StorageX Annual Conference Report

STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

COVER

STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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LEADERSHIP LETTER Stanford StorageX celebrated its first ever post-Covid in-person annual conference. In the two and half years since its launch, StorageX has grown to over 15 members, launched a world-class bi-weekly international symposium, supported over 15 projects, created a battery student club, and more. The annual conference was amazing, with a panel on the Circular Economy, Fast Charging, and Long Duration Storage. There were also lightning talks on current headline research at Stanford as well as energy storage start-up companies that have come out of Stanford. Finally, there was a fireside chat featuring Drew Baglino, Senior Vice President of Tesla. The full conference agenda and speakers and summaries of each panel discussion can be seen below. Thanks to our fabulous team of student writers, and of course the StorageX team including Kaylee Nguyen (Program Manager), David Boyle and Louisa Greenburg (co-Presidents of our Battery Student Club.) We look forward to growing our international community and establishing StorageX as an icon of energy storage.

STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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LEADERSHIP

Yi Cui Faculty Co-Director

Will Chueh Faculty Co-Director

Jimmy Chen Managing Director

REPORT WRITERS

Philaphon Sayavong PhD Candidate Department of Chemistry Stanford University

Sofia Catalina PhD Candidate Materials Science & Engineering Stanford University

Sang Cheol Kim PhD Candidate Materials Science & Engineering Stanford University

STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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Louisa Greenburg PhD Candidate Materials Science & Engineering Stanford University

STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE AGENDA May 3rd, 2022, 8:30AM - 6:30PM PST MacKenzie Room, Huang Engineering Center, Stanford University 8:30AM - 9:00AM

WELCOME PROFESSOR YI CUI, Director, Precourt Intitute for Energy PROFESSOR WILL CHUEH, Co-Director, StorageX Initiative

9:00AM - 10:15AM

PANEL 1: CIRCULAR ECONOMY / SUPPLY CHAIN Presenter: PROFESSOR WILL TARPEH, Stanford University Panelists: YUAN GAO, Board Director, Lithium Americas Corporation KERSTIN SCHIERLE-ARNDT, Vice President Research Inorganic Materials and Synthesis, BASF STEVEN CAI, CTO, Gotion VIVAS KUMAR, CEO & Co-Founder, Mitra Chem

10:15AM - 10:30AM

BREAK

10:30AM - 11:45AM

PANEL 2: CHARGING FOR MOBILITY Presenter: PROFESSOR YI CUI Moderator: PROFESSOR WILL CHUEH Panelists: JIM CUSHING, General Manager, Applied Materials MADHUR BOLOOR, Manager, Toyota HEINO SOMMER, Director of Development, CellForce Group IONEL STEFAN, CTO, Amprius

11:45AM - 1:00PM

LUNCH

1:00PM - 2:15PM

PANEL 3: LONG DURATION STORAGE Presenter: PROFESSOR ARUN MAJUMDAR, Jay Precourt Provostial Chair Professor, Stanford University Panelists: DAN REICHER, Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Woods Institute for Environment MATEO JARAMILLO, Co-founder & CEO, Form Energy ANDREW PONEC, Co-founder & CEO, Antora FONG WAN, Senior Vice President of Energy Policy & Procurement, PG&E CLYDE LOUTAN, Principal of Renewable Energy Integration, CAISO

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STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE AGENDA May 3rd, 2022, 8:30AM - 6:30PM PST MacKenzie Room, Huang Engineering Center, Stanford University 2:15PM - 3:45PM

STANFORD HEADLINE RESEARCH SLAC, Johanna Nelson Weker YI CUI LAB, Fang Liu BAO RESEARCH GROUP, Zhiao Yu SIMONA ONORI’S GROUP, Muhammad Aadil Khan TARPEH GROUP, Sam Bunke CHUEH GROUP, Grace Busse

3:45PM - 4:00PM

BREAK

4:00PM - 4:40PM

ENERGY STORAGE START-UPS NOON ENERGY - Ultra low-cost carbon battery for long-duration storage (LDS), Chris Graves, Founder & CEO BLUE CURRENT - Silicon Elastic composite solid-state battery, Ben Eiref, CEO AIONICS - AI/ML for discovering new materials, Austin Sendek, Co-Founder & CEO ENERVENUE - Ni-Hydrogen battery for LDS, Brad Dore, Senior Director of Marketing ANTHRO ENERGY- Novel safe polymer electrolyte, Joe Papp, CTO POSH ROBOTICS - Universal, scalable, and safe battery packs renewal, Wesley Zheng, Founder & CEO RENEWELL - Gravitational LDS, Kemp Gregory, Co-Founder and CEO

