Grid Storage Battery : 4 Years – and counting !

Context :

In a first, India plans standalone renewable battery power bank { Times of India / 17 April 2022 }

Extract :

India is setting up a first-of-its-kind standalone renewable battery power bank envisaging an investment of Rs 2,000 crore to make green energy available on tap for discoms and grid operators during peak demand, but spike in prices of lithium — a key ingredient for making batteries — and supply chain disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict may weigh on industry response.

According to the tender floated by SECI ( formerly Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd ), the government entity implementing India’s solar and wind energy plans, earlier this week, the project will have storage capacity to supply 500MW for two hours, or 1,000MWh (mega watt hour), the renewable energy ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Discoms can hire storage capacity, which will be charged using renewable energy, and draw power to manage peak demand. The project is to be located in the vicinity of the Fatehgarh-III substation of the interstate transmission system in Rajasthan.

The project will be set up on a build-own-operate basis, with the developer being responsible for securing connectivity and necessary permissions.

Land will be provided by the central transmission utility on a right-to-use basis. The developer has to make storage capacity available for two operational cycles per day, or two complete charge-discharge cycles a day.

SECI will off take 60% capacity for third-party leasing, while 30% will be earmarked by northern and national grid operators for their ancillary services. But industry representatives said the project’s success will depend on viability gap funding from the Centre, especially since 500% increase in lithium prices has made batteries expensive and will push up power tariff unviable for entities’ leasing capacity.

But the ministry statement said the project is aimed at providing support for developing a market in the energy storage domain.

Currently, India is considered a low-priority market by global battery makers, who are focusing on the US and Europe that are focused on storage-based renewable energy projects.

However, industry representatives said the timing may not be ideal because of the uncertain geopolitical situation in east Europe, which has effected global trade and jacked up commodity prices.

The government has set a target of 4,000 MWh of battery storage capacity as part of the plan to increase penetration of renewable energy in the national grid.

A Central Electricity Authority report on optimal generation capacity mix envisages a battery storage capacity of 27,000 MW, or 108,000 MWh — essentially four-hour storage — by 2029-30.

MY TAKE :

Ø Solar Power –Thermal Power – Storage Battery [ 26 Nov 2017 ]

Extract :

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy – MNRE - is examining a proposal submitted by the Power Grid Corporation of India , to generate Solar and Wind power in the deserts of Rajasthan / Kutchh / Lahul and Spiti / Ladakh

These deserts have, between them , the potential to generate 315.7 GW of Solar plus Wind power, compared with our present installed capacity of 331 GW

But , how to “ Store “ all that huge amount of Solar generated electricity and use it round the clock when Sun is not shining ?

This ( storage of solar generated power ) was not possible till yesterday

But it just became possible !

Only yesterday , Elon Musk ( TESLA ) completed installation of a 100 MW / 129 MWh , Lithium-ion Battery Storage facility in Australia , for a cost of $ 50 million

All within 100 days – ensuring no more “ black outs “ in South Australia !

To store that 316 GW ( 316,000 MW ) of solar power generated in our deserts , we will need 3160 Storage Batteries of the size ( 100 MW ) installed in Australia

That would cost , $ 158 Billion ( Rs 11.15 lakh*crore )

In all , we need to raise :

# For 316 GW solar power projects in our deserts…………$ 316 Billion

# For 3160 Mega Storage Batteries………………………………..$ 158 Billion

Total of ………………………………………………………………………… $ 474 Billion

Dear Shri R K Singhji

( Minister – MNRE ) :

Above cost estimates are extrapolated from TESLA’s 4 year old installation in Australia . In normal course, after a passage of 4 years, one would expect the costs to come down .

However given 500 % increase in Lithium prices, the GRID SCALE BATTERY STORAGE costs must have gone up drastically. Viability Gap Funding seems out of the question

In view of this, I urge you to consider the following alternatives :

[ A ] ……….Iron-Air Batteries being manufactured by FORM ENERGY

[ B ]……….Conductive Polymer Technology Batteries being manufactured by PolyJoule

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 18 April 2022

[ A ] From FORM ENERGY website :

THE BATTERY CYCLE

· The basic principle of operation is reversible rusting

· While discharging, the battery breathes in oxygen from the air and converts iron metal to rust

· While charging, the application of an electrical current converts the rust back to iron and the battery breathes out oxygen

OUR MODULAR, SCALABLE MULTI-DAY STORAGE SYSTEM

Each individual battery is about the size of a washing machine.

Each of these modules is filled with a water-based, non-flammable electrolyte, similar to the electrolyte used in AA batteries.

Inside of the liquid electrolyte are stacks of between 10 and 20 meter-scale cells, which include iron electrodes and air electrodes, the parts of the battery that enable the electrochemical reactions to store and discharge electricity.

These battery modules are grouped together in modular megawatt-scale power blocks, which comprise thousands of battery modules in an environmentally protected enclosure.

Depending on the system size, tens to hundreds of these power blocks will be connected to the electricity grid.

For scale, in its least dense configuration, a one megawatt system requires about an acre of land. Higher density configurations can achieve >3MW/acre.

Our battery systems can be sited anywhere, even in urban areas, to meet utility-scale energy needs.

Our batteries complement the function of lithium-ion batteries, allowing for an optimal balance of our technology and lithium-ion batteries to deliver the lowest-cost renewable and reliable electric system year-round.

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[ B ]……..From PolyJoule website :

UTILITY ENERGY STORAGE

Utility Companies that wish to store intermittent renewable energy for use at peak demand hours to keep grid power delivery running smoothly . PolyJoule allows for utility customers to avoid building further transmission lines and reduce need of fossil-fuel generated peaker plant demand

# Exceptional Cycling :

With a capability of 12,000 cycles to 100% depth of discharge, PolyJoule Power String can operate in the

harshest of power profiles, including significant partial-state-of-charge applications

# Robust :

PolyJoule cells can be used in both extreme high and low temperatures without use of active climate control

and minimal capacity degradation.

# Ultra-Safe ( Nail Penetration Test ) :

9540A Tests have shown that overheating, overcharging, destruction and short circuits cannot put a

PolyJoule cell into a thermal runaway state, ever.

# Extreme Power Density :

The PolyJoule Power String can rapidly discharge power, up to 1MW, in less than 10 seconds. Extreme

power protects against voltage intermittency in mission-critical applications