Batteries International, Issue 110. Winter 2018/19 by hamptonhalls

Issue 110

Winter 2018/2019

Tim Vargo Meet Exide’s new CEO and his vision, plans for the future

Industry says sad farewell to Power-Sonic’s Guy Clum

Let’s talk gigafactories! (But not here in Europe)

2019: how critical a year will it be for lead batteries?

JCI, Trojan, C&D succumb to the new giant makers

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CONTENTS COVER STORY 56 EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES Vargo talks technology, customer relations as drivers for Exide future 54 New Exide CEO Tim Vargo talks innovation, staff, customer care — all three key to driving the firm forward once more. These are exciting times as next steps for the battery giant. Exide: The first 130 years were the hardest 62 The creation of Exide as a global giant has had its ups and downs over the years — the last 20 of which the firm is ready to acknowledge as having been difficult — but this year the firm has every reason to celebrate its strength and continuity.

Changes at the top: Tim Vargo

EDITORIAL 4 Too much fanciful thinking, not enough fact PEOPLE NEWS

Sadly no longer with us: Power-Sonic founder Guy Clum (1932-2018) and John Stephens (1944-2018) • Exide Technologies appoints Vargo as new president and CEO • Hoppecke hires ex-Johnson Controls director • Northvolt expands board of directors • SEPA welcomes new directors • Former White House official named as Highview’s chairman • Renewables expert appointed as chair of VPP firm Solo Energy • NEC Energy Solutions hires three senior staff • Second-life battery ESS firm announces first of key appointments • Flow battery firm ESS appoints new board chairman • Global Energy Storage Alliance appoints Rahul Walawalkar as chairperson • Aqua Metals announces new CFO

Sadly no longer with us: Guy Clum 7

NEWS 16 JCI sale agreed for $13.2bn with refocus on emerging markets sales • EnerSys moves further into energy storage, buys Alpha Technologies • Korean battery manufacturer gets go-ahead to build Tennessee plant • Trojan Battery sold to C&D Technologies as last remaining link with family firm cut • Quemetco sued for 29 violations at California lead battery recycling plant • Eskom launches 1,440MWh battery network in South Africa • Lead a winner for Scottish remote island energy storage system • Korea backs Australian firm to double energy density of VRFB • Huge opportunities for all battery chemistries by 2050 • Aqua Metals announces lead ingot offering, more patents and electrolyte plans PRODUCT NEWS

Walawalkar new GESA chair

• Trojan launches Trillium, its first lithium ion battery • Exide releases first marine EFB on to US market

Walicki and the sale of the century 16

FINANCE NEWS

ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

Nissan and EDF Energy technology first grid-connected baseload tidal energy power station plus storage • Grid-scale ESS first as Scotland pushes ahead on aggressive renewables target • California pushes ahead with goal for 100% renewables • Victoria commissions first of two grid-scale storage systems • Sodium ion replaces lithium batteries at Sydney sewage pumping station VIRTUAL POWER PLANT NEWS www.batteriesinternational.com

Virtual power plant news

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 1

CONTENTS FEATURES 43

Europe’s gigafactories — too little too late for local firms 70

Optimizing the ‘extra-carbon effect’ for further enhancement of lead–acid battery performance 43 The dynamic charge efficiency of the lead–acid battery can be greatly improved by the incorporation of ‘extra-carbon’ to the negative plate — a synopsis and state-ofthe-art analysis written by international battery experts David Rand (CSIRO Energy) and Pat Moseley (formerly ALABC). Plugging Europe into the future 70 Europe may need as many as 20 gigafactories to meet future lithium cell demand. The region and its firms are behind their Asian counterparts.

Opinions on the year ahead 80

2019: The year ahead 80 What do the lead battery readers of the magazine believe 2019 has in store for their industry sector? Back to basics: How to improve the battery fuel gauge

CONFERENCE IN PRINT

Analysis of a simple nail penetration test of LiFePO4 suggests new avenues of practical applications for the chemistry. Event reviews 99

EVENT REVIEWS

Ees/IBESA Strasbourg — Making the case for energy storage opportunities in France • BCI Environmental Health and Safety Conference, Philadelphia, US — Lead industry shows way forward for safety and regulatory compliance. EVENTS 103 Where to see and be seen 103

Our comprehensive round-up of all the major battery and energy storage events for the coming six months.

Publisher Karen Hampton, karen@batteriesinternational.com, +44 7792 852 337

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Editor: Michael Halls, editor@batteriesinternational.com, +44 1 243 782 275

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Asia editor Debbie Mason debbie@batteriesinternational.com

Staff reporters: Philip Moorcroft, Jim Smith Production/design: Antony Parselle, aparselledesign@me.com +44 1727 811 842 International advertising representation: advertising@batteriesinternational.com The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No unauthorized translation or reproduction is permitted. ISSN 1462-6322 (c) 2019 Mustard Seed Publishing, UK company no: 5976361. Printed in the UK via ThisismethodUK

Disclaimer: Although we believe in the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this magazine, Mustard Seed Publishing makes no warranties or representation about this. Nor should anything contained within it should be construed as constituting an offer to buy or sell securities, or constitute advice in relation to the buying or selling of investments.

2 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

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EDITORIAL Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com

The barmy logic of the lemming generation One UK newspaper had a simple rule when it had a scoop. They called it TGTFC. Too Good To Fact Check. The story would sell papers — and surely that was the main point of the game? Leaving aside the murky world of the gutter press, perhaps it’s worth considering the equally barmy world of the political elite. In a race to wave their environmental credentials a generation of politicians has promised the world a green future. As you’ve probably guessed, it’s TGTFC. The silliness all started just over a year ago. What started as a quirky promise — to look after the environment by banning the sale of ICE vehicles in Germany, Korea and Norway — turned into a lemming moment. A rush to dive off the same cliff at the same time. In 2017 China, France, India, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom all raced for the edge at the same time with Costa Rica, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, and Taiwan playing catch-up this year. And some of the late comers decided to lead by example. Costa Rica, for example, announced this April that it intends to phase out the sale of all internal combustion engines by 2021. In this they are slightly behind Austria’s ambitious plan to phase out sales by 2020. By the time you read this, it’ll be next year. Twelve months away. The world has clearly gone crazy. It’s TGTFC mania. But before we examine why this is folly, let’s look further at some of the insanities that our politicians are planning. Moving down from government level to that of mayors. In October 2017, 12 international mayors signed the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration, committing their cities to all-electric buses by 2025 and — quoting from their treaty — “we pledge to ensure major areas of our city are zero emission by 2030”. 4 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

So citizens in London, Milan, Seattle, Madrid and Paris, for example, will shortly enjoy healthy walking (and probably compulsory jogging too), in clear-skied, sunny, emission-free cities. Their opentoed sandals will hardly touch the ground as they pace the noiseless streets and avoid the humming electric buses of these idyllic centres. Two interesting signatories came from the mayors of Los Angeles and Mexico City, two of the largest cities in the western world. In 11 years’ time, the 12 million citizens of Los Angeles will need their 6.5 million cars to be electric if they stand any chance of driving into the centre. There’s a spectacular ridiculousness to the idea. But let’s not forget that these are noble ambitions and worthy aspirations. Across Europe there is talk that emissions from diesel cars are responsible for the early deaths of some 100,000 people a year. So in many ways it is wrong to portray them as a source of ridicule. But worthy aspirations not based on any check with reality are dangerous ones. There is an old Henry Ford saying … “a customer can have a car painted any colour they want as long as it’s black”; a century later it’s become any car you want as long as it’s electric. At the high-ended philosophical side of things, one could argue that Ford could decide the car he produced and sold, but do governments really have the right to legislate on technology in the same way? Noble ambitions and TGTFC are always going to be unhappy bedfellows. And when the truth does out they threaten to create a backlash on genuine improvements that can be made to our environment. Perhaps the first thing to note is that with a couple of notable exceptions, no political party has committed policy goals on to the legislative books. Deep down there’s a cynicism behind their bold statements. Also noteworthy is the fact that nobody has yet to work out what the cost of this shift to EVs is going to be. www.batteriesinternational.com

EDITORIAL Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com So far electric utilities have been ahead of the politicians and even the car manufacturers. Most — but not all — reckon they can create the extra gigawatts of power needed if we move to an electric driving future. But there are a host of practicalities that need to be addressed. Perhaps the largest is going to be the creation of the charging infrastructure. So there is a variety of questions that need to be answered before we pursue these heady visions of the future. And, naturally, it’s the Too-Good-To-Fact-Check ones that need to be answered. A few questions then. What will the cost be for introducing the charging stations of the future? What budget plans are in place by governments seeking to introduce these bans on ICE sales? What kind of economic sense will this make? What kind of timeline for progress to these goals should be outlined? If eventually charging points usurp petrol stations in delivering refill time to drive-kilometres, what is going to happen to the old petrol-driven garages in the interim? Do they work side by side? What are the economics of the interim arrangement? What happens to street parking in cities where there is already a free-for-all for finding a place and then fitting a charging plug in place? Most European residential areas have a few metres distance from the house’s EV charging point to the vehicle. Typically it could well be a garden, a fence, a pavement and then a road to reach the car. Will the charging infrastructure for hundreds of millions of homes having below ground access to the charging point make any economic sense? What will the cost of installing these charging points be? (Why are politicians unready to talk economic realities when it will clearly need several billions of euros to create?) So what happens when EV drivers with an advanced charging infrastructure in place — say, a Dutch driver where new obligatory ICE vehicles come into force 2025 — has to drive through a country where the infrastructure is not ready, or is in transition, say France where the obligation kicks www.batteriesinternational.com

in for 2040? Will parts of the world become no-go areas to the coming generations of electric vehicles? Could trade between remote regions become a nono for lorries? Perhaps most interestingly there is the question of what happens when there is a glut of EVs. Every year, for example, in France there is an almost solid convoy of vehicles driving from Paris to the Mediterranean coast at the start of August and about the same on the way back. What kind of charging infrastructure could deal with that? The issue of driving range is almost certainly going to go away for EVs at some point, but for the interim, what sense is there in spending millions on the assumption that technology will eventually solve the problem? One wonders how this generation of political dreamers would find practical charging solutions to the largest traffic jam in human history. This happened in China in 2010, where a 62-mile stretch of a highway took 12 days for drivers to get from one end to the other. The highway was solid for all 18 lanes! For the moment the promise of an all-whizzy, carbon free driving world is still cupcake thinking. Hare brained. But worthy aspirations clumsily designed and foolishly executed are still not worth the pledges made or finances allocated. Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 5

