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					</table><p>Gurgaon-based energy solutions provider <a href="https://www.luminousindia.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqNHVnYSkhSVvk_MPfBviv-AvQtgbCDVUdsfrLueNjGmrpoSTJe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Luminous Power Technologies</a> has inaugurated its first lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery assembly line at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.</p>
<p>The automated assembly line has an annual capacity of 500 MWh and can manufacture Li-ion battery packs for residential, commercial &amp; industrial (C&amp;I) storage, stationary battery energy storage systems (BESS), and e-rickshaw applications, with pack sizes ranging from 1.2 kWh to 16 kWh and system scalability up to 1 MWh.</p>
<p>The facility integrates robotic automation, precision manufacturing, and end-to-end digital traceability aligned with Battery Aadhaar norms, strengthening quality, safety, and regulatory compliance.</p>
<p>The new assembly line will play a critical enabling role by supporting renewable energy storage, reducing carbon emissions through electric vehicles and grid applications, improving manufacturing efficiency through automation, and supporting circular economy practices through recycling and reuse of battery components.</p>
<p>Rajiv Ganju, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Global Supply Chain at Luminous Power Technologies, said the Li-ion battery assembly line strengthens the company’s integrated manufacturing and global supply chain capabilities, while reinforcing its focus on localization and future-ready operations.</p>
<p>According to an International Renewable Energy Agency report, Li-ion batteries <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/sodium-ion-to-set-to-surge-but-still-a-sidekick-to-lithium-by-2030-irena" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dominate</a> today because of their long service life, high energy density, high efficiency, and fast power delivery. However, rising demand has raised concerns about the availability and affordability of the critical materials used to manufacture these batteries. Supply disruptions in 2021 and 2022 and geopolitical tensions intensified concerns about the resilience and cost of lithium-ion batteries.</p>
<p>Earlier, Luminous Power Technologies had <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/luminous-solar-facility-uttarakhand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inaugurated</a> a 250 MW solar module manufacturing facility in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. The fully automated 10-acre plant, built with an initial investment of ₹1.2 billion (~$14.4 million), is expandable to 1 GW. The launch marked a strategic shift for Luminous, moving from being just a maker of solar inverters and batteries to manufacturing solar modules.</p>


Luminous Enters Li-ion Battery Manufacturing with 500 MWh Assembly Line


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					</table><p>The global lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery industry is at an inflection point characterized by rapid demand growth, falling prices, technological advancements, and intensifying global competition, according to a report published by <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">McKinsey &amp; Company</a>.</p>
<p>The demand for Li-ion batteries crossed 1 TWh in 2024 and reached nearly 1.6 TWh in 2025. However, at the moment, the industry is grappling with significant overcapacity, which was around 900 GWh in 2025, especially in Asia.</p>
<p>Significant manufacturing overcapacity in Asia has pushed battery prices to historic lows, with prices falling to around $108/kWh in 2025.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-89269 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New.png" alt="" width="648" height="556" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New.png 648w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-300x257.png 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-624x535.png 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-600x515.png 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 648px) 100vw, 648px" /></a>Looking ahead, the global battery market is expected to grow to about 4.2 TWh by 2030 and 6.8 TWh by 2035, with Li-ion technologies accounting for more than 85% of demand.</p>
<p>Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries are projected to gain market share due to their lower cost and safety, especially in the electric vehicle (EV) market and battery energy storage systems (BESS), while Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) chemistries will remain important for long-range vehicles.</p>
<p><strong>Rise of Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries</strong></p>
<p>The report forecasts that the LFP battery market share will reach 49% in the European Union in 2030 and 52% in 2035, with North America at 47% in 2030 and 49% in 2035.</p>
<p>According to the report, LFP batteries are expected to expand their market share due to their low cost, safety, and suitability for mass-market EVs and energy storage, while NMC chemistries will remain essential for long-range and premium vehicles. Incremental improvements—such as higher silicon content in anodes, better electrolytes, and safer separators.</p>
<p>Emerging technologies like sodium-ion and solid-state batteries show promise but are unlikely to displace conventional Li-ion batteries at scale. LFP batteries are expected to expand their market share due to their low cost, safety, and suitability for mass-market EVs and energy storage, while NMC chemistries will remain essential for long-range and premium vehicles.</p>
<p><strong>Key to Survival of Li-ion Batteries</strong></p>
<p>In 2025, Li-ion battery pack prices fell by 8%, continuing their downward trajectory after a 20% reduction in 2024. This drop indicates that competition and margins are tightening as the global battery supply significantly exceeds demand.</p>
<p>Going forward, costs are expected to remain relatively stable, possibly even rising slightly, as continued technological improvements are balanced by a gradual rebound in material prices.</p>
<p>The cost of four-hour Li-ion battery systems could <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/li-ion-battery-prices-could-drop-to-108-kwh-in-2050-nrel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decline</a> from $334/kWh in 2024 to as low as $108/kWh or remain as high as $307/kWh by 2050, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.</p>
<p><strong>Emerging Regions</strong></p>
<p>Europe and the U.S. are emerging as the two regions that must significantly accelerate efforts to build competitive battery industries. Although Asian producers, especially China, currently dominate global battery supply chains, both Europe and North America are pushing to localize production.</p>
<p>In Europe, the Green Deal Industrial Plan and the Critical Raw Materials Act aim to ensure that by 2030 at least 40% of clean-technology needs are met domestically. To achieve global competitiveness, Europe will need to invest an estimated €300 billion (~$348.66 billion) by 2035 across the full battery value chain.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-1.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-89271 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-1.png" alt="" width="751" height="547" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-1.png 751w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-1-300x219.png 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-1-650x473.png 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-1-624x454.png 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/McKinsey-Report-New-1-600x437.png 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 751px) 100vw, 751px" /></a></p>
<p>The U.S. is pursuing a parallel path, largely driven by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  Although the federal EV purchase tax credit expired in 2025, the IRA’s Section 45X production credit of $35/kWh remains a powerful incentive, reducing battery cell manufacturing costs by nearly 50%.</p>
<p>Both regions face structural challenges due to imbalanced supply chains, particularly in midstream activities such as anode graphite and cathode precursor production, where the EU and US each account for less than 10% of global capacity.</p>
<p><strong>BESS to the Fore</strong></p>
<p>Beyond EVs, the report places strong emphasis on the rapid growth of BESS. As renewable energy generation increases, grid-scale storage is becoming essential for balancing supply and demand. The report notes that while battery chemistry is important for BESS, project economics depend more on system design, regulatory frameworks, and revenue mechanisms such as energy arbitrage and ancillary services.</p>
<p>McKinsey estimates that total installed BESS capacity will reach 200 GWh by the end of 2025 and will likely reach between 500 GWh and 700 GWh by 2030. In the U.S., 2025 is expected to be another record year for BESS capacity additions. Increasing data center power demand due to growth in AI and cloud computing is catalyzing BESS installations.</p>
<p>Europe has a BESS project pipeline of about 60 GWh by 2030, but it lags behind the storage volumes needed to balance renewable growth.</p>
<p>According to an Ember report, the capital cost for long-duration (4 hours or more) utility-scale BESS in markets outside China and the U.S. <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/long-duration-utility-scale-bess-project-cost-drops-to-125-kwh-ember" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reached</a> roughly $125/kWh by October 2025. Such reductions translate into a levelized cost of storage of $65/MWh for large, contracted projects.</p>
<p><strong>Technology Outlook</strong></p>
<p>LFP batteries are expected to dominate short- to medium-duration storage, with sodium-ion batteries emerging as a lower-cost option for stationary applications.</p>
<p>By 2035, the BESS market is likely to be segmented by use-case and duration. LFP is expected to remain the prime option for up to 6-hour systems due to its cost, safety, and reliability. Also, sodium-ion batteries may offer a low-cost alternative to Li-ion batteries.</p>