4:40PM - 5:10PM

FIRESIDE CHAT DREW BAGLINO, Senior Vice President, TESLA

4:45PM - 5:30PM

STUDENTS NETWORKING / RECRUITING

5:10PM - 6:30PM

GENERAL RECEPTION

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FIRESIDE CHAT WITH DREW BAGLINO

Moderated by Yi Cui and Will Chueh, StorageX Co-Faculty Directors The StorageX Initiative Annual Conference

goals in the next twenty years, an enormous

concluded with a Fireside Chat with Drew Bagliano

amount of growth in energy storage technologies,

(CTO, Tesla), Yi Cui (Director, Precourt Institute for

from basic science to mining and refining the raw

Energy, Stanford University), and William Chueh

materials to manufacturing battery cells to designing

(Associate Professor, Stanford University, Faculty

battery packs for safety and longevity. These areas

Director, Stanford StorageX Initiative). In this Fireside

of development are both broad and deep and will

Chat, these leaders and experts in the energy storage

require the partnership of academia, industry, and

field discussed the most exciting developments and

governmental and regulatory agencies to bring

the most pressing challenges to meeting a 300TWh

about this change. Yi Cui poses the question: How

energy storage goal and how academia and industry

can we scale up? Drew Bagliano has dedicated

can partner to accelerate an electrified clean energy

his career to the development of scalable battery

transition. The panelists emphasized how the future

technology, and as he describes the challenges the

of energy in the United States and beyond is one of

energy storage industry faces in the next twenty

innovation, technical challenges, and manufacturing

years, two words come up again and again: mining

complications. As the electrification of cars,

and refining. Current lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)

buildings, and the electric grid itself becomes

rely on a highly refined transition metal cathode,

paramount to addressing climate change, an

which introduces a massive challenge of mining

estimated 300-500 Terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy

and materials availability. Additionally, the graphite

storage is needed to account for the intermittency

anode and electrolyte originate from byproducts of

of renewable energy sources. The world’s current

petrochemical processes. Thus far, the acquisition

energy storage capacity is in the single digits of

of battery materials has occurred on the coattails of

Terawatt-hours. In order to reach the 300-500TWh

other materials industries.

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and industry partnerships in the often overlooked areas of mining and refining will be critical to the development of a dedicated battery supply chain.

Even with a reliable supply chain for the Li-ion battery chemistry, there are still abundance, cost, and ethical roadblocks to reach 300TWh of energy storage. As such, a “Lithium or bust” mindset may not be feasible, and the development of alternative chemistries is an exciting area of research. Sodiumion batteries (NIBs) are often considered as a sisterchemistry to lithium-ion batteries, as they also rely on the intercalation of the working ion into a carbon host structure. While they typically have higher cost and lower energy density, they also deliver better However, to continue with the exponential growth

safety and could reach similar performance to LIBs

of LIBs, the battery industry must develop its own

while using more abundantly available chemicals.

processes to source all of the components needed

Drew mentions that if NIB performance can rival

for scalable development. Drew describes the

LIB’s, then using the sodium-based chemistry for

battery raw materials supply chain as being the

grid-scale energy storage, where energy density is

fundamental bottleneck and biggest risk area.

not as critical, would greatly reduce the pressure

Without an independent supply of the necessary

put on the lithium industry. While not discussed

components to LIBs, further development will be

in depth in this session, the development of other

curtailed by materials availability. The critical

electrochemical energy storage devices such

issues of mining and refining battery materials

as metal-air batteries and flow batteries and of

also present exciting areas for development to

mechanical energy storage are additional cutting-

improve the way these raw materials are obtained.

edge areas of development. The energy storage

For example, lithium mining has many areas of

landscape of a 300TWh system will likely be greatly

improvement, including better ways to extract

varied, with many technologies meeting many

lithium from brines and water, more extensible

different use cases. Will Chueh noted that in his

resins for ion exchange membranes for purifying

tenure as a professor, he has seen the interests of

lithium, oil field lithium extraction, removing fossil

students transition from working on cool science to

fuel inputs from the lithium refining process, and

working on science that matters.

sequestering CO2 in the lithium extraction process.

