UPERC Clears 20 MW Floating Solar Project in Gorakhpur

Battery Material Company Astracite Raises $1.3 Million in Investments

RECPDCL Names Winner of 2 GW Transmission Project in Karnataka

Andhra Pradesh Floats Empanelment Tender for Rooftop Solar Projects

CERC Rejects Wind Developer’s Force Majeure Claim in 200 MW SECI Project

MSP Steel to Procure Power from Elevate Solar’s 10 MW Project

KREDL Invites Bids for 450 MW/900 MWh Battery Storage Projects

Mongolia Invites Bids for 110 MW Solar, 188 MWh Storage Systems

BEE Extends Solar Module Star Ratings Until December 31, 2026

Karnataka High Court Quashes KERC’s Captive Status Verification Procedure


					<table id="amazon-polly-audio-table">
						<tr>
						<td id="amazon-polly-audio-tab">
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-label">Listen to this article</div>
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-container">
			<audio class="amazon-ai-player" id="amazon-ai-player" preload="none" controls   controlsList="nodownload" >
				<source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/amazon_polly_96107.mp3?version=1780982315">
			</audio>
		</div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-subscribe-tab"></div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-by-tab"></div>
						</td>
						</tr>
					</table><p>Researchers have commissioned an advanced prismatic battery cell production line at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (<a href="https://www.energy.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOE</a>) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (<a href="https://www.pnnl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PNNL</a>). The production line consists of 16 pieces of equipment across a 1,400 sq. ft laboratory space.</p>
<p>PNNL said the prismatic cell line will allow researchers to test emerging energy storage technologies that may support grid operations. The line is housed in a dry lab because small amounts of water can damage battery materials.</p>
<p>“With the new prismatic line, we can create, test, and demonstrate real-world prismatic cells at an industrially relevant scale. This helps our researchers bridge the gap between science and industry,” said Adam Jivelekas, Operations Manager at DOE’s Grid Storage Launchpad, which is operated by PNNL and funded by DOE’s Office of Electricity. “We can help external researchers or industry partners test and validate their prismatic cell designs.”</p>
<p>The prismatic line completed testing in February, and researchers are finalizing operating procedures before using it in a project intended to validate its efficacy.</p>
<p>Prismatic cells are rectangular and shaped like a conventional 9-volt battery, but larger. PNNL said these cells are built with heavier metal casings, making them less prone to overheating.</p>
<p>Mark Weller, a materials scientist at PNNL and principal investigator on the project, said metal conducts heat better than other materials, allowing heat to escape the battery more easily.</p>
<p>The rectangular shape also allows prismatic cells to be stacked efficiently, fitting more cells into a smaller space than cylindrical cells. At the pack level, efficient packing provides higher energy density and makes prismatic cells attractive for grid applications.</p>
<p>Better heat transport, mechanical uniformity, and efficient packing can translate to higher safety and lower cost.</p>
<p>PNNL aims to demonstrate to potential partners that the line can consistently produce high-quality prismatic cells for various applications. Weller said coin cells require a few milligrams of material, while prismatic cells require at least a kilogram. Battery chemistries that perform well in coin cells may not perform as well in prismatic cells after scaling.</p>
<p>The researchers selected sodium-ion and lithium iron phosphate chemistries for the initial prismatic cells. Sodium could replace lithium in grid energy storage systems because it is more abundant on Earth than lithium. Lithium-iron-phosphate also relies on more abundant materials and tends to be safer.</p>
<p>Researchers will produce the two prismatic cell types and test their performance and safety under varying conditions.</p>
<p>Weller said the tests will establish baselines that PNNL can share with potential collaborators, along with its process and capabilities for testing other chemistries.</p>
<p>The Grid Storage Launchpad team plans to work with private battery companies seeking to test their chemistries in a prismatic cell format.</p>
<p>In 2024, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/chemical-water-treatment-iron-based-flow-batteries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repurposed</a> nitrogenous triphosphate, or nitrilotrimethyl phosphonic acid, which is commonly used in water treatment facilities, for large-scale battery energy storage.</p>
<p>Prismatic cells are increasingly used to manufacture high-density battery packs because of their design.</p>
<p>This January, lithium-ion battery solutions provider Nash Energy <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/nash-energy-commissions-2-gwh-battery-pack-manufacturing-line-in-karnataka?" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commissioned</a> a 2 GWh fully automated prismatic battery pack manufacturing line at Dobbspet, near Bengaluru.</p>


