Wolfram Chemie GmbH’s Post

Learning curves for battery electric storage systems We are in the middle of a necessary #energytransition, away from #fossilfuels to #renewableenergy. One of the big issues to make the energy transition work will be energy storage solutions. Up until now I expected that this will be a mix of heat, battery and hydro power storage, and cost and availability will determine which one will fit a respective niche. But during Intersolar 2024 it dawned on me how fast especially the field of battery electric storage is developing, both the physical batteries, as well as the interconnected algorithms controlling them. The marked is exploding, both with solutions, as well as value propositions for applications - all due to costs coming down all the time. Today I read an interesting article by Auke Hoekstra, concerning the learning curves for battery systems, and their implications on costs. I sort of can't believe myself the numbers he comes up with - if batteries really get as cheap until 2030 as he predicts, this will completely upend all ideas about how the future energy grid will look like. But as he is Auke Hoekstra of "IEA predictions of solar energy deployments are completely bonkers" fame (and he got proven right over time), I'd suggest you rather trust his numbers than my doubts... This article is well worth some minutes of your time! 😀 🌞 https://lnkd.in/dWyh4ujF #juststopoil #stopburningstuff

🔋 Transforming the Grid with Dirt Cheap Batteries! 🚀 The future is here: sodium batteries are set to become incredibly affordable, revolutionizing our electricity grid. This fascinating study highlights how these breakthroughs will enhance grid stability, reduce costs, and facilitate the widespread adoption of solar and wind energy. By 2030, we could see battery prices plummet to just $8 per kWh, turning our power grid into a resilient, decentralized system. It’s time to embrace this battery boom and power up for a sustainable future! #RenewableEnergy #BatteryRevolution #SodiumBatteries #SolarPower #WindEnergy #EnergyGrid #SustainableFuture #EnergyStorage

Kuinka alas akkujen hinnat voivat painua, pohtii Auke Hoekstra: "Sodium batteries will become ridiculously cheap. That in turn will revamp our electricity grid: local demand response will be key, resilience and grid stability will improve, grid reinforcements will become less of a costly bottleneck, and solar and wind will thrive. In terms of our energy system, batteries will change everything." #akkuteknologia #akkuhinnat #energiajärjestelmä #energiajärjestelmä #energiavarastot #BESS #akkustrategia2030 https://lnkd.in/dgW8ktS4

The future of battery technologies holds significant promise for data centers, primarily driven by advancements in cost reduction and efficiency. According to industry experts, ongoing research and development are paving the way for batteries to become more affordable and effective, which would have a significant impact on the industry. The potential outcomes may include: - Significant reduction in the cost of stationary batteries. - Transition of the grid from a top-down managed system to a predominantly decentralized and bottom-up structure. - Reducing grid costs and avoiding construction delays. - Widespread use of batteries to ensure reliable and more affordable electricity in homes. Overall, the grid will become more cost-effective, resilient, and capable of handling large amounts of solar and wind energy. Read more from the article by Auke Hoekstra from the Eindhoven University of Technology. #DataCenters #Batteries

This is a really helpful and hopeful post. If battery storage in buildings follows the same path as solar panels and becomes extremely cheap then it may significantly reduce the enormous investment required in our electricity grids. This would not only reduce costs but speed up the deployment of renewables. https://lnkd.in/ey-gCcdX?

🔋💧 Revolutionizing Energy Storage: Chinese Scientists Pioneer Breakthrough Water Battery Technology! The article unveils a groundbreaking innovation as Chinese scientists develop a revolutionary water battery capable of storing significantly more energy than traditional lithium cells. As the world seeks scalable solutions to address the challenges of energy storage and mitigate climate change, innovations like this water battery hold promise for revolutionizing the way we store and utilize renewable energy. By driving research, investment, and collaboration in energy storage innovation, we can accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more resilient energy future Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dS7dNWU9 #EnergyStorage #Innovation #RenewableEnergy #SCMPNews #CleanTech 🔬🌊