There is extensive ground to cover, and academic STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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Thus the question was posed to Drew: What are

and industry providing high-quality, high-

the questions and capabilities that research

throughput energy storage design for reproducibility

universities can uniquely contribute? Drew notes

and performance. Concluding, the panelists agreed

that the problems that industry works on in their

that addressing big problems like global-scale

own research and development are not necessarily

electrification requires not only a cohesive effort

headline grabbing or flashy, but are still important

between academia, industry, and government,

problems. In industry, the problem might be one

but most importantly an understanding of the true

of ensuring an airtight seal over many years or

bottlenecks. To reach 300TWh of energy storage,

perfecting the performance of a pump. Engineering

major efforts in the mining and refining of lithium

issues like sealing, maintaining head pressure, and

ion battery components, developing alternative

materials swelling are important to confidently

battery chemistries, and commitment to working

establish the lifetime of batteries. Academia has the

together are necessary.

ability to accelerate the pace of iteration, enabling products to get better and costs to get lower over time. For example, FEA analysis done in academia has hugely improved the electric motor. Industry research and development can also greatly benefit from the investment of time, energy, and capital in analytical tools specifically built for the investigation of batteries and electrolyzers. In this way, academic and industry partnerships benefit both institutions and the energy storage community as a whole, academia providing scientific breakthroughs and detailed understandings of underlying mechanisms STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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PANEL 1: CIRCULAR ECONOMY / SUPPLY CHAIN The first panel of the StorageX Initiative Annual

heat to disintegrate the battery into its components.

Conference on the circular economy and supply

This method is easy to scale up, but has high

chain began with an opening talk by Prof. Will

energy demand, high cost and loss of metals.

Tarpeh. The Biden administration recently allocated

Hydrometallurgy uses aqueous solutions to separate

$3.16B to support the infrastructure of domestic

metals, which has high recovery rates and product

manufacturing and supply chain. As such, there is a

purity, but uses corrosive solutions that can cause

growing emphasis to build sustainable supply chains

environmental concerns. Direct recycling recovers

to keep pace with the growing battery industry.

materials without decomposition, which retains

However, currently 95% of lithium-ion batteries

the original structure and therefore can be cost

(LIBs) end up in the landfill, which can cause

effective, but also involves complicated separation

pollution issues and the loss of valuable metals such

and post-treatment processes. There are several

as lithium, cobalt and nickel. Recycling of metals is

start -up companies working on these various

especially important when the demand for lithium is

methods reinventing battery recycling to be more

expected to outpace the supply, and the gap needs

energy efficient and practical. After the opening talk,

to be filled through other means—one solution being

the first panel discussion with leaders in the battery

recycling. For example, we discovered that recycling

industry took place. Panelists included Steven Cai

LIBs provide much higher value than conventionally

(CTO of Gotion), Vivas Kumar (CEO and co-founder of

recycled plastics and recycled cans. Therefore,

Mitra Chem), Kerstin Schierle-Arndt (Vice President

converting the linear economy into a circular

of Research at BASF), and Yuan Gao (Board of

economy is integral to the sustainability and the

Directors at Lithium Americas).

economics of the battery industry. There are many ways to recycle batteries. Pyrometallurgy uses STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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The first topic of discussion was on the opportunities

the impact of inefficiencies becomes magnified.

and barriers to the transition from a conventional

For example, only a fraction of the energy input

to circular economy. Kumar remarked that there

during the calcination step is used in heating up the

are new opportunities that emerge as the volume

materials. These inefficiencies can be opportunities,

increases. For example, lithium iron phosphate (LFP)

where innovations can lead to more efficient

materials were deemed to be too low in value for

processes. Cai urged that battery cell and pack

recycling. However, the economics change as the

design need to take into account recycling and reuse

production changes in scale. LFP production volume

for a system-level design. For example, the reuse of

is growing 25% y/y, and now there are research

automotive packs for grid-scale storage applications

efforts into recycling LFP. As the battery industry

needs special design considerations that enable easy

grows, new opportunities for recycling will emerge.

disassembly and reassembly. He also commented

Schierle-Arndt highlighted the consensus that our

that uncertainties such as government regulations

community has on the importance of recycling

(for example, treating battery packs as a hazard will

as a driving force towards a circular economy.

increase transportation costs) as well as volatile

This involves pressure from the public as well as

metal prices makes recycling a challenge from

government regulations, which will eventually

an economic point of view. The panel discussion

drive the industry to a more sustainable one. She

moved onto a second topic, which was one engaging

stressed that the challenge is implementation. The

various stakeholders such as government and

transition necessitates large CapEx investments

clients. Gao commented that cooperation with

and that the challenge is implementation. The

automakers is important, as understanding a battery

transition necessitates large CapEx investments and

pack is instrumental to recycling. Information

commitment from corporations and government.

on the design and the components of the pack is

Implementation is important because scale-up will

important to recycling, which makes cooperation

open doors for additional innovation. Gao added

with automakers a critical step to recycling.

another perspective that the current supply chain

Schierle-Arndt agreed that cooperation is key, and

has many inefficiencies that can in turn provide

the fact that many parties including the OEMs are

opportunities for innovation. For example, when

committed to recycling is a big opportunity for

he was working at FMC in the mid-90’s producing

recycling. However, issues such as confidentiality

about 30 tons of cathode materials per month and

remain as challenges that need to be parsed out.

