BEST

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has authored a proposed decision to install 1.325GW of energy storage across the state by 2020. Commissioner Carla Peterman has set out year-by-year procurement targets for Southern California Edison (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).

The installed energy storage can come from any type of technology and can be employed for a variety of functions such as capacity, ancillary services and peak shaving.

PG&E and SCE are each required to install 580 MW of capacity and SDG&E must acquire 165 MW in total by 2020. The utilities would be allowed to own some of the energy storage capacity as part of their distribution system planning process.

This is the first time energy storage has been included in a State policy, supporters hope it will create a market for electrical energy storage solutions. There has been opposition to the proposal from stakeholders, including generator set trade representatives, who believe electricity storage suppliers should compete in the capacity market with other technologies rather than being prioritised in such a way.

The first installations of capacity must be no later than December 2014.

Construction has begun on the site to house Europe’s largest commercial battery park. German utility company WEMAG and Berlin-based renewables expert, Younicos, have begun working on the site that is due to be online in September 2014.

The site in Schwerin, northern Germany, will house a 5MWh battery to offset short-term power fluctuations from renewable energy sources to assist with stabilising grid frequency. Samsung SDI is supplying the lithium-ion cells with an assurance of 20 years performance guaranteed.

This is part of a Germany-wide effort to increase the use of renewable energy to lessen the dependence on fossil fuel and nuclear-generated electricity.

See the full report in the Summer issue of BEST magazine (issue 41) to read more about the Younicos and WEMAG project. 

Battery giant EnerSys has introduced a service-reporting tool called the Service Activity Report Management (SARM) system, which allows the company to maintain a full service profile and audit trail for its complete range of Hawker batteries and chargers for motive power applications.

Information logged on to the system during installation and service visits can be analysed to prepare detailed reports and identify maintenance trends. The SARM system gives EnerSys insight into the maintenance of its Hawker batteries and chargers in the material handling and motive power markets. It collects and records service-related information that can be made available to customers who require verification of compliance with procedures and maintenance for key performance indicator reports.

Data relating to a battery or charger is entered into SARM at commissioning and at maintenance or service sessions using unique product details to provide a complete profile of the product’s service history. The system can be accessed online to allow field engineers to update information form any location. 

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) has received a US$3.4M award from the US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) to develop flow battery technology aimed at doubling the current range of electric vehicles (EV).

IIT and Argonne National Laboratory will develop a prototype for a rechargeable "nanoelectrofuel" flow battery that may extend the range of EVs to at least 500 miles and provide a straightforward and rapid method of refuelling. Current EV ranges are 100-200 miles, with recharging taking up to eight hours.

Flow batteries, which store chemical energy in external tanks instead of within the battery container, are generally low in energy density and therefore not used for transportation applications.

The IIT-Argonne nanoelectrofuel flow battery concept will use a high-energy density "liquid" with battery-active nanoparticles to dramatically increase energy density while ensuring stability and low-resistance flow within the battery.

The IIT award is one of 22 projects across the country awarded a total of $36 million through the ARPA-E’s Robust Affordable Next Generation EV Storage (RANGE) programme, which seeks to develop innovative EV battery chemistries, architectures and designs.

The EU is to re-classify portable batteries with a single weight threshold of 3Kg to overcome discrepancies in portable and industrial battery classifications for recycling.

Recycling targets introduced in the UK in 2010 to increase recycling of portable batteries have been skewed by the inclusion of larger batteries. Collectors have included automotive and industrial lead-acid batteries in the targets, which bump up numbers.

The grey area surrounds the definition of a portable battery: anything over 10kg is industrial, under 4kg is considered portable but between these two figures producers can decide whether it is classed as portable or industrial.

This lack of clarity meant larger lead-acid batteries – that are already widely recycled – were included with the collections. In 2012, 3 000 tonnes of portable lead-acid batteries were on the market but 9 000 tonnes were reported as being collected as waste. The discrepancy of 6 000 tonnes means the recycling figures lose all credibility.

The EU has a portable battery-recycling target of 45% for 2016; to meet this in the UK will require double the current collection rate.

Batteries that are now classified as non-portable will continue to be recycled at exceptionally high rates in the UK, as in the rest of Europe.