PEOPLE NEWS Power Sonic founder Guy Clum Guy Clum, the long-time owner and developer of Power-Sonic, a global battery distribution company, passed away peacefully at his home on November 12, 2018. He was 86 years old. “It is with a heavy heart that I announce that we have lost our dear friend Guy Clum,” says Jim Mannebach, chief executive of Power-Sonic. “In life, he was a pioneering leader in our industry inspiring all he touched with his insight, compassion and determination, always delivered in his own humble soft-spoken way. “He will be dearly missed.” Guy graduated from Stanford University in 1958 with an MBA and undergraduate degrees in petrochemical engineering and geology. After several years in the petroleum industry he started in the battery business in 1970, when he founded Power-Sonic. This initially distributed small batteries for diverse applications from security to toys. The California, US-based firm now sells its sealed lead acid and lithium iron phosphate batteries as well as a ‘Powersport’ range in more than 70 countries. In the 1980s he established a manufacturing facility in Huntington Beach in California and one in Mexico in the 1990s for plastics manufacturing and also batteries. The battery factory, which was sold to EnerSys in 2000 still operates as a modern facility today, and the plastic operation employs over 300 people across two large factories today. Power-Sonic has come a long way in its 48-year history. In November last year it was acquired by investment management group Blackbird in a signal that the firm was continuing to expand its work on lithium batteries. He stepped down at the time of the acquisition as age and his health declined. Guy was a long-term member of the Battery Council International,

(1932-2018)

significantly aiding the development of the industry. As a businessman, Clum was much loved by those that worked with and for him. “Guy respected everybody regardless of their position,” says Shaw Pourhashemi, a project engineer at Power-Sonic. “Guy was always supportive, a source of great history and information, and a wonderful conversation-

Frugal through his entire life, Guy was a quiet, but serious philanthropist, channelling his accumulated wealth to benefit under-privileged pre-school children in the San Diego area as well as his tireless work with Planned Parenthood. www.batteriesinternational.com

alist given his very dry sense of humour,” says Brian Crowe, president and co-owner of Power-Sonic. Guy was a great fan of his Stanford University Cardinal, and for many years a tough tennis competitor, which his friends and family can attest to. He had both passion and talent for classic ballroom dancing, displaying it annually at the BCI banquet. He was also a keen fisherman. Frugal through his entire life, Guy was a quiet, but serious philanthropist, channelling his accumulated wealth to benefit under-privileged pre-school children in the San Diego area, along with offering choice to many young women through his tireless work with Planned Parenthood. Just two months before his death Guy, with the San Diego Foundation, donated $13.8 million to local charities for early childhood education. “Guy Clum changed many peoples’ lives during his life, along with a legacy and benefits to others which will endure many, many more years. He will be sorely missed,” a close friend told Batteries International. He is survived by his two sons, Kermit and Bryan, a grandson, and hundreds of former employees and friends who became his extended family over many years.

Guy Christopher Clum May 16, 1932–November 12, 2018 Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 7

PEOPLE NEWS

Hoppecke hires ex-Johnson Controls director

Jon Bailey

Stationary and motive battery maker Hoppecke Industrial Batteries — the UK arm of Hoppecke Batterien — has appointed Jon Bailey as its managing director, the company announced on October 17. Bailey has around 38 years of battery and automotive related experience. He was national sales manager in the UK for VB Automotive Batteries before moving to Manbat in 2010. In 2013 he became regional director UK & Ireland for Johnson Controls until its merger/takeover by Ireland’s Tyco in September 2017. Hoppecke says Bailey will focus on delivering growth through strategic partnerships, including the UK’s energy storage marketplace and target development opportunities for new technologies. He will also assess the potential to introduce Hoppecke products into niche areas, especially the rail and reserve power sectors.

Exide Technologies appoints Vargo as new president and CEO Battery giant Exide Technologies announced on November 14 that Tim Vargo had taken over as CEO and president from outgoing Victor Koelsch. (For full profile of Vargo see our cover story in this issue.) The announcement said the change would be effective immediately, but that Koelsch would remain until December 31 as an adviser to Vargo. Vargo is on Exide’s board already, having joined the firm two years ago from Motor Car Parts of America, an automotive parts manufacturer and distributor. He has considerable experience in the auto industry, having previously worked for TruckPro, a heavy duty truck part distributor, and before that he sat on the board of directors at ATU, a German auto parts and service provider. Vargo was president and CEO at

Kele, Inc, an independent distributor of building automation systems, before he joined Exide in une 2017. “Having served on the board of Exide for two years and being very familiar with the company from my career in the automotive aftermarket, where I knew Exide as a supplier,” said Vargo. “I’ve come into the chief executive position with a good understanding of the company’s strengths and opportunities in the marketplace. The vision I have for Exide is to be the best partner for each of our customers as their needs evolve. “I see a huge opportunity for us to earn a greater share of their battery business by continuing to serve our customers at a high level in terms of quality and on-time delivery while also being an innovation leader in key categories.”

Centrica appoints Hookway as new business chief executive Multinational energy company Centrica announced the appointment of Richard Hookway as its chief executive of Centrica Business on September 14. Hookway starts on December 1, when he will also join the Centrica

board. The announcement follows the news that Mark Hanafin will retire at the end of March 2019. Hanafin will also step down from the board on November 30 after 10 years at the company.

Northvolt expands board of directors

Susanna Campbell

8 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Swedish gigafactory developer Northvolt announced on October 30 it had appointed Tom Johnstone and Susanna Campbell as members of its board of directors. Johnstone is the chairman of motorcycle company Husqvarna, deputy chair at smart technologies firm Wärtsilä, and a board member of vehicle OEM Volvo Cars. Campbell is an independent investor and member of several boards including Norrsken Founders Fund, Swedish headquartered telecoms firm Telia Company and Swedish industrial group Indutrade. They have both previously been a part of Northvolt’s advisory board.

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PEOPLE NEWS

SEPA welcomes new directors Energy industry CEOs Gil Quiniones, of the state-owned power utility New York Power Authority, and Adrian Tuck, of energy management software company Tendril, have been elected to Smart Electric Power Alliance’s board of directors, the alliance announced on October 31. Four people were also re-elected for another three-year term. They were: Chris King, global policy officer, Siemens Digital Grid; Gary Rackliffe, vice president smart grids, ABB; Seth Frader-

Gil Quiniones (left) and Adrian Tuck (right) join the SEPA board.

John Stephens

Thompson, president, EnergyHub; and Joe Hoagland, vice president of stakeholder relations, Tennessee Valley Authority. “The election underlines the importance that SEPA’s membership places on having diverse voices on the board, from both the utility and technology sides,” said Cris Eugster, chair of SEPA’s board. The SEPA board of directors consists of 17 members, including executives from utilities and technology firms, along with former policy makers.

(1944-2018)

John Stephens — pictured left with Mark Stevenson in the late 1990s — a former office manager for the Zinc and Lead Development Association, later to become the International Lead Association died on October 18 while returning from a holiday with his wife Margaret in Cyprus. He was born on August 24, 1944 and joined the associations on his 20th birthday in 1964. He retired from the ILA on his 62nd birthday, having spent 42 years behind the scenes in an organization that he loved. “ He was a larger than life character with a keen sense of humour who knew everybody who was anybody in the sporting world,” says Mark Stevenson, a lead industry veteran. “He was a fanatic supporter of Fulham Football Club which I used to go with him to see, he was a member of Lords, perhaps the most prestigious cricket club in the world and also belonged to the Thames Rowing Club.

“But perhaps most importantly he was one of the stalwarts of the lead industry, working hard in the background to keep the industry pushing forward,” says Stevenson. “One of the relatively unsung soldiers working steadily in the background

to keep us in business.” John had the rare distinction of having attended the 1966 World Cup final won by England. He is survived by his wife Margaret, his son Andrew and his granddaughter Grace.

Renewables expert appointed as chair of VPP firm Solo Energy

Julia Lynch Williams

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Virtual power plant firm Solo Energy announced on October 11 it had appointed Julia Lynch Williams as chair of its board. The consultant in renewable energy, energy retail and energy services at Commodore Consulting and former RWE executive was appointed to develop investor relations and advise on commercial strategies for the firm’s expansion .

The announcement follows the appointment of Ben Hill, former vice president of Tesla EMEA, as its new commercial and technical adviser in September. Hill is also the chief executive officer of UK energy storage firm b3 New Energy, and also founded and ran Tesla Energy across the EMEA (Europe Middel East and Africa) region.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 11

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PEOPLE NEWS

NEC Energy Solutions hires three senior staff Energy storage firm NEC Energy Solutions announced three senior appointments on October 22. Erik Fogelberg becomes vice president of global sales; Roger Lin, vice president of marketing; and Jacques Goldenberg vice president of human resources. Fogelberg was the former vicepresident of commercial sales for

the Americas at Tesla Energy. Before that he was the senior vice-president of commercial sales and storage solutions at Solar City, a Tesla subsidiary. Lin was promoted from his role as senior director of product marketing at NEC. He had previously held jobs at lithium ion start-up A123 Systems.

From left to right: Erik Fogelberg, Jacques Goldenberg, Roger Lin

Second-life battery ESS firm announces first of key appointments Connected Energy appointed Mark Bailey as its new chief commercial officer, the British energy storage technology developer announced on October 16. The former Engie director led the company’s investment in Connected Energy, the second-life electric vehicle battery ESS maker, earlier in 2018. Matthew Lumsden, CEO at Connected Energy, said: “Mark knows our business inside out, having worked with us whilst at Engie. We are entering a period of significant growth and this is the first of several appointments we will make over the next 18 months.”

IN BRIEF

Musk ejected from chairman seat Elon Musk resigned as chairman of electric vehicle and energy storage OEM Tesla on October 1 after the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with securities fraud following a series of tweets regarding plans to take the company private. Musk, who will remain the company’s CEO, agreed to pay a $20 million fine — 50% of a fine levelled at Tesla, which was charged with failing to have required disclosure controls and procedures relating to Musk’s tweets. According to the SEC’s complaint against him, Musk tweeted on August 7, that he could take Tesla private at $420 per share, that funding for the transaction had been secured, and that the only remaining uncertainty was a shareholder vote. Musk knew that the potential transaction was uncertain and subject to numerous contingencies, the SEC’s complaint alleged. According to the SEC’s complaint, Musk’s tweets caused Tesla’s stock price to jump by more than 6% on August 7, leading to significant market disruption.

CellCube appoints financier to board of directors

Mark Bailey

CellCube Energy Storage Systems announced on September 5 that international financier and real estate developer Bruno Arnold was to join its board of directors.