the company was considered a major player. Now,

Cai commented on creative business strategies as a

the global cathode market has grown to the scale

solution to engaging various stakeholders.

of millions of tons per year and by 2030, each major player will need to produce at least a million tons to be considered a major player. As volume increases, STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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As an example, he mentioned Gotion’s case of

for lithium-ion counterparts. Cai also added that

cooperation with a power generation company to

the small size of lead-acid batteries enabled car-

exchange electricity used in graphite production

owners to return and recycle the batteries with

for grid-scale energy storage systems. He

financial benefits. However, for LIBs the size makes it

commented that energy is the biggest cost factor

difficult for individuals to recycle, which means that

in manufacturing graphite and in many parts of the

institutions must play bigger role. Also, he stressed

world with significant renewable energy generation,

the importance the design of consumer electronics;

electricity is discarded to waste because of surplus

because laptop and smartphone batteries are not

generation. Cooperation such as this can be drivers

designed to be disassembled by consumers, it makes

to carbon neutrality. Kumar added that sharing

recycling much more difficult. Another question

of information across regions is also important

was on the role of academic battery research. Cai

to making recycling more efficient and practical.

commented that building safer batteries can help

Feedstocks of used batteries come from around the

the industry in many different aspects, such as

globe whereas the production sites are focused in

battery transportation and recycling. He also added

particular regions, which makes information sharing

that data-driven approaches could be developed to

across countries and continents is key to making

identify battery user locations, and the information

recycling more efficient and practical. The discussion could be used in deciding the battery collection sites. turned to questions from the audience, and the

Gao highlighted the importance of fundamental

first question was on what makes a site attractive

understanding. The complexity of the battery has

for building facilities for recycling. Kumar remarked

led to the industry R&D practice being more of an art

that access to cheap power, particularly renewable

than science. He believes that deeper understanding

electricity, is a key consideration, and Schierle-

of the fundamentals can make the development

Arndt added that site-selection is a multifaceted

process more efficient. The last question was on

problem, where factors such as materials supply

the possibility of sodium-ion batteries, which utilize

chain, business opportunities and partnerships are

abundant metals such as Ti, Fe, and Mn, resolving

important. Following the question on lessons that

the sustainability problem. Gao commented that as

can be learned from lead-acid battery recycling,

lithium prices go up, sodium can be an alternative.

Gao had an interesting insight that maturity is a key

However, he believes that sodium cannot replace

factor. Because LIB market is growing fast, supply

lithium in all applications due to lower energy

and demand of used batteries are not matched,

density and high temperature cyclability.

and there will always be batteries manufactured from new materials. Another factor he raised was government regulation, which pushed the recycling of leadacid battery and may be a valid driving force STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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PANEL 2: CHARGING FOR MOBILITY The second panel discussion at the StorageX

of Development, Cellforce Group) and Ionel Stefan

Initiative Annual Conference, titled “Charging

(Chief Technology Officer, Amprius). Prof. Chueh

for Mobility”, considered the significance and

(Moderator) started the panel discussion by talking

implication of battery charging in the path to

about what fast charging means from the EV

electrification of transportation from different

consumer’s perspective. According to Mr. Boloor and

perspectives. To start off the discussion, Prof. Yi Cui

Mr. Sommer, commercial EV consumers are generally

(Director, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford

more concerned about charging time after purchase,

University) outlined key areas of focus that are

instead of range. Overall, Mr. Boloor stated that there

crucial for the electrification of transportation.

is a general push, both from public investments and

He stresses that battery fast-charging (5 minutes

legislative support, for fast charging capabilities

of charging to full charge) is a multifaceted issue

that can achieve full charge after about 30 minutes

involving different aspects of research, ranging

of charging. However, different consumer groups

from battery cell- and pack- level engineering to

may have vastly different needs from one another.

charging station design. Afterwards, he handed

Mr. Sommer stated that the customers in the high-

over the discussion to the panelists. This includes

performance EV market prefer < 10 min of charging

experts from different key industries, including panel

time to reach full state of charge. This indicates

moderator Prof. William Chueh (Associate Professor,

that while fast charging is generally desired, it

Stanford University, Faculty Director, Stanford

strongly depends on the use case scenarios and

StorageX Initiative), Jim Cushing (General Manager,

consumer groups. In addition to consumer’s needs,

Energy Storage Solutions, Applied Materials),

all panelists agreed that the language used to

Madhur Boloor (Manager, Carbon Neutral Program at

communicate charging capabilities with customers

Toyota Research Institute), Heino Sommer (Director

can be less ambiguous.

