and renewable energy sectors and their efficiency. Using the obtained data, design engineers might be able to improve TES for specific needs. A related article was published in Renewable Energy.

The scientists studied a correlation between the shape and efficiency of TES based on granular phase change materials. When heated, such materials change their phase from the solid to the liquid state, thus preserving the heat energy. When they solidify again, energy output takes place. Devices based on this principle are used in advanced energy systems.

Using a computational model that had been developed previously, the team found out the effect of narrowing and expansion of cylinder-shaped TES on the process of their charging (energy input), energy storage, and discharging (energy output) depending on various preference criteria.

“To study the charging and discharging of TES with different shapes, we used six efficiency criteria. In some cases, a heat accumulator that stores more energy is the most preferable. In other cases, a unit with the fastest charge time is the most efficient. It is the same for discharge: some need a device with the biggest energy output, and some would prefer one with maximal time of keeping the outlet temperature not lower than a given value,” said Nickolay Lutsenko, a co-author of the work, a Professor at the Engineering Department of the Polytechnic Institute (School), FEFU, and a Laboratory Head at IACP FEB RAS.

According to the scientist’ research, TES with straight walls are often the most preferable. However, the shape of a unit can depend on efficiency criteria and the details of the process, such as boundary conditions, phase transition temperature, and so on. In some scenarios, narrowing or expanding TES can be more beneficial than straight walls ones.

Thermal energy storages can also be parts of other types of energy accumulators, such as adiabatic compressed air energy storages that are used to store cheap energy coming from traditional power plants in the night time or from solar batteries and wind turbines in favorable weather conditions. Energy output from these storage units takes place in peak energy consumption times, such as mornings or evenings.

Legislation to help the US economy invest in clean energy jobs and support innovation and industry passed the House of Representatives this week – and Energy Storage Association (ESA) CEO Kelly Speakes-Backman applauded the prominent inclusion of energy storage in the bill.

Next stop for the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act will be the upper house of US Congress, the Senate. The bill includes wide-ranging measures on: energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon pollution reduction technologies, nuclear energy, the electric grid and cybersecurity, transportation, research and innovation, technology transfer, industrial innovation and competitiveness, critical materials and environmental justice.

Energy storage is mentioned prominently for its role in renewable energy, with the bill calling for consideration of energy storage systems and coordination of programmes in renewables integration, as well as the development of assistance programmes for energy storage and renewable-powered microgrid deployment.

Energy storage is also mentioned in the context of enhancing electric grid reliability and its relevance to the supply chain for critical raw materials – like Europe, the US has put lithium and other materials used in battery making onto a list of such materials.

“Today the U.S. House of Representatives moved definitively to elevate the priority of public innovation investments in energy storage. By passing H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, numerous bipartisan proposals for promoting energy storage are moving forward, including increasing R&D and demonstration investments in energy storage technology, integrating storage across all DOE Energy offices, assisting rural customers with storage for resilience, and incorporating storage into public investments in transportation electrification and workforce development,” Kelly Speakes-Backman of the national ESA said.

“ESA is pleased to support these efforts to ready the electric system for 21st century demands to provide resilient, efficient, sustainable, and affordable electric service. We encourage members of the Senate to swiftly advance their similar legislation this Congress.”

Mitsubishi Power has signed a deal to help decarbonize US utility Entergy’s businesses in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, writes Rod Walton.

A major part of the collaboration will be focused on hydrogen-fueled technologies. Hydrogen does not contain a carbon atom and can be produced via electrolysis fueled by renewable or carbon-free nuclear resources.

“New technologies and innovative solutions to the challenges posed by climate change present opportunities for us to significantly decrease carbon emissions from our generation portfolio while maintaining low rates.

“We are pleased to welcome Mitsubishi Power as a collaborative partner in developing strategies to integrate these new technologies and solutions that support us achieving our environmental and customer commitments.”

Together, Entergy and Mitsubishi Power will focus on developing hydrogen-capable gas turbine combined-cycle facilities, green hydrogen production, storage and transportation; creating nuclear-supplied electrolysis facilities with energy storage; and developing utility-scale battery storage systems.“For two decades, sustainability has been a priority for Entergy,” said Paul Hinnenkamp, Entergy’s chief operating officer and executive vice president. “We have pledged to conduct our business in a manner that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable that will benefit all our stakeholders.

The electricity grid is undergoing its first evolution since the invention of the power transmission system, and energy storage devices, particularly mechanical energy storage devices, will play a solid role in this evolution.

Decarbonization, renewable energies, and energy storage devices are all factors involved in the current evolution of the electricity grid. In the last decades the integration of renewable energies, pushed by the necessity to decarbonize the electricity sector, led energy storage devices to become increasingly important to stabilize the electricity grid.

The increased adoption of variable renewable energy led the electricity grid operator to adopt energy storage systems to smoothen the variability of renewable sources.

Li-ion batteries, currently dominating the storage sectors in all of its aspects. From portable electronics to MW scale storage systems, Li-ion batteries will struggle in the future to address the MW scale power and daily storage duration, when Mechanical Energy Storage systems will enter the market.

In the brand-new report “Potential Stationary Energy Storage Technologies to Monitor”, IDTechEx has investigated these emerging technologies. With a simple working mechanism, Mechanical Energy Storage systems are addressing the bigger spectrum of the energy storage devices: large power output, and long storage time.

This new class of storage systems include older and newer technologies. It includes elderly technologies like compressed air energy storage, already installed in the 1980s, and some of the younger gravitational energy storage, like in the case of Highview Energy, and Energy Vault recently backed with millions of dollars.

On Tuesday, electric vehicle and battery manufacturer Tesla held its ‘Battery Day’, announcing its intention to halve the price of battery energy storage.

The company, which began in electric vehicle manufacturing, has become a leader in utility-scale energy storage supply. The company announced plans to build a new battery production plant in the US and to scale up cell production to produce 100GWh in 2022.

On an outdoor stage in California, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and senior vice-president of energy engineering Drew Baglino told shareholders about five technology innovations the company has moved into production to halve production costs.

Materials and components in batteries change to allow greater capacity

One of these measures involves the company ending its use of cobalt in batteries. Tesla joined the Fair Cobalt Alliance in September, and Musk said the company has had difficulty in finding ethical and responsible sources for the metal. However, it did not give an estimated timescale for the change.

Cobalt is a suitable metal for stabilising energy flows in mid-tier batteries. However, a paper in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society suggests that cobalt has a negligible effect in higher energy, high-nickel batteries.

Baglino told shareholders: “Using novel coatings and dopants, we can get a 15% reduction in cathode cost per kilowatt-hour. We are also looking at the processing costs for cathodes. About 35% of the cost per unit of storage comes from transforming the battery metals into their final form.

“We’re proposing a process that requires 66% less capital investment and a 76% reduction in processing cost.”

A ‘three-tier system’ for Tesla battery vehicles

Musk continued: “In order to scale, we need to make sure we are not constrained by total nickel availability. I think we need a three-tiered approach to batteries, starting with iron as a medium-range battery, then nickel-manganese above that, then high-nickel for long-range applications.