energy storage publishing

Eaton’s 5P, 5PX and 9PX UPS systems are Energy Star qualified following stringent third-party testing and verification of meeting the United States’ energy efficiency requirements.

Energy Star is a joint programme established by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy intended to help consumers save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

According to Energy Star, if all UPSs sold in the US in 2012 meet the Energy Star requirements, the energy cost savings will grow to $471m and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the emissions from more than 636,000 vehicles.

Following the qualification, Eaton said it now offers the largest selection of Energy Star for server, storage and network protection applications. Eaton said it plans to continue the Energy Star certification process for additional UPS products.

Demand response provider KiWi Power is to partner distribution company UK Power Networks in developing a 10 MWh energy storage system with lithium-ion batteries.

Installation of the facility at a trial site in Bedfordshire will commence in January 2013. The energy storage device comprises a 10 MWh lithium-ion battery system with racks of battery cells, 6 MW power conversion system (PCS) with 11 kV step-up transformer and 11 kV switchgear and protection.

KiWi Power will manage the commercial arrangements for the energy storage unit's participation in National Grid's load balancing services, including short-term operating reserves (STOR) and frequency response.

The Smarter Network Storage (SNS) project is one of five schemes selected by UK energy regulator Ofgem to help secure electricity supply and develop a new smart grid network. The four-year project which will examine the technical challenges and commercial opportunities of using stored electricity to meet peak energy demands and investigate the financial benefits of deferring or avoiding network reinforcement and selling flexibility services.

Yoav Zingher, CEO of Kiwi Power said: “Alongside demand side response measures, energy storage has the flexibility to meet increasing demand peaks and help to manage the supply-side energy provision from intermittent wind and inflexible nuclear energy. This trial is an important step towards proving the benefits of energy storage and will provide essential information for understanding the practicalities and economics of energy storage ahead of a smart grid transition.”

The five schemes received £45.5m ($73.3m) second-tier funding through Ofgem’s Low Carbon Networks (LCN) fund. Once the project has proven successful and the capabilities of energy storage are fully understood, it is expected that similar projects could be rolled out across the UK and provide savings of over £700m by 2040. 

Chemical company BASF has opened a new cathode materials production plant in Elyria, Ohio. The materials manufactured at the plant will be for producing advanced lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and full electric vehicles. The 70 000 square foot plant is supported by BASF battery material research laboratory in Beachwood, Ohio.

 The company aims to become a leading provider of functional materials and solutions to battery manufacturers worldwide. The new plant making cathode materials will help realise this goal.

 The construction cost more than US$50 million. The US Department of Energy gave a grant of US$24.6 million toward the costs, which show a strong alliance with the company.

 BASF is one of only two licensed suppliers of ANL-patented Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese (NCM) cathode materials, a unique combination of lithium and manganese-rich mixed metal oxides, particularly well suited to the production of lithium-ion batteries for automotive and other high-end applications.

 Senator Sherrod Brown, who supported BASF’s DOE grant application said: “BASF is helping make Ohio the Silicon Valley for clean energy manufacturing. As our reliance on foreign sources of energy grows more and more unsustainable, American consumers will turn to hybrid and fully electric vehicles – powered by lithium-ion battery materials made by BASF.

 As part of its long-term battery materials strategy, BASF will continue to work with partners in industry and science to develop materials and technologies for current and next generation lithium-ion batteries as well as for future battery systems.

Fraught battery manufacturer A123 Systems has been handed salvation in the form of a US $465 million investment from Chinese car-parts maker Wanxiang Group Corporation.

This will result in Wanxiang, one of China’s biggest non-governmental companies, owning 80% of A123 and holding four of the nine board seats for A123.

Earlier this year A123 announced it was running out of money, despite a cash injection from the Obama administration in 2009. This new investment could mean a government funded business will be in the hands of a non-US company that could out-source jobs.

The Michigan based battery maker has suffered because the EV market has failed to take off as quickly as hoped, only accounting for 3% of US car sales last year. For the second quarter of 2012 it reported losses of US$ 82.9 million so is in desperate need of help. A123 has 2 500 workers whose job security rests on the secure future of the company.

A hydrogen-powered hybrid train has been designed and built by students at the University of Birmingham, UK.  The prototype narrow gauge locomotive, running on a 5 000-litre hydrogen fuel cell combined with lead-acid batteries, is the first of its kind operating in the UK.

Dr Stuart Hillmansen, from the University of Birmingham's School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, said: "Our hydrogen-powered locomotive is a clean and efficient example of how hydrogen power could work for future trains on non-electrified routes.  We hope that our efforts will encourage the rail industry to take a closer look at this exciting technology."

The fuel cell is used both to power the permanent magnet electric motors and to charge the batteries, helping to meet the peak power demands during acceleration.

The advanced cell, which has already been successfully deployed by the university on a canal barge, exceeded expectations when the locomotive was tested on Leicestershire's Stapleford Miniature Railway.

Hydrogen transport also hit the headlines recently during the London 2012 Olympics.  A fleet of five black cabs, powered by hydrogen, shuttled people around the city demonstrating the potential of H-cells as an alternative fuel source.