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Even within the industry itself, there is no concrete

charging stations. For example, standardizing the

definition distinguishing slow charging, fast

plug-type used for charging have been shown

charging, and extreme fast charging from one

to ease deployments of charging stations in the

another. The metrics used by the industry to

European market, according to Mr. Boloor. He stated

measure charging rate are generally too complicated

that this has made charging more accessible and

for consumers to comprehend (e.g. c-rate, charging

seamless for the consumers of EVs. Aside from the

time per % battery capacity, MW power). Instead,

charging station infrastructure, fast-charging can

Mr. Sommar and Boloor both suggested that a more

also significantly affect power supply at grid-scale

intuitive metric like miles/min should be used to

level. High power charging can be a problem, as it

inform consumers about charging capabilities.

can be demanding and unpredictable for the grid

Overall, all panelists agree that FC can be made more

power supply. Mr. Sommer and Mr. Boloor both

accessible to consumers through improvements in

suggested that a way to circumvent this issue is to

charging infrastructure and communication. Another

implement smart charging at strategic time periods

important topic that came up during the discussion

of the day to alleviate the energy demand on the

is about charging infrastructure for fast charging

grid. Another solution suggested by Mr. Stefan and

capabilities. Panelists agree that fast charging is

Mr. Cushing is to provide customers with incentives

not only limited by battery cell architecture, but

to charge during time periods when energy is the

also current available EV charging infrastructure as

cleanest and low in demand. This would not only

well. For instance, Mr. Sommer stated that battery

alleviate the energy demand on the grid, but also

cells being developed by his company can reach

minimize the overall carbon footprint for the whole

full charge within 12 minutes of fast charging.

process. A major factor to consider for battery fast

However, they realized there is no available charging

charging is the cell chemistry and architecture.

station in the world that can reach the charging

There are many tradeoffs to consider in order to

power required for their cell architecture. In fact,

achieve fast charging at the battery cell design level.

such fast-charging stations can be as much as 10

For instance, cell components will need to be

times more expensive to implement compared to

thinner to accommodate fast charging. This means

slower charging stations, according to Mr. Boloor.

that the energy density of the battery (therefore

This means that it is important to drive down the

range) will have to suffer, according to Mr. Stefan.

cost of stations capable of fast charging to make it

On the other hand, Mr. Cushing suggested that

more affordable for consumers to operate. Another

if the cells can achieve sustainable fast charging

great point brought up by the panelists is the

capabilities, EVs may not need to rely on high energy

standardization of charging stations. Standardization

batteries as much to achieve long range. This is

is very important for developers as it removes

because charging would be less time consuming for

another layer of complexity in the implementation of

EV consumers.

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He further suggested that this could in fact enable entry level commercial EVs to be more competitive, as they generally have smaller battery and range to lower costs. Other tradeoffs that come with fast charging are safety and battery health. Mr. Stefan stated that charging at high rate can degrade batteries faster, decreasing its cycle and calendar life. In addition, he said that fast charging can make battery management systems more complex. This is because the battery would heat up more when fast charging, requiring a more sophisticated battery cell cooling system to avoid thermal runaway. In addition to cell architecture designs, Mr. Stefan and Mr. Sommer both agree that switching the anode material of the battery to Silicon would be beneficial

gathered from the increasing deployments of EV

for fast charging. Silicon has significantly higher

charging stations will help inform providers with

specific capacity compared to current carbon-

useful insights on their use case profiles. This will

based anode, allowing thinner electrodes to be

help strategic deployment of charging stations

achieved without sacrificing EV range as much. In

to enable a more sustainable and accessible EV

fact, Mr. Sommer believes that Silicon-based anode

charging experience.

technology will soon be widely implemented into commercial battery packs within the next three years. Overall, panelists agree that there are still room to improve to minimize the tradeoffs that come with fast charging, especially the safety aspect of the problem. Fast charging is a complex topic that requires further research and development in multiple fields ranging from cell chemistry and battery pack architecture to designs of charging and grid infrastructure. Panelists agree that it is a very challenging problem that needs optimization at the systems level to make fast charging sustainable, efficient, and safe. Looking forward, Prof. Chueh believes that the amount of data that are being STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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PANEL 3: LONG DURATION STORAGE The Grid is Changing In the third panel of the day, Arun Majumdar, the

Majumdar stated, as the United States looks for

Jay Precourt Provostial Chair Professor at Stanford

clean energy to play an increasingly large role, the

University, moderated a panel on long duration

grid is changing dramatically. Majumdar informed

storage, one of the most demanding issues we are

the audience about initial goals of 50% renewable

facing in the clean energy transition. Majumdar

energy in the electric grid, with some calling for

kicked off the panel by detailing how the grid is

ultimate renewable penetration of up to 80-100%.

