Tesla turns to Australian company to secure material for its EVs
Electric vehicle giant Tesla has inked an offtake deal with Australian miner Syrah Resources to supply battery-ready graphite as concerns over raw materials shortages continue.
Weekend read: Indium – sustainability, not supply
The supply of indium, both for layers in silicon solar cells and some thin-film PV technologies, is increasingly seen as a future potential bottleneck that solar and other industries relying on the material will have to manage. Resolving indium supply concerns may be a case of rethinking mining waste and recycling, reports Ian Morse.
Modelling finds building with WA company’s solar windows nearly eliminate operational emissions
Western Australian solar window company ClearVue says it has proven its products can reduce buildings’ carbon emissions by as much as 90%, qualifying the technology for the world’s most comprehensive future building standards for energy performance.
Improving compressed air energy storage efficiency via chemical reactions
Scientists in the United States have proposed to use a thermochemical energy storage (TCES) technique that stores energy in chemical bonds to recover the heat produced during air compression operations. According to them, this innovation may increase the round-trip efficiency of compressed air energy storage to 60%.
US scientists explore how to compensate battery owners for grid value
Current price signals to distributed battery owners “do not align with grid value,” says a study from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.
Utility scale ocean battery, a bedfellow for floating PV
A new underwater battery storage technology is coming from Netherlands-based Ocean Grazer to address the issue of offshore long-duration storage. The company’s Ocean Battery is touted as innovative yet simple, based on existing technology, and capable of enhancing marine life along the way.
Goldman Sachs invests $250 million in Hydrostor to advance compressed air energy storage projects
The investment is planned to support development and construction of Hydrostor’s 1.1GW, 8.7GWh of Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage projects that are well underway in California and Australia, and help expand Hydrostor’s project development pipeline globally.
Enphase acquires ClipperCreek to enter the EV charging market
The completed acquisition of ClipperCreek launches Enphase Energy into the fast-growing market for electric vehicle charging systems.
Cash for Christmas – Spark Infrastructure sale finalised in $5.2b all-cash transaction
Following approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board in November, the long-awaited sale of grid-operator Spark Infrastructure to a North American consortium led by private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has been completed via a $5.2 billion “all-cash transaction”.
BHP looks to use 35-tonne blocks to store renewable energy for its WA operations
An agreement with Energy Vault may see resource company BHP stack 35-tonne blocks to store wind and solar energy in the Pilbara, northern Western Australia.