Flow battery firm ESS appoints new board chairman

Michael Niggli

14 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Flow battery manufacturer ESS announced on September 13 it had appointed Michael Niggli as its board chairman — two years after he first took a seat on the board. The Oregon, US, firm also announced Tim Neville had joined the company as vice-president of operations. Niggli and Neville will provide

guidance as ESS develops relationships with utilities and ramps up manufacturing to meet growing demand for long-duration flow batteries, said company founder and CEO Craig Evans. The appointment of Niggli has meant the departure of David Lazovsky, who had been chairman since February 2017.

www.batteriesinternational.com

PEOPLE NEWS

Global Energy Storage Alliance appoints Rahul Walawalkar as chairperson India Energy Storage Alliance executive director Rahul Walawalkar has taken over as chair for the Global Energy Storage Alliance, the IESA announced on November 21. He replaces Janice Lin, of the California Energy Storage Alliance, who has been in the seat since the organization was founded in 2014. The GESA is made up of six regional storage alliances — California, China, Germany, India, the US and the Alliance for Rural Electrification. Its aims are to advance education, collaboration, knowledge and proven frameworks about the benefits of energy storage and how it can be incorporated into the electric power system most cost effectively. Walawalkar is also president and managing director of Customized Energy Solutions India, the Indian arm of the North American energy consulting and service company. “I will strive to enhance collaboration within GESA members

Rahul Walawalkar

and various aspects related to energy storage technologies,” he said. “I look forward to growing GESA’s reach to include various national associations that have been formed in the past four years so that they can benefit from the experience of GESA’s founding members.”

Outgoing chairperson Janice Lin said she looked forward to supporting the organization. “GESA’s work has never been more important, as energy storage is a game-changer to achieve a more affordable, reliable and cleaner power sector globally,” she said.

Aqua Metals announces new CFO Aqua Metals, the lead battery recycling company, has appointed Judd Merrill as chief financial officer, the company announced on November 6. Merrill is the fourth CFO in just over a year. Merrill has a background in silver and gold mining, coming from the Nevada-based mining company Klondex Mines, where he was director of finance and accounting. He told Batteries International that there were similarities in the chemical processes used in extracting metals in mining and in Aqua Metals’ Aqua Refining technology, although his focus will not be on the technical side. “A big piece of the financial side is SEC reporting and compliance and regulations,” he said. “I’ve had quite a bit of experience in that area and

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I’ve also had experience in public accounting firms like Deloitte and Touche. “What’s compelling about Aqua

Judd Merrill

Metals is that the science behind this technology works, it’s new and it’s green, so that’s exciting. The company is working on ways to make sure that it works economically and it’s put a lot of emphasis on that. “When new technologies come out sometimes it takes a lot of time to figure out how they work but eventually they get it. Especially when there’s a need for it, and there’s a need for recycling lead and Aqua Metals has found a way to do it.” In August 2017, Mark Weinswig took over from Thomas Murphy as CFO, who stayed on as consultant then returned to the job the following March, replacing Weinswig. A month later, Murphy was replaced by Frank Kneuttel, who has now been replaced by Merrill.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 15

NEWS

JCI sale agreed for $13.2bn with refocus on emerging markets sales No immediate change of strategy but a renewed focus on emerging market sales — “a runway of opportunity” — a repositioning into other battery sectors and a thumping endorsement of lead batteries. That was the message of Johnson Controls’ Power Solutions president Joe Walicki, speaking to Batteries International the day after the institutional sale was agreed with investors. That happened on November 18. It left the parent company $13.2 billion the richer and the world’s largest battery business in the hands of three shareholder groups. The managing group will be Brookfield Business Partners, a global business services and industrials company. Walicki said a big part of the strategy for Johnson Controls Power Solutions business — a new name has not yet been decided — was to expand into emerging markets. “The story we have told is one of growth, a runway of opportunity for our existing franchise, and that’s what Brookfield is excited about,” he said. “We’ve been very public that a lot of the battery growth in the world is going to continue in emerging markets, particularly Asia,” he said. “There you’ve got 2.5 billion people entering the middle class – a billion people are going into the big cities and as they enter the middle class they buy their first automobile. “That’s where the battery growth will be, and that’s why we’ve already been doubling down on China – we’re opening our third plant in China as we speak, and also recently announced a joint venture in Indonesia, so you should expect to see us geographically expand and we will continue to explore with Brookfield other markets beyond automotive that we have a right to enter, although we have nothing to announce at this point.” The commitment to expanding its sales in lead batteries across emerging markets was also a massive endorsement in the future of the lead battery. “Whether it’s a conventional vehicle or a battery electric vehicle like a Tesla, there’s a lead acid battery in every one of those cars. Tesla has a big AGM battery in it, and you move into the

16 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Johnson Controls’ Power Solutions president Joe Walicki

“We’ve been very public that a lot of the battery growth in the world is going to continue in emerging markets, particularly Asia” future and see electrification going up, you’re going to see more ICE vehicles aided by 48-volt technology that will be more efficient. “Consumers also want better connectivity and comfort, and also autonomy – self parking, lane correction systems, cruise control – all of this is going to put more and more demand on batteries to perform better. It truly is aimed at our AGM technology, and our new technology that we are going to bring to market.” The sale was finally agreed on November 13 and ended nine months of speculation over the group’s future. Brookfield Business Partners, bought 30%; Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a long-term institutional investor and fund manager, bought 30%; the remaining 40% has been bought by smaller institutional investors. Walicki described the whittling down process of potential investors as a tremendous task. “We spent nine months in a strategic review process with a small army of potential buyers that we eventually narrowed down to

Brookfield,” he said. “I have spent most of my time educating, answering questions, learning — we have learned a lot through this process — and we have spent a lot of time talking about the future and that our race is not yet run. Walicki said Johnson Controls’ building and batteries businesses needed to be operated separately for the benefit of both. “The battery business is very capital intensive in terms of its requirement, whereas the buildings is more capital intensive. The buildings business is probably five to 10 times the size of the energy storage market, so there’s a great need to invest in that business. So we thought about what the strategic thing to do was, that’s what our board grappled with, and that’s why they decided to separate. “Power Solutions and Buildings will be able to grow and prosper better in the future being separate than together.” Walicki, who has been president for four years, said he did not expect any management or structural changes, at least to begin with. “The part I’m confident of is they absolutely believe in our strategy, they have a lot of confidence in my team, the technology we bring to market, and the relationships we have. “Largely they’re buying relationships, people, products, technology and they want to continue to invest in that.” Walicki said the company would continue to use the Johnson Controls name until up to six months after all of the official paperwork was completed, which has been conservatively estimated to be the end of June 2019. Brookfield Business Partners CEO Cyrus Madon said: “We are excited to grow our business with the acquisition of Power Solutions, a global market leader which generates consistent cash flows and profitability.” Stéphane Etroy, executive vicepresident and head of private equity at CDPQ, said: “This transaction enables us to acquire not only the world leader in automotive batteries, but also a model in terms of environmental and health and safety measures, that runs one of the most efficient industrial recycling systems globally.”

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EnerSys moves further into energy storage, buys Alpha Technologies Battery manufacturer EnerSys announced on October 29 it was keen to move into new energy storage markets with its $750 million acquisition of the Canadian firm Alpha Technologies, a provider of AC, DC and renewable power for telecoms, cable, broadband and other systems. This is a new area for the Pennsylvania, US-headquartered firm, which manufactures and distributes reserve and motive power batteries, chargers and other accessories. EnerSys president and CEO David Shaffer said that adding Alpha, based in Burnaby, British Columbia, to EnerSys “creates the only fully integrated DC power and energy solutions provider for broadband, telecoms and energy storage systems, offering a uniquely different shaded value proposition to customers”. Shaffer said: “We want to get broadly into the energy storage markets in combi-

nation with our traditional B2B customers and behindthe-meter 500kWh appliances and systems,” he said. “We recognized early on and said we were missing some vital pieces to be successful in that market. “We think we have filled in most if not all of those gaps with this transaction, and one of those gaps clearly is the ability to engineer, furnish and install those systems, so it’s really the key driver — this is very much a future-based type transaction. “That said there are some nice synergies and some great revenue opportunities in the near term that we think sustain and make this an attractive deal, an accretive deal from the getgo. “But really the long-term ability for us to get broadly into that energy storage market is what is of most interest to me.” Shaffer said the acquisition would help EnerSys

Shaffer: “This creates the only fully integrated DC power and energy solutions provider for broadband, telecoms and energy storage systems, offering a uniquely different shaded value proposition to customers”.

to gain immediate scale, diversify end markets and increase exposure to industries with attractive secular growth dynamics.

Alpha president Drew Zogby will remain in situ, with key management also retained, EnerSys confirmed.

Korean battery manufacturer gets go-ahead to build Tennessee plant Korean lead battery maker AtlasBX has effectively been given the go-ahead to open a plant in Tennessee, US in what is a clear boost for the industry in the US. The last lead battery facility to open in the US was in the state of Georgia five years ago, and the one before that at least a decade ago. Despite fears raised by local residents in Clarksville, Tennessee, the AtlasBX plant has effectively been given the go-ahead with an air permit issued by the authorities early October. The facility will be the first

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US plant to be built by AtlasBX, which was founded 70 years ago and now exports its lead batteries to more than 120 countries, the company says. The Clarksville plant will make around 2.4 million batteries a year, with a dedicated AGM line, local papers said. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation issued the permit to AtlasBX, which is owned by the Korean tyre company Hankook Tire, despite residents raising fears of air pollution from the plant.

Local newspapers said the residents complained that any pollutants would be too many, but TDEC officials said the emissions plan outlined in the permit application fell within the required limits so it had to be approved. The Clarksville Leaf Chronicle quoted TDEC spokesman John Fuss as saying regulated air contaminants would be emitted. At a meeting in Clarksville in September, AtlasBX’s Joseph Kim tried to reassure members of the public and pledged ‘meticulous precautions’ would be taken, the

paper said. It set up its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2017, with plans to build the manufacturing facility in Clarksville. Batteries International was unable to contact AtlasBX at the time of going to press, but BCI executive vice president Kevin Moran said: “It’s great to see a new battery manufacturer set up here in the US. The industry already employs more than 16,000 workers at an average salary of $62,343. It’s good news for the community, the workers and the industry.”

