Victoria to turn to Tesla battery power in time for next summer

Two large lithium-ion batteries will be built and connected to the grid in regional Victoria this year, giving the state’s west a significant renewable energy boost in time for next summer.

Two large-scale batteries will be built in Kerang and Ballarat this year.

The batteries, which will store solar and wind-generated energy,  will be built near Ballarat and Kerang and will have a combined generation capacity of 55 MW and a combined energy storage of 80 megawatt-hours – giving them more than half the power of South Australia's gigantic 100MW Tesla battery.

Read Adam Carey’s story from The Age - “Victoria to turn to Tesla battery power in time for next summer.”

Salt could supercharge storage batteries

Humble salt could replace lithium-ion batteries as an energy storage source for a fifth of the cost, and without the ethical concerns, according to new research.

The University of Wollongong's Shulei Chou
demonstrating a sodium-ion energy battery. 

A Stanford University study into sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery technology has demonstrated the potential of these batteries to displace lithium-ion, which requires rarer, and more difficult to obtain materials.

The research has found a way to dramatically increase the energy efficiency of the new batteries to more than 87 per cent, but at less than 80 per cent the cost of lithium-ion batteries with equivalent storage capacities.

The new materials would also spare the ethical concerns that can come with lithium-ion due to the locations of mines for the raw minerals.

Read Cole Latimer’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Salt could supercharge storage batteries.”

Move Over Tesla, Europe's Building Its Own Battery Gigafactories

Battery-making gigafactories are about to arrive in Europe, challenging a lead Tesla Inc. is building at a plant in Nevada and opening the way for a quicker shift toward green power for both cars and utilities.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday is scheduled to break ground at a 500 million-euro ($543 million) plant to assemble lithium-ion energy-storage units for Daimler AG, which produces Mercedes-Benz and Maybach luxury cars.

The facility 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Berlin highlights a push by both major automakers and power companies into energy storage. The technology is crucial to drive the next generation of green vehicles and to hold electricity from wind and solar farms for when it’s needed most. With two dominant industries moving in the same direction, the cost of batteries is likely to plunge quickly, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Read the Bloomberg story - “Move Over Tesla, Europe's Building Its Own Battery Gigafactories.”