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					</table><p>Researchers at the <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of New South Wales</a> and the <a href="https://nus.edu.sg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National University of Singapore</a> have developed a scalable solution to overcome the rechargeability challenges of aqueous rechargeable zinc battery technology.</p>
<p>The new method is expected to solve a significant problem with the aqueous rechargeable zinc battery technology, which is the ability to recharge, which has so far proven to be limited due to the amount of corrosion suffered by the battery’s zinc metal electrode.</p>
<p>The researchers developed a solution that introduces a very small concentration (1 volume%) of non-toxic additive molecules in the battery electrolyte. This addressed the corrosion issue and effectively reduced the dendritic zinc deposits that otherwise short-circuit the battery cell.</p>
<p>Using small pouch-type cells, the team demonstrated that about 1 kWh of electricity storage per 30 kg weight (or ~30 Wh/kg) can achieve the same storage per 16 kg weight (~60 Wh/kg) in a further scaled-up setup with a high-voltage cathode.</p>
<p>The method helped achieve a 5- 20 times improvement in the battery cycle life under conditions suitable for beyond-lab-scale development, equivalent to pushing the lifetime from a few months to over three years.</p>
<p>The AZB technology has emerged as an alternative to Li-ion batteries (LIBs) in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage, owing to absolute safety, resource abundance of raw materials, potential low cost, and competitive energy densities.</p>
<p>The zinc batteries are also sought after due to their high energy storage capacity of the mineral and the use of water-based or aqueous electrolytes. However, when the zinc corrodes and forms dendrites, the battery’s life and performance are lowered.</p>
<p>“A safe and affordable aqueous rechargeable zinc battery technology will accelerate renewable energy integration, enable smart grid technologies for better management of energy distribution, load balancing, and demand response, support the establishment of microgrids powered by renewable energy sources for remote communities, and may provide a cost-effective and reliable storage option for industries like mining, construction, and telecommunications,” said Dipan Kundu, corresponding author, and researcher, UNSW.</p>
<p>In renewable energy storage, the application of LIBs has posed a huge challenge of cost and fire risks, but with the use of aqueous rechargeable zinc batteries that use an aqueous salt solution electrolyte, it has emerged as a promising alternative owing to its safety, raw material abundance, affordability, and competitive energy densities.</p>
<p>Last April, a team from ETH Zurich <a href="https://mercomindia.com/low-salt-concentration-viable-compared-with-li-ion#:~:text=Through%20a%20combination%20of%20experiments,molecules%20per%20salt's%20positive%20ion." target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed</a> an environmentally friendly salt concentration for water-based zinc-ion batteries to make them more commercially viable.</p>
<p>Previously, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, also <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/zinc-batteries-an-economical-replacement-for-li-ion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed</a> a model to make zinc batteries an economical replacement for LIBs in EVs.</p>


Researchers Develop Solution to Enhance Rechargeability of Aqueous Zinc Batteries


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					</table><p>The U.S. energy storage market installed 7,322 MWh in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, the highest capacity in a quarter to date, according to the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report by <a href="https://www.woodmac.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wood Mackenzie</a> and the American Clean Power Association (<a href="https://cleanpower.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ACP</a>).</p>
<p>The cumulative capacity of energy storage installations in 2023 reached 13,518 MWh, surpassing the total volume in the whole of 2022, which stood at 11,976 MWh.</p>
<p>The report suggests that installations in Q3 could have been higher if not for the delay experienced by 80% of the projects that were in the pipeline.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-61285 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Picture1-3.png" alt="" width="449" height="201" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Picture1-3.png 449w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Picture1-3-300x134.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 449px) 100vw, 449px" /></p>
<p>“With another quarterly record, it’s clear that energy storage is increasingly a leading technology of choice for enhancing reliability and American energy security. As we continue to build a strong domestic supply chain, streamlined permitting and evolving market rules can further accelerate the deployment of storage resources,” said Frank Macchiarola., the chief policy officer at ACP.</p>
<p><strong>Solar segments </strong></p>
<p>The country’s grid-scale segment saw installations surge by 27% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) to 6,848 MWh, registering a record-breaking third quarter for both megawatts (MW) and megawatt-hours (MWh) installed.</p>
<p>The residential solar segment bounced back from the low volume it recorded in Q2 at 166.7 MW to 381.4 MWh in Q3, a 29% QoQ increase.</p>
<p>The largest increase was recorded in California, which nearly doubled its installed capacity from the previous quarter to install 78.4 MW. A combined total of 88.32 MW was deployed across all states, compared to the 89.53 MW deployed in the previous quarter.</p>
<p>The deployment in the community, commercial, and industrial (CCI) storage segment fell by 7% QoQ, with installations finalizing at 30.3 MW and 92.9 MWh, respectively. The installations in California witnessed a 35% QoQ jump, offset by zero community storage deployments in Massachusetts during the quarter.</p>
<p><strong>Forecast</strong></p>
<p>According to a recent report by Wood Mackenzie, the U.S. storage market is forecasted to install approximately 63 GW between 2023 and 2027 across all segments, a 5% decline from the Q2 forecast.</p>
<p>The grid-scale segment is facing a volatile near-term pipeline, which has resulted in difficulty in bringing projects to mechanical completion. While the segment’s 2023 forecast increased just slightly due to strong Q3 volume, the remainder of the forecast lowered by 7% on average.</p>
<p>The residential segment is expected to double between 2023 and 2025, but growth slows later in the forecast period as solar penetration in California heightens. The 2023 CCI segment forecast declined 12% QoQ due to low installation volumes between Q1 and Q3 of 2023.</p>
<p>According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, solar plus storage hybrid projects <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/solar-plus-storage-leads-hybrid-power-project-market-in-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were</a> the most popular in the U.S. at the end of 2022, with 213 projects and 4 GW/12.5 GWh capacity. These projects have a storage-to-generator capacity ratio of 49% and a storage duration of 3.1 hours.</p>
<p>The U.S. <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/us-solar-power-capacity-soars-reflecting-35-yoy-rise" target="_blank" rel="noopener">installed</a> 6.5 GW<sub>dc</sub> of solar power project capacity in Q3 2023, a 35% year-over-year increase, according to a recent by Wood Mackenzie and Solar Energy Industries Association.</p>