Global Battery Demand Soars, but Margins Tighten on Overcapacity


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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

<p>A group of scientists from the <a href="https://www.qut.edu.au/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">QUT Center for Materials Science</a> in Australia has proposed the design of a new carbon nanostructure made from diamond nano threads (DNT) that could be used for mechanical energy storage, wearable technologies, and biomedical applications.</p>
<p>Led by Dr. Haifei Zhan, the team has successfully modeled the mechanical energy storage and release capabilities of a diamond nano thread (DNT) bundle.  A DNT bundle is a collection of ultra-thin one-dimensional carbon threads that can store energy when twisted or stretched.</p>
<p>Dr. Zhan said, “Similar to a compressed coil or children’s wind-up toy, energy can be released as the twisted bundle unravels.”</p>
<p>“If you can make a system to control the power supplied by the nano thread bundle, it would be a safer and more stable energy storage solution for many applications,” he added.</p>
<p>Talking about the chemical storage systems, Dr. Zhan said that at high temperatures, the chemical storage systems can explode or can become non-responsive at low temperatures.</p>
<p>“These can also leak upon failure, causing chemical pollution,” he added.</p>
<p>Explaining the mechanical energy storage systems, Dr. Zhan said, “Mechanical energy storage systems don’t have these risks, so make them more suited to potential applications within the human body. Carbon nano thread bundles could be made into twist-spun yarn-based artificial muscles that respond to electrical, chemical, or photonic excitations.”</p>
<p>According to the press release, the research team found that the nano-thread bundle’s energy density was 1.76 MJ per kilogram, which was 4-5 orders higher than a conventional steel spring, and up to three times higher compared to Li-ion batteries.</p>
<p>Dr. Zhan said, “The nano-thread bundles could be used in next-generation power transmission lines, aerospace electronics, and field emission, batteries, intelligent textiles and structural composites such as building materials.”</p>
<p>Research findings were published by Nature Communications in the paper ‘Ultra-High Density Mechanical Energy Storage with Carbon Nano thread Bundle’ and form the basis of Dr. Zhan’s ARC Discovery project – ‘A Novel Multilevel Modelling Framework to Design Diamond Nano thread Bundles.’</p>
<p>Dr. Zhan and his research team would spend the next two to three years building the control mechanism for the system to store energy – the system which controls twisting and stretching of the nano thread bundle stated the press release.</p>
<p>The International Renewable Energy Agency (IREA) recently published a <a href="https://mercomindia.com/energy-storage-emerging-markets-irena/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> showing how electricity storage technologies can be used for several applications in the power sector, ranging from e-mobility and behind-the-meter (BTM) applications to utility-scale.  According to the study, utility-scale batteries can enable a greater feed-in of renewables into the grid by firming renewable energy output, previously reported by Mercom.</p>


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