Energy storage news: 10.09.14

This week’s energy storage news headlines from our Twitter feed.

• NEC Energy Solutions will supply a large utility in California with a 3.9MWh lithium-ion battery-based grid energy storage system.

• ABB and BYD have announced a global energy storage collaboration, which will focus on electric vehicle charging, on- and off-grid renewable energy storage, batteries and marine energy storage.

• Cigarette butts are better than carbon and graphene nanotubes for energy storage, according to researchers at Seoul National University in South Korea.

• WiTriCity plans to dramatically increase its electric vehicle wireless charging power transfer potential.

• ZEN Energy Systems of Australia has received an AUD$200,000 Adelaide state grant for energy storage research and development.

• The process of lithium plating taking place during the charging of lithium-ion batteries has been observed by scientists at Technische Universität München, Germany.

• Meanwhile, researchers at Ohio State University have tracked the flow of lithium atoms in and out of a battery’s electrode, using a neutron beam.

• NY-BEST is hosting a manufacturing round table entitled ‘Current State of Energy Storage Technologies and Market Opportunities’ in Long Island, New York on 17 September.

• London is introducing wireless charging for some of its 800 double-decker hybrid electric buses.

• Hawaiian Electric is considering renewable energy storage projects for Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Hawaii Island.

• In August, the Nissan Leaf broke the US record for monthly sales of a pure electric vehicle model.

• Penn State scientists have developed a method to produce consistently high quality synthetic graphene.

• The Energy Collective looks at how utilities could change to overcome disruption caused by solar energy storage.

• Electric vehicle batteries may last much longer than previously thought, according to CleanTechnica.

• Mahindra REVA has upgraded its e2o electric car for the market in India.

• Green Automotive Company is ceasing its UK operations and restructuring its electric vehicle business, as a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation under the UK’s Insolvency Act.

• The world’s first electric car ferry, a Norled ZeroCat, will be delivered to Norway on 17 October.

• Simbol Materials is extracting lithium from a geothermal power plant at Salton Sea, California.

• A new Rocky Mountain Institute project will focus on reducing the balance-of-system costs for battery energy storage.

• Greentech Media takes a look at ViZn, the zinc-iron flow battery storage start-up company, and S&C Electric Company.

• Government incentives for electric vehicles in the Netherlands mean that a Nissan Leaf can be bought for about EUR€7,450 and an e-NV200 for €4,950.

• EnerG2 and Battery Innovation Center are collaborating on the development of portable battery prototypes which have lithium metal oxide cathodes and silicon carbon composite anodes.

• Airbus is funding research in South Africa into the potential of using hydrogen fuel cells in commercial aircraft to replace auxiliary power units.

• Lithium-ion battery revenues will quadruple by 2020, according to a new report by Frost & Sullivan, boosted by grid and renewable energy storage.

• A Cleantech Energy Storage Finance Forum will be held at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center in Boston on 18 September.

• Forbes assesses a UBS report, suggesting that the convergence of solar, battery energy storage and electric vehicles presents a huge and revolutionising opportunity.

• The debate about the best energy storage technology is misguided, says Resource Investor.

• Readers of Energy Storage Report can get a 20% discount on tickets for European Utility Week 2014, which has a major focus on energy storage this year.