Energy storage technical solutions
By Thomas Briére
With the emergency of global warming becoming a reality and political speeches highlighting the importance of taking strong measures to fight this major issue of our century, green or cleantech technologies are experiencing very strong growth and are very targeted by investors. As global demand for electricity continues to increase, particularly driven by emerging countries, it is essential to develop ever more renewable capacity to power homes, industry and even transport. However, the intermittent nature of renewable energies such as wind or sun is a real obstacle to the net-zero ambitions set by many countries. This is why the race to develop energy storage is on and many players have emerged in recent years. The potential of these technologies is immense, and they appear crucial to decarbonize our societies. The ever-increasing deployment of renewable electricity generation capacity has ushered in a new industrial revolution. This must lead to the creation of a completely new part of the economy in order to exploit the full potential of energy production from renewable resources.
Batteries
A solution to the intermittent nature of renewable energies
The most fervent critics of renewable energies blame them for their intermittent nature. Battery manufacturing aims precisely to remedy this disadvantage. It is true that solar panels cannot produce electricity at night or in bad weather. Wind turbines also do not work in the absence of wind or too violent weather conditions. On the other hand, when sunshine and wind conditions are idyllic and electricity consumption needs are lower than the power produced by renewable power plants, this excess production is lost because electricity cannot be stored. This is the challenge and the essential role that batteries can play in the future. Thus, more and more solar or wind power plant projects are accompanied by the construction of a battery storage station like the French producer Neoen and its 5 batteries in operation or under construction in Australia. The deployment of batteries for storing electricity can also play a role in stabilizing the electricity grid in the event of production difficulties. But above all, these storage capacities can further increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix by preventing the consumption of fossil energy during periods of low energy production from renewable resources.
A way to decarbonise the transport sector
But batteries are also going to have a huge impact in the transport sector. With the development of electric vehicles (EVs), batteries will play a major role in the expansion of this mode of transport. Whether it is the legacy manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Stellantis or the Renault-Nissan alliance who are looking to convert their vehicles to all-electric, or exclusively dedicated players such as Tesla or Polestar, we are witnessing a radical change in the automotive sector. The latter requires the manufacture of batteries in order to conserve the electricity injected into the vehicle to move it forward. In Europe, major manufacturers, mainly car producers, are joining forces with start-ups to develop gigafactories such as Volkswagen with Sweden's Northvolt or Renault with the French start-up Verkor. Across Europe, no less than 20 gigafactory projects will see the light of day in the coming years. But the electric battery market is largely dominated by China, with more than 75% market share. In addition, the main battery manufacturers are Chinese like CATL and BYD. This is because China controls the supply chain by having privileged access to the metals needed for manufacturing. Finally, the Chinese market is huge, which is a definite advantage. In general, the main battery suppliers are Asian with South Korea's LG Energy Solution, SK and Samsung, and Japanese with Panasonic.
New technological solutions
Electric battery design remains highly dependent on the supply of strategic metals including lithium, cobalt, manganese and nickel. We are witnessing a real race to source these metals, which will inevitably lead to a significant increase in their price. In addition, the environmental impact of extracting these metals raises questions, as does the environmental impact of recycling batteries when they reach the end of their life. Start-ups such as Vulcan Energy, which seeks to decarbonize lithium extraction, or Redwood Materials in the reuse of components from used batteries are positioning themselves in this extremely buoyant market. It should also be noted that the increase in the number of electric vehicles will necessarily be accompanied by the deployment of charging stations. This is again an extremely dynamic market with the arrival of new players, both small start-ups such as Danish Monta or car manufacturers themselves such as Tesla, which has already deployed thousands of charging stations in many countries.
Hydrogen
An opportunity to decarbonise energy-intensive industries
Beyond electrochemical storage of energy via batteries is also emerging molecular storage through hydrogen. Hydrogen has been used for decades in particular in the chemical industry (especially the production of fertilizers) and refining. However, current hydrogen production is largely derived from fossil resources whose costs are much lower than production from renewable sources. For the use of hydrogen to participate fully in the energy transition, its production must come from renewable energy. Indeed, so-called green hydrogen is obtained by a process of electrolysis of water molecule powered by energy from renewable sources such as the sun, wind or even nuclear for some countries. A French start-up, Lhyfe, has already set up a production plant powered by nearby wind farms. Many countries, including emerging countries such as Chile or Namibia, have announced agreements with international industrialists and producers to develop green hydrogen production projects sometimes worth billions of dollars.
The advantages of green hydrogen
Hydrogen is considered an "energy carrier" because it can be stored, transported and used in energy production. Hydrogen is a very light gas but occupies a large space. In order to overcome this problem, it is necessary to find technical processes to compress hydrogen in order to have storage means of smaller sizes. Hydrogen can therefore be stored in tanks or cylinders and then transported by road or rail. It can also be used to power fuel cells found in hydrogen cars, such as those developed by Toyota, which emit only water vapor. Hydrogen can also be stored in liquid form, but this process is still very expensive and complex. Finally, the transformation of hydrogen into ammonia is also a promising solution. Indeed, ammonia can be used to replace heavy fuel oil, particularly used in maritime transport, or be transformed into fertilizer. Nowadays, hydrogen is mainly produced near its place of consumption. But with the future development of this sector, the need to transport production will increase considerably, hence the importance of lowering the costs of the compression process and financing specific transport infrastructures (also adapting gas pipelines to the transport of hydrogen).
A new industry with strong cooperation and competition challenges
Here again, many countries are looking to take the lead in developing the green hydrogen industry for both electrolyzers and fuel cells. National and even European-wide plans have been put in place to support the development of hydrogen. It should also be noted that new hydrogen transport infrastructures are being developed, such as the BarMa hydrogen pipeline linking Barcelona to Marseille in order to supply the hydrogen that will be produced in Spain to the rest of Europe. The issue of reconditioning gas pipelines into hydrogen pipelines is also a feasible option to build the transport infrastructure necessary for the large-scale deployment of hydrogen, with energy sovereignty issues in mind.
With the return of energy to the centre of geopolitical issues following the war in Ukraine and the ever-increasing competition for technological leadership, the hydrogen sector will play a leading role in the years to come. Investments and projects will multiply in order to produce green hydrogen, which will necessarily have to be accompanied by an increase in renewable capacities. In addition, investments in research to rationalize and industrialize hydrogen storage and transport processes will be necessary to lower costs and make this technology competitive with fossil fuels. States and industrialists have understood this and the race to develop hydrogen is on.
Sources:
European Commission. (2023). Energy storage. European Commission website. https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/research-and-technology/energy-storage_en#euinitiatives-on-batteries EDF. (2023).
Tout savoir sur le stockage de l’électricité. https://particulier.edf.fr/fr/accueil/guide-energie/electricite/stockage-energieelectricite.html Diplomatie GD. (2023), Géopolitique des énergies. Les grands dossiers de diplomatie N°72