changing. For the last hundred years, the grid’s

Yet, the grid was never designed for fluctuating

architecture has remained largely unchanged;

generation. As a result, we see duck curves, meaning

turbo machinery generates electricity that goes to

there is extensive generation in the middle of the

transmission lines, to substations, to distribution

day and a massive ramp up when the sun goes down

networks and to the customer. This had been a one-

in the evening, causing all kinds of issues on the

way process with balancing done in real-time, using

grid. On the other end of the grid, Majumdar noted

frequency as a proxy. Jurisdictional boundaries

that we are seeing different use patterns such as

were created around this paradigm, with wholesale

more electric vehicles coming on, whose load when

markets on the transmission side that are regulated

charging can be about 5-10 times that of a single

federally. On the retail side, there is state regulation

home on average. In addition, with other systems

and electricity utilities, such as PG&E. Panelist

like distributed generation from solar, systems can

Fong Wan, Senior Vice President of Energy Policy &

be connected to the cloud and can provide services

Procurement at PG&E, emphasized the simplicity

on the grid. Wan emphasized the challenge of the

of this one-way energy flow process. He was able

duck curve.

to baseload renewables, use gas units over evening hours, and use Helms pumped storage. Now, STORAGEX ANNUAL CONFERENCE - MAY 2022

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Then, customers are drawing back power overnight

melt for hydro, meaning the thermal fleet must be

when there is no longer any solar. Tesla power packs

backed down. This variability presents a tremendous

and electric loads lead to worries about big spikes in

challenge according to Loutan, who pointed out

power needs. Majumdar added that the regulatory

the importance of frequency control. He noted that

environment and technology is all coming along at

with the amount of rooftop PV and grid connected

the same time while we try to adapt to and embrace

solar that we see, the grid can change by about

more renewable energy on the grid. Majumdar

+/- 1000- 2000MW in ten minutes, which is a lot of

highlighted that as we go to higher penetration of

variability. In the old days, Loutan continued, there

renewables, cost of storage must come down. As

was controllable supply and predictable demand

we approach 80% penetration, we will have some

which made for easy control. Today, from the grid

occasions where 100 hours of storage or more are

perspective, variable supply and unpredictable

needed, and with even deeper penetration, storage

demand make for a big challenge, forcing grid

demands will be even more extreme. Today, the

operators to be largely reactive.

Lithium-ion battery is about $100/kWh in capital cost, but storage technology may need to get

Buying and Distributing Electricity in the Clean Energy Transition

below $10/kWh to enable higher penetration of renewables. Notably, Majumdar adds, the market and performance requirements are always changing,

Wan described his optimism for California

and we must be able to adapt accordingly.

renewables but noted that great challenges remain.

Californians, Wan stated, are fortunate to have

The Challenge of Grid Operation

more renewable resources than anywhere in the

Panelist Clyde Loutan outlined some key energy

our renewable numbers up, especially because

storage issues that he faces as Principle of

prices have come down significantly in recent

Renewable Energy Integration at California ISO.

years. The next issue, however, is facing renewable

Loutan stressed the need for long-term storage to

curtailment. Wan described how PG&E first operated

address extended periods with minimal wind and

with renewables: most of his renewable contracts

solar production. For example, in January, there are

are signed with fixed prices, and PG&E pays for how

often multiple cloudy, rainy days, resulting in very

much is produced. Yet, he quickly figured out that

little wind and solar, and still a lot of snow, meaning

these renewables were not generating at the right

minimal hydropower. In such a month, there is a

times, and dispatchable features were necessary to

greater reliance on thermal plants and gas units.

get them to generate at the load profile required,

In comparison, Loutan pointed out, months in the

according to the duck curve.

world, and as a result, he is confident we can get

middle of the year have a lot of wind, solar, and snow

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result, we need many types of storage, both long and short term, that can provide frequency control and more flexibility. Wan agreed with Loutan that long duration storage is crucial. He shared that PG&E has already been very involved in buying storage, including bringing 1000 MW of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) online last year and another 500 MW this year. These batteries have only four-hour durations, however, leading to the question of whether PG&E should buy more LIBs. Wan believes it may be time to switch to longer duration, citing the need for batteries that can provide a longer duration of storage than LIBs can provide. While an eight-hour duration would be an improvement, Wan said that In his contracts, Wan stated, he cannot turn down

eventually we will need storage across days, months,

units, and when renewables are curtailed, PG&E

and even seasons.

still pays for that energy regardless. They even ship excess renewable energy at low or negative prices

Long Duration Storage Technologies

during times when they do not need it themselves.