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 17

NEWS

Trojan Battery sold to C&D Technologies as last remaining link with family firm cut Trojan Battery, the world’s largest manufacturer of deep-cycle batteries, is to be sold to battery firm C&D Technologies for an undisclosed sum, Trojan announced on November 6. Trojan Battery CEO and president Neil Thomas told Batteries International the new company would be a $1 billion player to rival battery makers like East Penn and EnerSys. “Discussions have been going for a few months. Two medium-sized companies will combine to create one company with combined revenue of $1 billion. Overall the businesses will maintain their separate brand IDs for separate product lines,” he said. C&D Technologies is headquartered in Pennsylvania, US, and makes and supplies reserve power systems that regulate and monitor power flow and provide back-up power. Its AGM batteries are suitable in markets such as telecommunications, UPS, cable, broadband and renewable energy, whereas Trojan’s deep-cycle batteries are used in utility vehicles, golf carts and floor cleaning machines — which meant the two companies’ products did not particularly overlap but were complementary, Thomas said. “For Trojan the advantage of this is that they have international manufacturing capabilities — allowing faster international expansion for the Trojan brand and range of products,” he said. C&D has facilities in the US, Mexico and China. Thomas said decisions on a new management structure would be made over the next four weeks. This May, the investor rating company Moody’s said Trojan’s profit margins had been under pressure because of increasing lead prices, an ‘unfavourable product mix’ and discounts to wholesalers, although it predicted healthy growth. Thomas said profits had stabilized and the company had experienced strong growth. Trojan has also added lithium batteries to its range (see product news in this magazine for details). “Clearly lithium is something that everyone has been looking at we’ve announced that we have our own lithium solution, and it’s going to be the future

18 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

of all energy storage firms. “But I don’t think anyone is suggesting that traditional lead batteries will go away, they have a role to play and as an industry we need to invest in keeping lead technology competitive and not allow lithium to just come in and displace it. We do a lot of research on looking at alternative lead technologies that will keep it competitive with lithium for many years to come.” Trojan Battery goes back almost 100 years, having been founded in 1925 by Carl Speer and George Godber, whose family owned it until 2013, when venture capital firm Charlesbank Capital Partners bought a majority share. “The Trojan brand name will definitely stay — it’s a 100-year-old brand, it’s iconic in the industry — I don’t know if there’ll be a legal name change, but our customers will still see Trojan and will continue to see C & D Technologies,” said Thomas. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year. C&D Technologies was bought outright by private equity firm KPS Capital Partners in August 2017, making Trojan a subsidiary of KPS Capital.

The Trojan story in brief

The history of Trojan Battery is a complex one. At one level it’s a simple tale of how a family firm began a repair shop in downtown Los Angeles and became an internationally respected firm. But it’s also a story of how clever business management, understanding technology trends and a close-knit family survived the twists and turns of

90 years of trading. It all began with George Reginald Godber. Born in Boston, Massachusetts on Independence Day 1899, he was a teenager when he first stumbled on the world of electric batteries. His location? A Holland L-Class submarine off the coast of Ireland towards the end of World War I. His job was to ensure the reliability of the submarine’s power source — vital to the boat’s mission and safety, irrespective of the war still raging around him. His comrade in arms — who later married George’s sister — was Carl Speer. The war over, Godber and Speer set up the auto parts business in a garage where the Occidental Towers were later built in Los Angeles. Their idea was to take what they’d learned in the US Navy and apply it to the now booming American economy. They knew how to repair batteries but realized a better battery could be developed without the need for the basic repair work. They realized early on that issues such as battery health depended not so much on its engineering — although that was important — but on the chemistry of the battery itself. In 1925 they set up what was to become a household name and the arrival of Trojan Battery. The name of the firm was not an obvious choice. Speer, who’d played lineman for the University of Southern California football team in 1916, loved the idea of adopting the team’s mascot, the USC Trojan horse named Traveler. Then a company colour was easy — it came from the USC Cardinal and Gold team colours. Trojan initially began by making car

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NEWS batteries, and as there weren’t so many, Trojan could make batteries for most models. They moved into building batteries for commercial trucks. But through the ups and downs of the tempestuous economic climate of the 1930s the firm retained its focus on improving their basic product: the lead acid battery. The Eureka moment came in 1939, when Godber perfected a way to determine and maintain the electrolyte level in the cells of an electrical battery. His key patent (US 2242671) was granted in May 1941. Godber’s sons, Dick and Ray, had now joined the firm, ushering in the second generation at the company. Trojan becamse a major US battery firm in the early 1950s with the development of its deep-cycle batteries. The catalyst was a dynamic businessman named Royce Seevers, who had set up the Autoette Electric Car Company in Long Beach, Los Angeles. Seevers had been asked to produce a vehicle for physically challenged golfers so they could play on the Thunderbird Country Club golf course, a celebrity haven in Palm Springs. The result was the Autoette Golfmobile, installed with specially made Trojan batteries, providing motive power to a converted 24-volt Dodge 1½hp electric starter motor. Trojan realized the opportunity in the golf car industry, and soon, maroon batteries were powering golf cars on 98% of top golf courses in the US. In the 1960s, the company expanded its line of batteries into forklifts, floor scrubbers and aerial work platforms. They contacted the OEMs in these markets and designed products to meet their needs. This pushed them into larger products such as Industrial Steel Tray batteries and taller models such as the L16 and J305 for boom lifts and floor scrubbers. “Trojan’s Industrial battery business at this time was focused on utilizing our proprietary pasting formula for longer cycle life. We also focused our efforts on the quality and craftsmanship of our manufacturing operation,” says Rick Godber. Growth continued into the 1970s with batteries for floor machine, marine, construction and industrial applications. The firm’s understanding of the importance of R&D, from its original patent application in 1939, developed with investment in Santa Fe Springs. In 1985 Trojan developed the Maxguard Advanced Design Separator — making Trojan the only battery with

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The changing face of Trojan: the inspiring Carl Speer’s team in action in 1916.

this proprietary technology. By this time, Rick Godber (third generation) was Trojan president. Realizing the way the wind was blowing he put great emphasis on both R&D and new technology. “During my tenure we added two locations in Georgia besides the California operation. One through acquisition and one built from the ground up,” he later said. “We grew from 40,000 square feet in the early 1970s to well over 500,000 square feet in 2007, with more expansion plans in the very near future.”

Fresh difficulties

The 1990s brought new challenges. “Our aftermarket distribution was poor,” Rick Godber said later. “Our solution was to seek out the top 13 or 14 battery specialists in the country and develop exclusive territories for them with our Trojan products. We then established our Master Distributor program in the US and Canada.” Dealing with competition has required extensive rethinking of investment strategies and branding. Speaking in an interview with Batteries International in 2014 he recalled: “In the 90s, Trojan had virtually all the OEM golf business. Customers’ demands were high in terms of wanting engineering and technical support. This forced us to add resources to support this side of the business. This is what most differentiates Trojan. We provide the infrastructure to properly support the continuing design changes in golf cars, and field demands from a technical support aspect.” Realizing it lacked the resources to compete in offering starting and industrial forklift batteries, Trojan moved out of those markets in 1998 to focus on its deep cycle business. In 1992, its R&D facility was set up

in Santa Fe Springs in California, the year after it trademarked its branding. In 2004, Trojan developed a line of spill-proof AGM maintenance-free batteries and then its consumer Marine/RV brand. In 2008, the RE Series line of deepcycle batteries was introduced. “These batteries were engineered to deliver unmatched life, durability and charge efficiency in renewable energy applications like solar/photovoltaic, small wind, and micro hydro,” says the firm. “Product innovation continued in 2009 with the launch of HydroLink, a single-point watering system for Trojan deep-cycle flooded batteries..” As a result of the company’s efforts in the renewable energy market segment, Trojan received the “Application Solar Project of the Year” award in 2013 for its solar-powered rural street lighting project in Dubai. The landmark product for this year was, after five years of research, the introduction of so-called Smart Carbon in 2014 to address the impact of Partial State of Charge (PSOC) on cycling batteries in renewable energy, inverter backup and remote telecom applications. Smart Carbon became a standard feature in Trojan’s industrial and premium flooded battery lines, decreasing the rate of sulfation in PSOC conditions and providing better charge acceptance, faster recharge and high energy efficiency.

Charlesbank steps in

The big shift in the family firm’s approach to business happened in 2013, when the Godber family sold off some its shareholding to venture capital firm Charlesbank. The firm had recognized that deeper pockets were needed. Godber told Batteries International that the sale would coincide with a refocus of the company. “The partnership with Charlesbank is opening up more opportunities for us to expand globally into new market sectors, as well as into new geographies including India, Southeast Asia and Africa. We’re nor going to be a battery company. In a few years’ time we’ll be a global energy storage solutions provider.” And with the final step away from being a family firm — coinciding as it does with the launch of its lithium ion Trillium product — by being acquired by C&D Technologies, the firm that was set up in a tiny garage in Los Angeles almost a century ago stands to become a first-tier global player.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 19

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Quemetco sued for 29 violations at California battery recycling plant The Department of Toxic Substances Control in California has filed a complaint against Quemetco, the lead battery recycling company, for 29 alleged violations at its recycling plant at the City of Industry near Los Angeles, the DTSC announced on November 2. The issues were picked up in multiple DTSC inspections and include a faulty leak-detection system, lack of a groundwater monitoring system and failure to minimize the possible release of hazardous waste into the environment. All 29 alleged violations are detailed in the 39-page Complaint for Civil Penalties and Injunctive Relief document, which was filed with California attorney general Xavier Becerra on October 31. Such violations would break terms in the California Hazardous Waste Control Law. “DTSC has attempted to resolve these issues, and although some have been addressed, serious violations remain,” DTSC director Barbara Lee said. “Facilities that process hazardous wastes must handle, store and treat them in compliance with our laws. DTSC is ensuring that they do.” In August, the South Coast Air Quality Management District prepared a 103-page Notice of Preparation and Initial Study on a proposal by Quemetco to increase its operations at the site so that its rotary feed drying furnace could be fired up for 24 hours a day, processing 750 tons of feed material a day instead of 600. The amount of coke material processed would be 750,000 pounds a month, up from 600,000. The amount of refined lead produced would in-

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crease from 460 tons a day to 575, an increase of 25%, if the proposal were agreed. Quemetco, which is owned by Dallas, Texasbased RSR Corporation (an Ecobat company), recycles used lead batteries from vehicles and other lead-bearing scrap to reclaim lead and other recyclable materials. The recycling process involves separating lead from other components, smelting the lead and refining it to meet customer specifications. The company was founded in 1947 and the facility in the City of Industry has been in operation since 1959. Quemetco holds a permit

from DTSC to treat and store hazardous waste and the facility is subject to regular compliance inspections. The company did not respond to requests for comment by Batteries International. On October 2, the public review period of the proposed upgrade of Quemetco Inc’s recycling plant in Los Angeles by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the Southern California regulatory agency, closed, The Quemetco Capacity Upgrade Project, according to the SCAQMD, sought to increase the rotary feed drying furnace feed rate from

600 tons a day to 750 tpd. In doing so the furnaces will be operating continuously — up from 20 hours a day. The bottom line for Quemetco is that its output of refined lead will increase from around 460 tons per day to 575. This boost in productivity will eliminate the existing daily idle time of the rotary feed drying furnace and reverberatory furnace. The application to increase operations comes three years after the permanent closure — and related scandal — of Exide Technologies’ lead battery recycling plant at Vernon, some 19 miles away.

