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The U.S. Department of Energy is funding the development of advanced lithium- ion battery technology for energy-storage applications after showering hundreds of millions of dollars on providers of the same technology for use in electric vehicles.
Some companies, including A123 Systems Inc. (AONE) and Ener1 Inc. (HEV), have been on the receiving end of cost-sharing grants of both DOE programs. Under the $620 million awards for smart-grid demonstration and energy storage projects announced last month, these companies and other lithium-ion battery technology developers will work with utilities to deploy batteries at a utility scale to manage peak demand and smooth power fluctuations from renewable sources such as wind and solar.
Lithium-ion technology, widely used in cellular telephones and laptop computers, has yet to be proven as a storage of energy at larger scale. But utilities are investing alongside the government because they see potential in lithium-ion batteries' high power density and energy density. Energy density is a ratio of the amount of energy stored compared to battery weight, and power density is a ratio of the amount of power delivered compared to a battery's weight.
"The higher energy and power density, speed and accuracy of response to control signals, capability for rapid dynamic oscillation between charge/ discharge, full access to charge/discharge range, and long calendar and cycle life make the imagined benefits of grid scale energy storage real," said Southern California Edison Co. in its project proposal, which Clean Technology Insight reviewed.
The DOE granted SCE, a unit of Edison International (EIX), $25 million toward a $53.5 million project that will use A123 Systems' batteries to improve grid performance and integrate its Tehachapi Wind Energy project in California into the electric supply. The project will design and build an eight-megawatt/four- hour lithium-ion battery system and smart inverter, and connect it to a SCE substation.
A123 Systems is also a partner in a DTE Energy Co. (DTE) project that received $5 million from the DOE to test the ability to integrate secondary-use electric vehicle batteries in a community-energy storage demonstration using solar power. Community energy storage consists of multiple small battery-based energy storage units connected to the utility transformers and controlled from a common remote control.
"A123 will be building a manufacturing plant in our service area, so they were natural partners for us," said Scott Simons, a spokesman for DTE Energy, in an interview with Clean Technology Insight.
DTE's project will cost an estimated $10.9 million and will install 20 community energy storage units of 25 kilowatt/two-hour each into a system that is integrated into the utility's 500-kilowatt capacity solar array at the Hydrogen Technology Park in Southfield, Mich., said Simons.
In early August, A123 Systems was awarded $249 million under the DOE's advanced battery and components manufacturing program to build its first large- scale manufacturing plant in the U.S. The company sealed its agreement with the state of Michigan last week to receive tax credits of up to $100 million over a four-year period to build its facility in the state.
Ener1, for its part, is supplying its lithium-ion batteries to a $177.6 million project managed by the Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest division, which was awarded nearly $89 million for five 1-MW power systems that will be used by Portland General Electric (POR) in a project to demonstrate and integrate new smart-grid technology, including storage.
Like A123, Ener1's primary market is the electric vehicle, but it won't shy away from supplying the utility-scale market.
"Utility-scale energy storage is a breakthrough market for Ener1," said Rachel Carroll, vice president of communications at Ener1, in an email. "The batteries that will be used in this project are exactly the same chemistry as the batteries Ener1 develops for plug-in hybrids. There is a natural synergy."
Ener1 also secured a $118.5 million cost-sharing grant under the DOE's funding program for advanced-battery technologies, which awarded $2.4 billion from the stimulus legislation money to 48 projects in August. Its battery subsidiary, EnerDel, is the supplier of Fisker Automotive Inc., a venture capital-backed start-up making plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. EnerDel is also supplying batteries to Norway's Think Global AS, which makes small, fully-electric vehicles, and for Volvo Car Corp.'s all-electric C30 city vehicle. Volvo Car Corp. is a unit of Ford Motor Co (F).
Another lithium-ion battery maker that benefited from the latest round of DOE grants is Seeo Inc., which is backed by Khosla Ventures. The start-up got half of the $12.4 million project cost to develop and deploy a 25-kilowatt-hour prototype system of batteries that use nanostructured polymer electrolytes instead of the more commonly used gel form or liquid electrolytes. Seeo didn't respond to an email seeking comment.
There could be more opportunities for lithium-ion manufacturers to join with utilities on DOE-funded projects. Duke Energy (DUK), for instance, hasn't yet selected the battery providers for its Notrees Wind storage project, which was granted $21.8 million from the DOE.
Duke spokesman Greg Efthimiou said in an email that the utility intends to employ multiple battery types to store wind-generated energy at the Texas-based wind farm, which calls for about 20 MW of storage capacity.
-By Mara Lemos Stein, Dow Jones Clean Technology Insight; 212-416-2017; mara.lemos-stein@dowjones.com | 
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发表于 2009-12-2 03:03 PM