Wan described the process of curtailment as

There are many technologies that can be further

“painful” but necessary to make the whole energy

developed for long-duration storage. In this

system balanced.

panel, three options were highlighted: pumped storage, batteries, and thermal energy storage.

The Need for Long Duration Storage

Dan Reicher, Senior Research Scholar at Woods

From the perspective of the California ISO, Loutan

developments in pumped storage. Mateo

stressed that the need for storage is tremendous,

Jaramillo, co-founder and CEO of Form Energy,

particularly to provide frequency control. If

shared his excitement about batteries, and

operating with a low gas fleet, downward flexibility

specifically his company’s iron-air technology, for

becomes a big problem; if wind or solar picks

meeting long duration storage needs. Andrew Ponec,

up, there is not much to back off, leading to high

co-founder and CEO of Antora Energy, shared how

frequency control problems. Loutan relayed that

his company’s thermal energy storage system can

they control the system frequency every minute and

provide long duration storage for both heat and

must balance the grid every four seconds. As a

electricity in industry.

Institute for Environment, spoke about the exciting

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Panel moderator Majumdar noted that while these

development stages. Despite the exciting potential

three technologies are competing in some senses, it

for new pumped storage, Reicher outlined some

is more likely that we will need some combination of

key challenges: the need for water in a time when

technologies depending on need.

some U.S. regions are facing drought, major upfront capital costs, extensive timeframes for development,

1. Pumped Storage Pumped storage has been

valuation issues in the face of electricity market

well-developed, but it’s being modernized, and

uncertainty, and opposition from environmentalists

Dan Reicher explained how a new form of pumped

and river conservationists. He does note, however,

storage is primed to make a big impact. Traditionally,

that off-river closed-loop pumped-storage

pumped storage hydropower has been open-loop,

recirculates the water and tends to lose very little,

involving a dam on a river and a reservoir at the top

and that this new form is enjoying increasing

of a hill. Today, this form of pumped storage provides

support from the environmentalists after reaching a

almost 90% of U.S. electricity storage. However, this

major agreement between the hydropower industry

method presents a large issue to the environmental

and the river conservation community in late 2020.

community, Reicher noted, because of the need for a

From the audience, Jay Precourt asked how PG&E

dam, which largely hindered further pumped storage

felt about these exciting developments, to which

development. Today, pumped storage is now getting

Wan replied that while he loves pumped storage,

a second look for several reasons. Most importantly,

he is worried about the certainty of construction

Reicher told the audience, there is a new pumped

costs, and he cannot take a deal with an unknown

storage method called off-river, closed-loop pumped

cost structure to his regulators or his customers.

storage, which does not require a dam, and both

Precourt believes private investors, who are more

reservoirs are built off-river. This improvement

risk oriented, will be enthusiastic about pumped

has brought increasing support from the river

storage now that there will be less pushback from

conservation community. Secondly, pumped storage

environmentalists in the modern system.

can store large quantities of variable solar and wind energy. Finally, it provides the grid with many key

2. Batteries Mateo Jaramillo explained to the

attributes such as long duration peaking capacity,

audience that his motivation to start Form Energy

critical balancing services, energy arbitrage, and

came from thinking about what kinds of energy

black start capability. Today, Reicher notes that

storage would allow for the replacement of

there are about 90 proposed U.S. pumped storage

thermal resources during multi-day events without

projects in the development pipeline that would

significant wind or solar power. Jaramillo and his co-

total about 80 GW of capacity. A few of these projects

founders have been developing an iron-air battery

have gotten Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

that enables the crossing point between 100-hour

(FERC) licenses, while the rest remain in earlier

duration and less than $20/kWh.

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Jaramillo revealed that the active material cost

for a laptop, but it is right for the moment today

is less than $1/kWh, meaning the system must be

and for the future of the grid, which he believes will

designed very intelligently to drive inactive costs

ultimately reach 100% penetration of renewable

down. Jaramillo reported that Form Energy is on

energy.

the path to commercialization, aiming for hundreds of MWs in projects by the middle of the decade to

3. Thermal energy storage Andrew Ponec told the

achieve a reliable, renewable, affordable electric

audience about Antora’s mission to decarbonize

system. Jaramillo also stressed that there is no

industry, which is responsible for over 30% of global

holy grail solution to reach these metrics, so while

emissions. Ponec noted that more of these emissions

Form Energy’s technology is being developed to

come from generating heat than generating

provide multi-day storage cost-effectively, it also

electricity, so it’s important to address both halves

has two major tradeoffs: cycle life and efficiency.