Eskom launches 1,440MWh battery network in South Africa Eskom, the South African utility, has launched a twophase 1,440MWh distributed battery storage programme to cover the country by the end of 2021. The first phase, in the four provinces of Eastern, Western and Northern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal, will total 800MWh of battery storage and should be in place by the end of 2019. This will provide peak shaving, frequency support and ancillary services in the distribution network. Eskom’s report, Environmental and Social Management Framework Summary, released in October, deals with the first phase. It lists a total of 47 projects earmarked for battery storage, but while lead-acid batteries are named as one of the contending technologies, no further breakdown is given as to which chemistry will be used for each installation. The four chemistries being considered are flow batter-

ies, lithium ion, zinc bromine and lead acid. “Eskom will not dictate chemistries. Offered solutions will be subject to evaluation according to set criteria,” a spokesperson told Batteries International. “Sites are chosen based on technical need for battery storage to support the integration of renewable energy and the stability of the distribution network,” the report says. “Sites targeted to be selected are mostly existing Eskom substation sites, power line servitudes, municipal land or where the project will have direct benefit to the community.” The report says that just 0.1% of South Africa’s electricity is generated from solar and wind, with coal making up the greatest proportion, at 63% — although South Africa’s Department of Energy puts the figure at 77%. “This is unlikely to change significantly in the next two

decades owing to the relative lack of suitable alternatives to coal as an energy source,” the department says. The second phase will include 600 MWh of battery storage and 60MW of solar PV distribution and a similar report will be drafted for August next year. “The battery storage systems will be containerized and the containers installed primarily on already disturbed areas within existing electrical sub-stations, generating low environmental impacts,” the report says. “Additionally, the operation and maintenance of the facilities will be mostly carried out remotely. Therefore, no potential indirect or longterm environmental impacts are expected from the project.” The spokesperson said it was not clear whether storage would be expanded to a larger area in the future. Eskom says it supplies 95% of South Africa’s electricity

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 21

NEWS

Lead a winner for Scottish remote island energy storage system The remote Scottish island of Fair Isle, which has had to make do with no power at night is now connected 24/7, thanks to lead battery-backed energy storage systems supplied by the UK

firm Wind & Sun. Fair Isle is not connected to the UK grid and requires a combination of diesel and wind power for its electricity. The new power system went live on October 12.

Energy storage is provided by the Rolls brand made by Canadian firm Surrette Battery. Wind & Sun managing director Steve Wade told BESB: “We’ve had long experience with these batteries — they work well, have a good track record, and for remote systems are good because of their resilience,” he said. “We didn’t want a system that had to be reliant on a battery management system because we felt that would be adding a level of complexity, which would take away the ability of the local people from the island to be able to fix it if something went wrong. “Cost was another factor, and as to cycle life — the batteries in our previous projects (on the equally remote Scottish islands of Eigg and Muck) have lasted up to 12 years and are only just being replaced now.” The total price of the renewable energy scheme which includes three 60kW wind turbines and a 50kW solar array well as the batteries is £3.5 million ($4.5

Korea backs Australian firm to double energy density of VRFB The Korean Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning announced on September 19 it had awarded Korid Energy —a subsidiary of Australian firm Protean — $2 million to support the trial of a 1MW/4MWh vanadium flow battery with the aim of doubling the energy density of the vanadium electrolyte. Korid’s V-KOR stack technology will be integrated with another 1MW/4MWh vanadium redox flow bat-

tery. It is part of a broader $7 million project to devise an industry-standard for vanadium batteries across South Korea. Protean chair Bevan Tarratt said: “This will significantly reduce the physical footprint of the V-KOR battery solution, and enable us to execute further improvements, including scaling the technology.” Korid aims to improve the assembly process of its VKOR 25kW stack to boost

22 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

its sales opportunities in utility applications, especially in commercial and industrial settings. Protean Energy announced in April 11 it was to use an A$120,000 ($90,000) grant from the institute to test vanadium redox flow battery technology in Western Australia. The Perth-based firm linked its 25kW/100kWh battery to WA power operator Western Power in August.

million). The new energy system has been led by the local utility, the Fair Isle Electricity Company, which secured funding from a range of bodies including the Scottish Government, Highlands and Enterprise and Scottish Water. Other funding sources included Shetland Islands Council and the National Trust for Scotland, which owns Fair Isle. Fair Isle, about halfway between the north Scottish islands of Shetland and Orkney, is the most remote inhabited island in the UK. Until now the island’s 55 inhabitants have had to do without electricity between 11.30pm and 7.30am. Now, seven banks of Rolls batteries, with a total capacity of 588kWh, will store the electricity generated by 92 ground-mounted solar panels and three 60 kW wind turbines, to provide power at any time to the 55 homes as well as a post office, shop, inn, school, two churches, a fire station, water facility, airstrip, harbour, lighthouse and bird observatory. Two back-up diesel generators are only predicted to be in use for about 10% of the time. Separately, on the islands of Canna and Sanday, in the Hebrides, which are connected to one another by a bridge, three banks of 225kWh lead batteries will store electricity generated by 6kW wind turbines and 128 ground-mounted solar panels and will provide power for 15 homes, a café and shop, an inn, farm buildings, primary school, two churches and the harbour. Wind & Sun is based in the English county of Herefordshire.

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Huge opportunities for all battery chemistries by 2050 The switch from fossil fuels to renewables as a prime source of energy will offer a host of opportunities for all battery chemistries and not just lithium ion, Pablo Ralon, an associate programme officer for IRENA, told an audience at the ees/ Ibesa summit in Strasbourg on October 24. IRENA is the International Renewable Energy Agency. “By 2050 85% of Europe’s energy mix could be coming from renewable resources,” he said. “Battery

storage will be essential for the future. I anticipate that lead batteries, flow batteries, high temperature sodium batteries will all contribute to this energy mix. “Mostly they will be application specific but we anticipate that lithium batteries will be dominant by an order of a magnitude.” Ralon said that he saw V2G — vehicle to grid — technology as being “hugely important” in the way that the world’s energy mix will balance itself. IRENA

anticipates that by 2050 there will be some 965 million EVs on the world’s roads and 57 million electric buses. Ralon also said that he saw no business case for V2GAS at present and that the technology was at a trial stage but could become important for longer term storage. IRENA’s thinking is very much in line with that of the International Lead Association. Andy Bush, its head, reckons that the need

for energy storage will be so great in future years that one chemistry alone could not meet this demand. “It would be wrong to argue,” he says, “that we are in a simple binary situation of lead versus lithium. There will be room for both chemistries in a variety of markets. The sheer scale of battery energy storage demand in the near future — let alone in 20 years’ time — is so great that no single technology will be able to meet it.”

Aqua Metals announces lead ingot offering, more patents and electrolyte plans Aqua Metals, the battery recycling firm, announced on October 12 it could offer lead ingots to its customers as well as the larger lead blocks it has been supplying. “The ingots are the preferred lead format for our battery manufacturer customers,” said Steve Cotton, Aqua Metals president. “We have overcome the technical hurdles and are now making lead ingots at a steady state, which will allow us to ship our ultrapure AquaRefined lead directly to battery manufac-

turers for production and also allow them to test our lead for improved battery performance and life.” AquaMetals is also working on technology that will enable it to recapture and reuse the electrolyte from the batteries it recycles, Cotton said. “Our engineers have designed the process and we have procured the equipment that we believe will allow us to recapture this electrolyte, which will greatly improve our contribution margin per tonne of lead,”

he said. “We are deploying these improvements in two phases. We estimate phase one will take us up to 75% towards our target for electrolyte recapture and phase two will complete the remaining 25%. “We have completed testing of phase one and have begun installing the equipment. We have also begun testing phase two, and are very pleased with the initial results.” Cotton said if upgrades to the electrolyte manage-

US DOE provides $148m for research The US Department of Energy announced $142 million in funding for two initiatives aimed at driving research into energy storage technologies. The DoE will provide $120 million over five years to continue the Joint Center for Energy Story Research, a DOE Energy Innovation Hub led by Argonne National Laboratory. The cash will be used to continue research on new materials to improve the energy density of lithium ion batter-

ies and devise new concepts for flow batteries. During the first five years, the center has helped launch three start ups — lithium ion electrolyte firm Blue Current, advanced membrane company Sepion and long-duration sulfur–based battery firm Form Energy — and published more than 380 scientific papers. Of those projects, three can be used for grid-scale applications: Primus Power was awarded

24 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

$3.5 million to develop a longduration storage system using a zinc-bromine flow battery. Brayton Energy was awarded $2 million to develop an energy storage system that combines thermal energy storage with a gas turbine. Echogen Power Systems was awarded $3 million for a system that uses a carbon dioxide heat pump cycle to convert power to thermal energy by heating a reservoir of low cost materials, such as sand or concrete.

ment could meet targets to be completed by the end of the year, the company could be in a position to roll out additional modules. Aqua Metals has also been pursuing a raft of patents in a variety of countries, already having filed for 22 US and foreign patents this year. “While we continue to commercialize our breakthrough electrochemical battery recycling process, AquaRefining, we remain focused on building upon our already comprehensive patent position,” said Cotton. He said there were more than 90 patents pending in the US alone, and 20 in countries including Ukraine, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, Korea and Japan. “We have a tremendous opportunity to help transform the $20+ billion global lead commodity market, which is why we’ve instituted such an aggressive patent strategy,” he said. Cotton said he believed the company’s technology could transform the global lead commodity market

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NEWS IN BRIEF Johnson Controls signs deal to bring battery tech to India Johnson Controls and Amara Raja Batteries, owned by the Galla family, have signed an agreement to bring new lead-acid battery technologies to India, the firms announced on October 3. The Galla family and Johnson Controls will each own 26% of the company’s equity. The deal will see both companies share product design and manufacturing technologies for SLI, EFB and AGM batteries, a statement said. No further details of the technologies were given, but under the deal, Amara Raja has licensed Johnson Controls’ PowerFrame grid technology, which JCI claims is critical for meeting requirements dictated by the ‘Bharat VI norms’, which will go into effect in 2020. Andraca said: “This new agreement launches the next phase of a very successful 20-year collaboration. It provides both of our organizations with a powerful platform to introduce leading advanced lead-acid battery technologies and These are emission control standards on fuel introduced in 2000 in India, based on European standards which limit the amount of sulfur in petrol and diesel to 10 parts per million.

