Energy Storage

IDTechEx forecast Li-ion demand to grow almost 10-fold from 2020-2030, but can supply meet this demand? Automotive manufacturers the world over are pledging to electrify their fleets.

An increasing number of news articles about "Redox Flow Batteries" are present on the web. This technology, mostly adopted in on-grid and off-grid applications, has been studied for the last 50 years, and it is currently being commercialized (most of the time) in a containerized size, for medium- and large-scale applications.

The pandemic infection of COVID-19 has led to the lockdown of a considerable number of cities, leading to reduced pollution activity. With the large number of renewable energy sources employed in the last decades to decarbonise the energy sector, a growing number of energy storage devices have been coupled with renewable energy sources.

In 2020 vessel owners have had to deal with an 'emissions control world' for the first time. Unlike most other mobility sectors, which predominantly tend to switch partly or completely to a traction battery in order to meet emissions targets, a mixture of solutions have a role to play for boats and ships.

The redox flow battery market is growing. After more than 40 years of research, and 20 years of testing and demonstration projects, the flow batteries are now technologically ready to compete on the energy storage market. With a forecasted CAGR of 30% in the next years, this technology is looking to have all the characteristics to address each segment of the energy storage market, from residential to grid scale application.

Electrics and robotics squares the circle of seeking a wider variety of depleting materials in nastier, more remote places from the seafloor to four kilometres underground, up remote mountains and later outer space. Zero-emission microgrids on-site, sensors everywhere and new information and communications technology lubricate the process.

The electric vehicle market is growing rapidly, and with it the demand for fast charging, increased energy density and improved safety. Something that all these areas have in common is heat. Charging a battery quickly generates a lot of heat, with the extra energy capacity of modern and upcoming electric vehicle batteries, extracting this heat becomes more challenging.

The EV market is booming. The battery is a key feature for both cost and performance, the chemistry and cell levels are extensively discussed. However, everything else that goes into a pack is often overlooked.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Wednesday 25 March 2020 titled Electric Vans: The Time is Now.

Historically, growth in the Li-ion battery market has been due to consumer electronics. Moving forward, Li-ion battery demand will be driven by growth in electric vehicle adoption, which has grown steadily over the last 10 years. Subsidies in countries such as Norway and China, especially, have encouraged EV sales.