of that problem. Ponec stated that just like we need

However, due to the long-duration storage capability

long duration storage to turn variable renewables

of the system (about a week to charge and a week

into consistent reliable energy, we also need long

to discharge), Jaramillo explains they do not need

duration storage to turn variable renewables into

to provide thousands of cycles like a LIB. And, as

reliable heat. The problem for electricity and heat

we curtail renewables and spill electricity all the

is essentially the same, akin to solving for weather,

time, Form Energy believes one should be giving

and the same storage durations matter. Antora’s

up the right amount of efficiency in pursuit of the

system works by taking inexpensive electricity when

low CAPEX cost. He cited coal and natural gas, each

it’s available from wind and solar and using it to

with poor thermal efficiencies, as examples of lower

resistively heat cheap carbon blocks, storing energy

efficiency systems that work for this application.

in sensible heat of carbon. The carbon blocks are

Jaramillo emphasized that their long duration

put in insulated blocks without heat leaking into the

electrochemical storage will not work for a car or

environment and can be stored for days or weeks.

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described, is the ability to get low-cost financing to back a project. Jaramillo said that with the current need to bring new technology to market quickly, there are also new pathways to prove a technology is bankable. The LIB demonstrated that with a lot of data and testing at a system level for a wide range of operating and environmental conditions, decades of reliable performance is no longer necessary to become a bankable technology. Jaramillo also spoke about the need to reach a technology readiness level (TRL) of seven. Ponec added that Antora’s situation largely overlaps with Form Energy’s: more than just developing a new technology, they need to have a large amount of solid data. Ponec also highlighted To get the energy back out, Ponec explained, an

the benefit of looking for industrial analogs that are

insulated shutter on the side of that box is opened,

already bankable. By incorporating such systems,

allowing a beam of white light to exit the system.

such as graphitization furnaces for example, into

This light can do one of two things: firstly, it could be

their own processes, they can point to over twenty

used to generate heat for industry. Or, alternatively,

years of data that has already been collected, which

the light can be converted directly into electricity

strengthens their own data as well. Wan noted that

using a PV cell in a one-step, inexpensive, scalable

PG&E is better off leaving innovation to others.

process. Like Form Energy, Antora is targeting the

PG&E, Wan claimed, should spec out business needs,

same 100-hour duration and under $20/kWh for

write good contracts, and let the capital market and

electricity, but Ponec highlighted that some of those

innovation prove the reliability of new technologies.

costs are offset by being able to sell heat out of the

Wan said that he is open to giving new technologies

same system using energy that may otherwise have

a try if he is approached with a great contract. If the

been curtailed or underutilized. Risks, Bankability,

other side fails to deliver, PG&E will not pay. This is

and Scaling With each promising technology

different, however, than investing in large capital

comes risk and the challenge to prove its reliability,

projects such as pumped storage, which would be

especially at scale. Jaramillo shared that there are

much higher risk for PG&E and not a project that

many risks when commercializing a new battery

they would be willing to take on. Reicher agreed

chemistry, but at Form Energy, they instead think

that such pumped storage projects would rarely be

about their mission as commercializing a bankable

done by utilities, and instead are better suited for

asset. The threshold for bankability, Jaramillo

private developers.

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Jaramillo added while Wan might sign a more

Ponec added that Antora’s case is very similar: using

speculative contract, doing a one-off contract and

PV cells as power generation, their system closely

failing to deliver is not the goal. Form Energy is

resembles solar. They too, aim to scale cells and

focused on building an asset that can be deployed

modules and then put everything together into

at large-scale. Ponec emphasized a big difference

the whole system, in a way that looks very similar

between Antora and Form Energy is that Antora is

to a utility scale solar plant. Wan added that if you

going after industrial customers first, which does

can sell him a dream that might start off as more

provide Antora with more flexibility. On the flip side,

expensive for the first hundred units, but you can

however, there is much greater offtake risk with

explain how efficiency and cost reduction can be

industrial partners than with a partner such as PG&E

done, PG&E will buy into the dream with you, if your

who commits to buying electricity for a specified

dream is legitimate. To close the panel, Loutan gave

time. In the Q&A section, Will Chueh raised the issue

a reminder to the audience: whatever technology

of new technology often being a single much larger

you develop, please make sure that it something you

installation rather than hundreds of millions of units

can control.

to manufacture, making it challenging to bring costs down, and he asked how this concept played into the risks of each technology. Jaramillo agreed that achieving significant scale is important for bringing down costs, but that their technology is still making cells, which then turn into modules and then packs, which get deployed in the field. Form Energy is thus actually using the same concept as LIBs and solar cells in terms of units manufactured, because it’s a concept that has been proven many times.

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