Elcora completes graphite testing for lithium ion cells Elcora, the graphite materials company, announced on October 10 that it had successfully completed tests of its product to ensure its suitability in commercial-grade 18650 lithium ion cells. Tests included making one set of cells using the firm’s natural graphite anode powder, the other set used a cell manufacturer’s standard natural graphite anode material. Results showed both sets of cells performed up to standard and that Elcora’s graphite anode powder is suitable for large-scale, commercialquality lithium ion cell manufacturing. The cells, which were made on the same day, used identical separators, cathodes, cell capacity, and electrolyte and were cycled at different rates and temperatures. The graphite anode powder also

26 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

passed quality control and safety tests that included exposure to a hot box at 130°C and a 2C overcharge safety test. The company said more than 200 cycles had been completed to date, with the cells retaining >95% of their initial capacity.

UK opens dedicated innovation hub to promote fuel cell energy storage A dedicated Fuel Cell Innovation Centre will begin researching hydrogen and fuel cell technology in the UK after it was opened at Manchester Metropolitan University on September 27. The £4 million ($5 million) centre will offer training to businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises in how to utilize their technology and open up market opportunities. Researchers at the centre will make advanced materials for fuel cells and next generation energy storage technology that uses nanomaterials and 3D printing.

California Energy Commission approves $8m in research to support storage The California Energy Commission voted on September 21 to award nearly $5 million to the Electric Power Research Institute to demonstrate a standardized, renewable energy microgrid at the Naval Surface Warfare Center - Port Hueneme Division in California. The data from the project will support commercial deployment of microgrids for military and non-military applications. The grants come from the Electric Program Investment Charge program, which funds clean energy innovations, strategies and applications that help the state meet its energy and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. The same day, the commission voted to approve 18 grants totalling almost $3 million to design, develop or test the technical feasibility of energy storage, energy efficiency and renewables. The grants, which are capped at $150,000, are funded through the California Sustainable Energy Entrepreneur Development Initiative, which supports entrepreneurs working on early-stage clean energy concepts.

Renault launches 60MWh ESS using second-life and new batteries Vehicle OEM Groupe Renault announced plans on September 25 to develop energy storage systems totalling 60MWh using second-life and new electric vehicle battery packs. Three initial systems will be between 1MWh-10MWh, depending on sites and existing electrical grid connectivity, with plans to extend the projects to meet the 60MWh target using 2,000 EV batteries, said a Renault spokesman. The French firm’s Advanced Battery Storage stationary storage system will store second-life batteries and new packs for use in after-sales operations, but not in the same container. The first facilities will be developed in early 2019 in Douai and Cléon, France, and at a former coal-fired plant in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The stationary storage system will be the largest of its kind n Europe to use EV batteries; the second largest is Daimler’s 30MW system.

Bi-polar lead acid deal targets Chinese market Lead acid battery firm FengFan and Advanced Battery Concepts have signed a memorandum of cooperation to develop bipolar lead batteries for the Chinese market. The MoC was signed on September 25 when the two companies met at FengFan’s headquarters in Baoding, China. It is the first time bipolar technology has been introduced to the Chinese market, ABC’s Don Hobday, vice president of business development, told Batteries International. “We’ve agreed to work together to bring bipolar to the Chinese market,” he said. “We have been working with JCI predominantly in North America for the past year and a half, and as they have moved closer towards commercializing this we now have resources to go and target other markets — so we have turned our attention towards Asia “FengFan is a state-owned firm and one of the largest automotive battery makers in China. We are also talking to other Chinese manufacturers and there will be other announcements.” www.batteriesinternational.com

PRODUCT NEWS

Trojan launches Trillium, its first lithium ion battery Trojan Battery, the deep cycle lead battery maker, revealed its first line of lithium batteries on October 29, which the company says can replace lead batteries in existing applications and use the same charging equipment. The news was made a week before it announced its take-over by C&D Technologies. The company says its Trillium — it stands for Trojan Intelligent Lithium —batteries have a better run time, life cycle and safety rate than any other lithium equivalent on the market. They could replace lead batteries in some of Trojan’s core markets — such as floor-cleaning machines, aerial work platforms, golf carts and utility vehicles — director of global product solutions Ivan Menjak told Batteries International. “We are definitely late to the lithium party — we may not be the first, but we want

to make sure we are the best,” he said. “It’s a very small part of the market share right now but as we look to the future we see growth in that area and we want to be able to position ourselves to offer all solutions.

“It’s not that we want to replace or displace lead, that’s not the idea. We’re not competing against it and we don’t see it as hurting the lead business, in fact it will help it overall. We’ve seen it already with some customers who can see we are now

Exide launches first marine EFB on to US market Exide Technologies, the lead battery manufacturer and recycler, has launched its first marine enhanced flooded battery on to the US market, the manufacturer announced on October 30. Exide’s Nautilus EFB is for marine applications and was re-designed for its launch in the US. Other EFBs from Exide have been on the European market for some time, but these are the first in North America. “Nautilus Dual Purpose EFB now offers a new case design, maintenance free performance and enhanced ratings,” Exide marketing director Alex Templeton

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told Batteries International. “Exide has previously launched EFB designs in Europe, where cycling demands placed on batteries drove the development of the new technology. With better cycling capabilities than a standard flooded product, key findings from the success of EFB in Europe led Exide to create our first ever marine EFB product as well as launching our EFB technology for other applications in the North American market.” Templeton said the batteries would be better for marine applications where dual purpose — for start-

ing and deep cycle — performance was required at a better value than AGM batteries. “With the higher cost barrier-entry for AGM products, we determined there is an unmet middle tier market option to meet the needs of the recreational boater requiring a dual purpose product with premium features. “Our Nautilus EFB provides that alternative to the market.” In April, Exide Technologies launched a lithium battery for forklift trucks and automated guided vehicles.

able to supply multiple solutions.” Menjak said that while cost was still the primary driver behind a lot of customers selecting lead batteries, in some cases it wouldn’t make sense to buy a longer lasting lithium battery anyway. With fleet golf carts — which are leased by golf clubs for an average of four years before they are sold in the secondary market — it would be difficult to justify buying the more expensive battery, he said. “At the moment, lead is a fifth of the cost of lithium,” he said. “If the prices continue to come down, we will see more of a move to lithium. It’s coming down every year and we will see that in the next five years, lithium will be in the area of 5%10% of the market share in our core markets. This isn’t huge — but it’s not insignificant either.” Menjak said the company had been working with a partner to develop the batteries under a joint development agreement, with Trojan driving the development using the partner’s technical skills. Many of the larger lead battery companies now also produce lithium batteries. In April, Exide Technologies launched its LiFTFORCE LPX battery on the US market, although they had been launched on the European market in 2013. In 2016, East Penn decided to move into lithium ion, confirming the company had a dedicated group of engineers working on the technology. The world’s largest battery manufacturer, Johnson Controls, has been making lithium batteries for some years.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 27

FINANCE NEWS Saft completes India buyout, pushes ahead with Russia deal Saft has completed the buy-out of its joint venture partner Amco with the purchase of its shares, the French battery subsidiary of oil giant Total, announced on September 21. AmcoSaft will be renamed Saft India and continue to support the Indian government, the Made in India program and Indian industries, said Franck Cecchi, executive vice president, Industrial Standby Division and chairman of the board of Saft India. Saft has been manufacturing nickelbased batteries in India since 2006 through the joint venture with Amco. “We are looking to strengthen our leadership position in India with an increased focus on rail, telecom and infrastructure. That is why we are increasing our investment in our plant, in lithium ion and nickel technologies,” said Guy-Patrick de Broglie, general manager for Saft India. Separately, on October 5, Saft and Hevel Group, the Russian solar module manufacturer and PV project developer, signed an agreement to develop megawatt-scale energy storage systems for solar power plants in the Altai Republic, a remote region in southern Siberia. The projects will combine lithium ion batteries with solar to ensure a secure supply of power as well as a range of ancillary services to maintain the stability of the local power grids. The deal is Saft’s first ever ESS deployment for a project in Russia.

EnerSys agrees to buy Alpha Technologies Group of companies EnerSys, the industrial energy solutions firm, announced on October 27 it had entered into an agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding shares and certain assets of select entities belonging to the Alpha Technologies group of companies. Alpha offers commercial-grade energy solutions for broadband, telecom, renewable, industrial and traffic customers. The buy-out cost is $750 million, which consists of $650 million in cash, with the remaining in either cash or EnerSys shares, depending on the average share price prior to closing. David Shaffer, CEO of EnerSys, said: “With Alpha, we hope to gain

28 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

immediate scale, diversify our served end-markets and increase our exposure to industries.” The transaction is predicted to close within 30-60 days of the announcement, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Dyson solid-state battery ambitions continue despite writing off $60m Dyson, the UK vacuum cleaner company that has launched itself into the energy storage market, will continue developing solid-state lithium ion technology despite writing off £46 million ($60.5 million) on Sakti3, the US battery firm it bought for $90 million in 2015. The cash was brushed off by a Dyson spokesman as ‘prudent accounting’ and as a reflection of the evolving nature of solid-state technology. Dyson has pledged to continue work on solid-state batteries, but the company’s change in investment indicates the technology has evolved from what it originally bought. The spokesman said: “Dyson’s investment in battery technology is growing, and this international research programme is quickly gaining momentum. “The technology — both solid state and other forms — is advancing quickly and this [writing off of cash] represents nothing more than prudent accounting.” In 2017 Dyson announced a £1 billion commitment to energy storage research and it now has multiple competing technologies in-house — including Sakti3, said a Dyson spokesman Dyson gave up the rights to Sakti3’s technology portfolio — which cost the company $200,000 a year from the University of Michigan, where Sakti3 spun out from — early last year. On February 28, solid-state lithium ion firm Ionic Materials announced Dyson — as well as South Korean industrial giant Samsung — had invested in the Massachusetts, US, start up. The $65 million investment round included China’s A123 Systems, Japan’s Hitachi and vehicle OEM’s Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. In April, Ionic announced that Total, the French power company that bought nickel-based and lithium ion battery maker Saft for $1 billion in 2016, had also invested an undisclosed amount in the firm.

Key Equipment Finance invests $100m in fuel cell technology Key Equipment Finance, a bankheld equipment finance company, announced on September 27 it would provide $100 million in project financing to fuel cell firm Bloom Energy. The investment will provide lease financing for around 10MW-15MW of fuel cell deployment, and should enable shorter-term deal structures that cater to customers that are constrained or inhibited from signing long-term contracts. Key has invested more than $300 million for lease financing and $30 million in Bloom’s Power Purchase Agreement program. The company began its commercial relationship with Bloom Energy in 2014 with a $100 million commitment for lease financing.