The most reliable forecasts often arise from system thinking. Taking account of how different parts of a system interact can yield insights that would be hidden if each element were viewed in isolation. On our recent US road trip we updated our worldview and shared our joined-up thinking with a broad range of Exawatt | CRU customers and partners. Highlights included: ·       Assessing the prospects for building a domestic solar, battery storage and inverter industry with the Solar Energy Industries Association board at its strategy meeting in Snowbird, Utah ·       Reviewing ongoing developments in battery technology, performance and cost with EV and battery makers in San Francisco, and world-leading battery academics at Stanford University ·       Catching up with our PV and battery testing partners at PV Evolution Labs in San Francisco, with whom we publish the STAC and ESTAC solar and battery reports – and meeting with Terry Jester and Don Cowan from sister company PI Berlin, member of the Kiwa Group in Southern California ·       Sharing our latest battery thinking at the #naatbatt2024 battery conference in Carlsbad. A special mention for colleague Aaron Wade, who presented some highlights from his battery cost service ·       Chairing a panel session with power semiconductor industry leaders and examining the role of power electronics across the energy transition at #apec2024 in Long Beach. Long-standing Exawatt customers (and long-suffering colleagues) may occasionally have heard me describe how our system-thinking approach has enabled us to make unconventional, but ultimately accurate, predictions. In 2015 in PV we foresaw the rise of once-expensive monocrystalline solar cells – due to expected reductions in system-level cost – at a time when the Chinese industry was wedded to multicrystalline and firmly resistant to our arguments. In 2018 we made a similar prediction for the rise of silicon carbide in EV inverters by modelling the potential for significant battery cost savings. And in 2021, inspired by BYD’s recently launched Blade cell, we studied the system economics and concluded that LFP was primed to enjoy high EV market share in the west, not just in China, due to a combination of long cycle life and inherent safety, allowing for competitive pack energy density despite lower cell energy density than the incumbent NMC chemistries. CRU's acquisition of Exawatt in April 2023 extends our system thinking further upstream. CRU is the global expert in many of the materials critical to the energy transition: steel, aluminium, lithium, copper, nickel and silicon, among others. CRU’s outputs – including material prices and forecasts – are inputs to Exawatt’s cost models, enabling us to cover the full supply chain from mine to end application, whether that’s an EV or a solar-plus-storage system. Get in touch if you’d like to find out more. #solarpv #lithiumionbatteries #powerelectronics #electricvehicles #partnershipsmatter

"The solar energy world is ready for a revolution. Scientists are racing to develop a new type of solar cell using materials that can convert electricity more efficiently than today's panels. In a paper published February 26 in the journal Nature Energy, a University of Colorado Boulder researcher and his international collaborators unveiled an innovative method to manufacture the new solar cells, known as perovskite cells, an achievement critical for the commercialization of what many consider the next generation of solar technology. Today, nearly all solar panels are made from silicon, which boasts an efficiency of 22%. This means silicon panels can only convert about one-fifth of the sun's energy into electricity because the material absorbs only a limited proportion of sunlight's wavelengths. Producing silicon is also expensive and energy-intensive." #solarpower #solarcell #solartechnology

This is the smartest — and also alarming — analysis that illuminates the impact of the incipient AI era on energy demand and infrastructure. The implications of Ed Crooks' points addressing AI growth — rising electricity demand by the cloud and chip manufacturing — in combination with the overall transition to an all-electric society should give you pause: “Battery plants need 20 to 37.5-kilowatt hours of electricity for every 1 KWh of storage of capacity they produce, a recent study showed. That means a typical factory producing 30 GWh of cells per year would need up to about 130 MW of power.” Duke Energy “sees planned chip factories needing hundreds of megawatts, and ‘several’ planned data centers for AI need a gigawatt each.” By 2025, a third of Ireland’s power demand will come from data centers. These are staggering numbers that illustrate the hard work that needs to be done far beyond the AI breakthroughs — and hype — we see in the news every day.

The energy transition is causing an increase in demand for electricity as the USA is finding. Demand is expected to surge on the back of growth in data centers, electric vehicles, electrolysers and the manufacture of battery, solar wafers, cells and semiconductors. #usa #energysector #marketinsights #energydemand #datacenters #semiconductors #ai #bess #solarwafers https://lnkd.in/ga7gk243