US Installs Record 7.3 GWh Energy Storage Capacity in Q3 2023


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					</table><p>Edinburgh-based storage startup <a href="https://gravitricity.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gravitricity</a> has secured £194,000 ($233,174) from the United Kingdom government to find demonstration sites in India suitable for their gravity energy storage technology.</p>
<p>The project aims to identify how gravity energy storage can help decarbonize one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.</p>
<p>Gravitricity says its systems can operate for up to 50 years and efficiently store energy at half the cost of popular lithium-ion batteries.</p>
<p>The company’s energy storage system works by raising heavy weights up to 12,000 tons in a deep shaft using electricity from renewable energy when it is being generated.</p>
<p>When renewable energy generation dies down during the 24-hour daily cycle, the shaft is released to convert potential energy into electricity, solving the intermittent nature of clean power.</p>
<p>The Edinburgh firm has partnered with India energy specialists <a href="https://www.panitek.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Panitek Power</a>, which will work with local partners on the 12-month project to identify and shortlist sites for a demonstration.</p>
<p>India has set a target to install over 500 GW of renewables by 2030. The country requires a rapid increase in the installation of renewable energy, which brings the need also to store this energy and ensure optimum utilization.</p>
<p>Solar integrated with energy storage systems are ideally suited to India’s fast-evolving grid.</p>
<p>Chris Yendell, Project Development Manager at Gravitricity, said: “Solar power is extremely cheap in such a sunny country but brings with it a need for energy storage to meet peak morning and evening demand, both of which typically occur during the hours of darkness…With the introduction of renewable energy generation at this scale, new flexible storage services will be essential to ensure the grid continues to operate in a stable manner.”</p>
<p>“It is also a relatively simple technology. It doesn’t rely on any rare earth metals and has a very long lifespan, meaning it can be manufactured and deployed locally alongside vast amounts of new grid infrastructure, which will also be required to meet the rapid growth in demand,” Yendell said.</p>
<p>“India has an immediate and growing need for energy storage technologies,” Parag Vyas, Chief Commercial Officer, Panitek Power, said.</p>
<p>Vyas said there was little or no grid at many locations in the country, which calls for an integrated energy storage solution within their evolving infrastructure to cope with the intermittent generation.</p>
<p>He said Gravitricity’s technology, which has a response time of less than one second and can be cycled thousands of times, is ideally suited for grid balancing and rapid frequency response services.</p>
<p>Industry experts speaking at a recent webinar hosted by Mercom India <a href="https://mercomindia.com/battery-storage-system-costs-high-roi-attractive-mercom-webinar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the steep upfront investment required for lithium-ion battery storage systems is the major impediment in their large-scale deployment with solar projects, even though the return on investment is attractive.</p>
<p>In April, NTPC <a href="https://mercomindia.com/daily-news-wrap-up-ntpc-signs-mou-energy-storage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entered</a> into an agreement with Energy Vault Holdings to collaborate and formalize a long-term strategic partnership to deploy Energy Vault’s EVx gravity-based energy storage technology and software solutions based on the outcome of a joint feasibility study.</p>


Storage Startup Gravitricity Secures £194,000 for Tech Demonstration in India

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