Monbat backs out of lead acid buy out of Tunisian battery firm Bulgarian battery manufacturer Monbat announced on September 26 it was withdrawing from the buy-out of fellow lead battery firm L’Accumulateur Tunisien Assad. In August last year Monbat confirmed its intention to buy a majority stake in Tunisian lead storage battery manufacturer Assad. A Monbat statement said: “In the course of the final stage of the due diligence of L’accumulateur Tunisiene Assad there were subsequent matters disclosed which are challenging the originally expected value creation and are increasing Monbat’s level of enterprise risk. “In light of securing the already committed investment parameters and acting as a guardian to the interests of its bondholders and shareholders, Monbat AD will sustain its investment selectivity and focus on those business projects in the current pipeline, which provide the best match between return and operational risk.” Monbat operates four lead acid manufacturing and recycling plants. Assad has two factories specializing in manufacturing, distributing and recycling lead storage batteries and two production factories, all in Tunisia.

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FINANCE NEWS World Bank pledges $1bn to ramp up global battery deployment A billion dollar pledge to finance 17.5GWh of energy storage deployment in developing and middleincome countries was made by the World Bank on September 26. The global program aims to accelerate investment in battery storage, which in turn will allow countries to increase their use of renewable generated power, improve security of supply and increase access to power. The “Accelerating Battery Storage for Development” program aims to triple the amount of installed battery storage in all developing countries in the next seven years. World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim said the program could be a game changer for developing countries, allowing them to set the stage for cleaner, more stable, energy systems. The program will finance and derisk investments such as utility-scale solar parks with battery storage, off-grid systems – including mini-grids – and stand-alone batteries. The program will also support largescale demonstration projects for storage technologies that are long lasting, resilient to harsh conditions and that present minimal environmental risks. The World Bank will raise another $1 billion in concessional climate funds through channels such as the Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund. The program should raise an additional $3 billion from public and private funds and investors. The new program will also assemble a global think-tank on battery storage, bringing together national laboratories, research institutions, development agencies and philanthropies to develop and adapt new storage solutions.

Billionaires back energy storage start-ups Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a fund that boasts billionaire investors including Microsfot founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is investing in seven energy start-ups, the fund announced on October 1. The commitment will be made to companies aiming to cut carbon emissions and harness renewable resources more efficiently. The companies benefiting from the

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cash are: QuantumScape (solid-state batteries), Commonwealth Fusion Systems (Fusion gas), Fervo Energy (geothermal). In June, BEV committed $15 million to two battery storage start-ups: long-duration ESS firm Form Energy and pumped hydro company Quidnet Energy. The fund is also supported by LinkedIn’s founder, Reid Hoffman; Alibaba’s CEO, Jack Ma; and David Rubenstein, the executive chairman of the private-equity giant Carlyle Group.

PV firm buys 75% stake in lithium ion ESS company SolarEdge Technologies, the Israelheadquartered PV technology firm, announced on October 11 it had entered into a definitive agreement to buy a major stake in South Korean energy storage firm Kokam. The global PV firm will buy around three quarters of Kokam’s outstanding equity shares, which reflects an aggregate investment of around $88 million, including related transaction expenses. SolarEdge says it intends to eventually buy the remaining outstanding equity shares, resulting in Kokam becoming its wholly-owned subsidiary. Kokam supplies lithium ion cells, batteries and storage for the energy storage system, UPS and electric vehicle markets. The transaction should close in the coming weeks.

Rolls-Royce Power System strengthens microgrid hopes with investment Rolls-Royce Power Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rolls Royce, is investing an undisclosed sum in German energy storage and control systems firm Qinous. The firm — which manufacturers aircraft engines, marine propulsion systems, and power-generation systems — will work in partnership with the Berlin-based start-up, which builds NCM/LCO lithium ion residential storage up to 335kW. A Rolls-Royce official told BI: “Financial details of the individual investment by Rolls-Royce are not being disclosed. Investment made is below control level under company law. “This investment is a strategic investment in order to support Rolls-

Royce’s ambitions to strengthen its microgrid activities.” The aim is to set up a partnership to develop innovative energy storage solutions as the firm expands activities in this business segment, said Marcus Wassenberg, CFO and labour director at Rolls-Royce Power Systems. Qinous has integrated its batteries and energy systems in more than 30 microgrids projects worldwide and has already integrated MTU Onsite Energy systems from Rolls-Royce in projects. In addition to the diesel and gas gensets supplied by MTU Onsite Energy, Rolls-Royce will now offer battery containers, include renewable power generation plants combined with intelligent control.

Hecate Energy, InfraRed Capital Partners launch energy storage firm Hecate Energy and InfraRed Capital Partners announced on October 16 they had formed an energy storage company called Hecate Grid to develop, build, own, and operate utilityscale energy storage projects in North America. Hecate has contributed its 126MWh portfolio of operating and contracted assets, and 600MWh of pipeline projects. InfraRed has committed to fund the new company’s growth, which will be headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Dan Walker has been named CEO of the new firm. Thomas Buss, investment director and transaction lead for InfraRed, said: “We believe the time is now to invest in the North American energy storage markets.”

Metals firm moves deeper into battery material supply chain Metal company Terrafame will start to produce nickel and cobalt sulphates for electric vehicle battery makers at its current site in Sotkamo, Finland, following an investment package announced by its board of directors on October 24. The company will invest around €240 million ($271 million). The company aims to complete the plant by the end of 2020, with commercial production beginning at the start of the following year.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 29

ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

Second-life partnership combines Nissan and EDF Energy technology Nissan continues to push its second-life electric vehicle battery credentials and it announced a partnership on October 10 with EDF Energy to explore the UK utility’s demand side response platform, PowerShift. The partnership will begin with a collaboration to explore how second-life Nissan LEAF electric vehicle batteries can support demand side management. The joint project will explore the business case for using batteries from Nissan vehicles to store and release power back to the grid using PowerShift technology to react to demand side response. The system will be trialled to see how it can support on-site generation, allow greater control and flexibility over energy use, and

provide additional revenue streams. The agreement also covers possible collaboration across smart charging, batteries, decentralized generation and grid integration. Francisco Carranza, director of energy services, Nissan Europe, said: “We believe electric cars are just the start, and our second life programme ensures batteries from our cars continue to provide energy storage capacity in other applications – in houses, businesses, football stadiums even – long after their life in cars.” In July, BI reported that a 2.8MWh system, the largest of its type in a European commercial building, would combine Eaton’s power conversion units and the equivalent of 148 Nis-

State report finds Nevada has 1GW storage potential for 2030 A study released on October 3 by consulting firm The Brattle Group for the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada and the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy found up to 175MW of grid-scale storage could be cost effectively deployed in the state by 2020 and more than 1GW by 2030. Fulfilling the state’s potential will require battery prices to continue falling and a change in market conditions, The Economic Potential for Energy Storage in Nevada report found. The report looked at the full installed cost of the storage technology, lithium ion in this case, and the benefits, which included avoiding utility costs and reducing outages by siting storage on the distribution system. Costs and benefits were levelized over a 15-year period.

Ryan Hledik, a co-author of the report, told Batteries Internatioinal: “The vast majority of cost-effective deployment potential that we identified was associated with utility scale storage projects that are connected at the distribution level. “We identified some additional incremental potential in behind-the-meter storage adoption, based on existing retail rate structures.” The study noted that behind-the-meter storage adoption by commercial and industrial customers could further increase deployment up to 70MW within 12 years. The purpose of the study was to help the PUCN decide if a storage procurement target is in the public interest, said Hledik. “Comments are being collected from stakeholders, he said.

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san LEAF batteries at the famous Cruijff Arena in the Netherlands. In August, Nissan announced it had signed a memorandum of intent with Brazil’s Federal University of Santa Catarina to test its LEAF electric vehicle batteries in energy storage applications. In April, Japanese firms Benex Corp and Sumitomo launched a project using second-life lithium ion

batteries from 10 Nissan e-NV200 electric commercial vehicles to power Benex’s plant in Isahaya, Japan. The project combines renewable energy, end-of-life batteries and electric vehicles to demonstrate a virtual power plant technology. The project will use EV batteries to stabilize output from the rooftop solar panel system and for peak-shifting services to reduce the plant’s electricity costs.

Negotiations begin for 1GWh of energy storage in Hawaii Local utilities Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light announced on October 9 they are in contract negotiations with developers to build seven solar-plus-storage projects on three of the US state’s islands. If realized, the projects could produce long-term contracts for 855MWh of solar energy on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii islands. The projects will also need to be approved by the Public Utilities Commission. Working with the PUC, the companies tripled their original procurement scope for Hawaii Island to 60MW. The seven projects include:

Oahu — three projects totalling 515MWh of storage; Maui — two projects totalling 300MWh of storage; Hawaii Island — two projects totalling 240MWh of storage. The companies already have more than 500MW of renewable energy under contract in addition to nearly 80,000 private rooftop PV systems in operation. Hawaiian Electric Company announced on May 2 it is planning to build a total of 120MW of lithium ion grid-scale energy storage to ensure its security of supply, allow for increased renewables penetration and reduce fossil fuel use on the Oahu electric grid.

Japan merger paves way for solid-state EV batteries Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan looks set to move into all-solidstate lithium-ion batteries after a merger with Showa Shell Sekiyu, a Japanese subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell group, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on October 1. If the merger goes through next April, it

will free up cash to commercialize the batteries, which are expected to be market ready in the 2020s. Idemitsu has obtained patents and created a new unit to find ways of reusing the sulfur produced as a by-product during oil refining to make hydrogen sulphide.

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Autumn 2018

The game changer! Lead squares up to lithium for large scale energy storage

Island microgrids Replacing costly diesel for renewables and batteries

Fondly remembered Electrochemist genius Al Salkind passed away in June Profile: Lampe-Önnerud Mixing innovation, ability and commercialization

Bringing the industry together

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The CEO interview Srivastava and Leclanché’s bid for world dominance

Jeanne Burbank’s legacy Battery pioneer whose lead insights are still with us

The new titans of lead Ecoult’s UltraBattery take lithium on — head to head

Capacitors come of age Will supercaps be the next miracle ingredient ‘x’?

Bringing the industry together

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Masters of illusion

Lithium batteries: soon to be as recyclable as lead?