US Commissions Prismatic Cell Line to Test Grid Storage Technologies


					<table id="amazon-polly-audio-table">
						<tr>
						<td id="amazon-polly-audio-tab">
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-label">Listen to this article</div>
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-container">
			<audio class="amazon-ai-player" id="amazon-ai-player" preload="none" controls   controlsList="nodownload" >
				<source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/amazon_polly_64852.mp3?version=1711601770">
			</audio>
		</div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-subscribe-tab"></div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-by-tab"></div>
						</td>
						</tr>
					</table><p>Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (<a href="https://www.energy.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOE</a>) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have repurposed nitrogenous triphosphate or nitrilotri-methylphosphonic acid (NTMPA), which is commonly used in water treatment facilities, for large-scale battery energy storage.</p>
<p>In the study published in the <em>Nature Communications</em> journal, the researchers said their lab-scale, iron-based battery exhibited remarkable cycling stability over 1,000 consecutive charging cycles while maintaining 98.7% of its maximum capacity.</p>
<p>Since the 1980s, iron-based flow batteries have been conventionally used for large-scale energy storage and are currently commercially viable. However, the researchers developed a method to store energy in a unique liquid chemical formula that combines charged iron with a neutral-pH phosphate-based liquid electrolyte or energy carrier.</p>
<p>In addition to enabling a pathway for a safe, economical, water-based flow battery made with earth-abundant materials, this discovery also offers a way to incorporate intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar energy into the electric grid.</p>
<p>City planners face consumer safety concerns as grid operators attempt to locate battery energy storage systems near energy consumers in urban and suburban areas. This new aqueous flow battery reported in the study could alleviate those concerns.</p>
<p>Flow batteries consist of two chambers, each filled with a different liquid, and the batteries charge through an electrochemical reaction and store energy in chemical bonds. Connection to an external circuit causes them to release that energy, which can further power electrical devices.</p>
<p>As they can serve as backup generators for the electric grid, flow batteries remain one of the key pillars of decarbonization strategies involving renewable energy storage.</p>
<p>According to the authors, a BESS facility using chemistry similar to what they have developed would have the added advantage of operating in water at neutral pH. Further, this newly developed system also uses commercially available reagents that haven’t been previously used or investigated for flow batteries.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Iron-based-Flow-Batteries.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-64854 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Iron-based-Flow-Batteries.png" alt="Iron-based Flow Batteries" width="423" height="238" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Iron-based-Flow-Batteries.png 423w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Iron-based-Flow-Batteries-300x169.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 423px) 100vw, 423px" /></a></p>
<p>The team’s initial design can reach the energy density of nearly 9 watt-hours per liter (Wh/L). At 25 Wh/L, vanadium-based systems are more than twice energy dense in comparison. While higher energy density batteries can store more energy in smaller square footage, a system fashioned out of earth-abundant materials could be scaled to provide the same energy output.</p>
<p>The team is now looking to improve battery performance by focusing on ion aspects, such as voltage output and electrolyte concentration, to increase energy density. The team has identified their voltage output to be lower than the typical vanadium flow battery output and is currently attempting to improve that.</p>
<p>The efforts to scale this up will also happen at a new facility called the Grid Storage Launchpad, which will open up in PNNL this year and is aimed at accelerating the development of future flow battery technologies.</p>
<p>Last year, researchers at the same laboratory said they <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/common-food-and-next-generation-flow-battery-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discovered</a> that a widely used food and medicine additive could significantly enhance the capacity and longevity of a next-generation flow battery design.</p>
<p>In March 2024, the U.S. energy storage market was <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/us-energy-storage-with-8-7-gw-nearly-doubling-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> to have experienced growth at a breakneck pace in 2023, as installations across all segments increased by 90% year-over-year as the country added 8.7 GW of new energy storage capacity.</p>


Chemical Used for Water Treatment Could Find Application in Iron-based Flow Batteries

pacific-northwest-national-laboratory

Get the most relevant India solar and clean energy news.

RECENT POSTS