New uses for an established chemistry Liquid power The next generation of flow batteries is starting to emerge

ALABC, Argonne to explore uncharted R&D waters

Picking the new industry leader

Nickel: still an important cog in the energy storage game

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Lead battery industry mourn passing of Detchko Pavlov 'With respect Mr President, it's business as normal'

The mysterious world of energy storage pricing

17ABC: full coverage of the lead event of the year The coming shake-up for the world of UPS

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East Penn's Dan Langdon retires, Chris Pruitt takes over as CEO A life in energy storage: Shep Wolsky dies aged 91

E LENG AL R CH Thorsby steps down as EVP for LA D SO Battery Council International RL WO OM FR

The promise of the year ahead: what 2018 means for us all

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The next revolution

New chemistries, approaches challenge ascendancy of lithium Annual innovation awards: an in-depth look at the contenders Last impressions: Thorsby reflects on his time at the Battery Council

First impressions, Moran talks over the challenges as BCI's new EVP E DA Lead acid to break new ground TH in East African microgrids OM

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A new generation of female leadership gets set to emerge SIDE

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Virtual power plants: the new nexus of renewables, grids, energy storage

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Farewell Ken Peters, unsung hero of VRLA possibilities

ELBC proves conference talk of the year — an insider's view

Borish Monahov retires, steps down as ALABC head

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ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

First grid-connected baseload tidal energy power station plus storage

Scottish cleantech company Nova Innovation announced on October 30 it had integrated a 500kWh Tesla Powerpack to its three 100kWh tidal turbines to form the world’s first grid-

connected baseload tidal power station. Nova’s Tidal Energy Storage System demonstrator in Shetland stores power generated by the six-hour cycle of the tide to deliver grid-scale services. A Nova official said the system would provide general dispatch optimization and islanding with the power going into the Shetland grid. The project was commissioned on October 12. Sam Gardner, acting director of environmental charity WWF Scotland, said: “Predictable renewable power and smart storage working in harmony is the holy grail of the transition to

a renewable electricity system. “It’s great that the Scottish government has backed this project and we hope it inspires politicians and others with the confidence to provide further support for ground-breaking technologies to cut climate pollution.” Baseload capacity has traditionally been delivered by nuclear and coal, however with the transition to carbon-free energy Nova expects to be able to scale up their technology to hundreds of megawatts to deliver this continuous supply and displace traditional generation methods. The project is set to be doubled to six tidal turbines.

Grid scale ESS first as Scotland pushes ahead on aggressive renewables target Scotland has commissioned its first utility scale battery storage system with the launch of a 20MW facility in West Lothian, renewable energy firm RES announced on September 12. The UK-based company built and will manage the Broxburn Energy Storage facility, owned by The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), which will provide grid services to system operator National Grid. Those services include peak shifting and enhanced frequency response. In the past decade, Scotland has grown its renewable generation to more than 60%, a success story the country is keen to build on in the next 10 years, its first minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP told the All Energy conference earlier this year. Richard Crawford, director, Infrastructure at InfraRed Capital Partners, investment manager for TRIG, said: “As the installed base of renewables generation continues to increase, energy storage infrastructure projects like Broxburn are becoming increasingly important in

balancing intermittent generation.” The Livingston based NRS Group was the main civil contractor during the £1.5 million ($2 million) construction phase. The facility is managed 24 hours a day using RES’ RESolve operating system, from the company’s control centre in Glasgow.

Helen Mahy CBE, chairman of TRIG, and Gavin McAlpine, chairman of RES, show Scotland’s minister for trade, investment and innovation, Ivan McKee, centre, around the Broxburn Energy Storage facility.

UK first as Tesvolt delivers solar+storage municipal owned project The UK’s first subsidiaryfree, municipal-run solar plus storage project was commissioned last month, German energy storage provider Tesvolt announced on October 31. West Sussex County Council, the authority that commissioned the project, will sell power generated from the project on the electricity wholesale market for the next 25 years. The ESS will access additional income from price arbitrage, frequency services and triad management/capacity market

32 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

income. Tesvolt’s 4.4MW system uses prismatic cells manufactured by Samsung SDI, and is connected to a 7.4MW solar park in Westhampnett, Sussex. WSCC leader Louise Goldsmith said the project — the UK’s second subsidiary free solar farm and first to be combined with battery storage by a government authority — demonstrated that councils could have a role to play as leaders on energy. Intelligent control of every single battery cell

ensures the long service life of the storage system. This allows for optimal charging and discharging of the cells and for the prevention of errors or damage to the cells due to unequal states of charge. (Triad is a UK charging mechanism adopted by power transmission company National Grid. The charge is calculated by taking three half-hour moments of highest demand between November and February, each being at least 10 days apart.)

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ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

California pushes ahead with goal for 100% renewables California has long led the US energy storage markets and could well be the leader at the forefront of renewable generation after the state’s governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 100 on September 10, setting out a 100% clean energy goal by 2045. The announcement was applauded by the US Energy Storage Association, which believes the law will send a strong investment signal for long-duration storage technologies, and accelerate investment and deployment of grid-scale storage. An executive order has also been issued, establishing a target for the largest storage market in the US to achieve carbon neutrality in the same timeframe. To do so, California will have to more than triple its in-state, non-CO2 emitting generation to meet last year’s 206GWh of overall generated capacity, according to figures from the California Energy Commission. A spokesperson from the commission said: “California has been actively pursuing power generation through clean energy resources for more than a decade. The state’s first Re-

“SB 100 sets a target to arrive at zero emission electricity production by 2045. We believe other states in western US will follow, which makes it an interesting and important market when it comes to storage and production of renewables.”

newables Portfolio Standard was established in 2002, and it has been constantly updated with even more ambitious targets. California’s pioneering approach comes just over a year since president Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement, and follows a California Public Utility Commission target of more than 1GW of storage procurement by investor owned power utilities by 2024. Governor Brown said: “This bill and the executive order put California on a path to meet the goals of Paris and beyond. It will not

be easy. It will not be immediate. But it must be done.” The bill’s author, senator Kevin de León, said California had sent a message to the rest of the world that they were taking the future into their own hands. The bill’s ratification came two weeks after the state’s assembly passed SB 100, which establishes how much of the electricity system should be powered from renewable energy resources, half by 2025 and 60% by 2030. The commission spokesman said: “Even though the deadline is nearly 30 years from today, utilities are already on the way to achiev-

Swedish firm buys secret 250MW storage-plus-solar project in US Eolus, the Swedish management consulting firm, announced on September 10 that its wholly owned subsidiary Eolus North America had bought its first solar-plus-storage project in America. The project is in the early development phase, but the company says it has a planned capacity of 500MW solar PV and 250MW battery storage. Further details such as the company the project was

bought from (Eolus will not disclose the name) and the chemistry (not yet decided) are less forthcoming. The company is somewhere in the western US, which means it is in a favourable region for renewable energy development, and has an interconnection queue position to deliver power to California. Johan Hammarqvist, head of communications at Eolus, did tell BI that it was the company’s first

34 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

solar and storage project, although they did have several wind projects in the US. “We see a push in several western US states and their effort to reduce dependency on fossil-fired generation and instead increase their renewable energy production. For instance, with California making SB 100 law,” said Hammarqvist. “SB 100 sets a target to arrive at zero emission electricity production by 2045.

ing the previous requirement of 50% renewables.” The Energy Storage Association applauded the news, which it believes will position California as a leader in the US moving to 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2045. ESA’s CEO Kelly SpeakesBackman said: “The innovation of California within the energy sector is welcomed by the storage industry as we stand on the precipice of realizing our own goal of 35GW of new storage deployed by 2025. “As an enabling technology with many applications, the added flexibility storage provides to the grid will prove crucial to achieving the goals of SB100 in a costeffective way and maintain reliability. “Storage resources can be deployed to optimize existing renewable energy resources and to integrate additional ones, serving as a multiplier of the greenhouse gas reductions made possible by ambitious clean energy policies like California’s. “Important to ESA members, SB 100 will also send a strong signal for long-duration storage technologies, further accelerating investment and deployment of reliable and cost-effective storage on the grid as a whole.” We believe other states in western US will follow, which makes it an interesting and important market when it comes to storage and production of renewables.” The project should be in commercial operation by 2022. Hans-Christian Schulze, Eolus’ North American country manager, said: “Energy storage is becoming increasingly important in enabling grid networks to match the supply and demand fluctuations of electricity and to increase grid stability.”

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Bringing the industry together

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Meet the team

Mike Halls, Editor Mike, a former journalist with the UK newspaper the Financial Times, has been involved in journalism, publishing and print for three decades. “I’m particularly fond of writing about the batteries industry,” he says. “It’s an unusual mixture of being fast-paced but slow to change — and friendly too. What’s more there’s always something more to learn.”

Claire Ronnie, Office Manager and Subscriptions Claire’s our unflappable person — she’s the go-to girl for subscriptions or account enquiries. Go ahead and challenge her!

Karen Hampton, Publisher In her recent years of working within the battery business Karen has become a well known figure at conferences — not least as our social butterfly. “My job,” she says, “is to get the maximum benefit for our advertisers to make sure their name and brand is out there, while maintaining the integrity, fairness and excellence our publication is renowned for.”

Antony Parselle, Designer Better known in the office as ‘Ant’ he’s been working in magazine design and layout since the early 1990s. Not so good on showing his best side however

PUBLISHER Karen Hampton Tel: +44 (0) 7792 852 337 karen@batteriesinternational.com

June Moutrie, Business Development Manager She’s our accounting Wunderkind who deals with all things financial — a kind of mini Warren Buffett.

Jade Beevor, Advertising Manager Jade, who joined the team in early 2015, is already getting a feel for the industry. “This is an incredible business we’re in,” she says. “These people are literally changing the future of our lives — and the planet too!”

Jan Darasz, Cartoonist Jan has an international reputation as a cartoonist able to making anything — including an electrolyte! — funny. And as for LiCFePO4 ...

EDITOR Mike Halls +44 (0) 7977 016 918 editor@batteriesinternational.com

Wyn Jenkins, Supplements Editor Don’t let his boyish charm deceive, Wyn’s been a journalist and respected editor on major financial titles for some 20 years. When not heading his own publications firm, Seren Global Media, he looks after our supplements.

Kevin Desmond, Batteries Historian Actually more than just a historian on batteries as he’s written about many things. He’s the inspiration behind our Batteries Hero section.

DIGITAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES Jade Beevor +44 (0)1243 782 275 jade@energystoragejournal.com

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ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

Victoria commissions first of two grid-scale storage systems Less than a year since Australia switched on the world’s biggest lithium ion energy storage system in South Australia, its neighbouring state of Victoria has commissioned a 30MW/30MWh system, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency announced on October 23. The system, in the city of Ballarat, is in the final testing phase before being connected to the grid in time for the country’s summer — December to February. A consortium led by Downer Spotless has deployed the state’s first gridscale system with batteries supplied by US firm Fluence. It is owned by energy firm AusNet Services and operated by power generation and retail company EnergyAustralia. The system will deliver grid stability and security-of-supply services — an area where the Tesla-delivered

100MW South Australian battery has excelled. ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the battery would help to ease the constraints on transmission lines in Western Victoria that have in the past led to the curtailment of wind and solar generation. He said: “As we have seen with the success of large-scale batteries in South Australia, grid-scale batteries have an important role to play in providing shortterm energy storage and providing rapid response injections of power to help stabilize the grid.” In March, on behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA committed A$25 million ($18 million) to two grid-connected batteries, which matched the A$25 million from the Victorian government as part of its A$50 million energy storage initiative. ARENA has also funded a 25MW/50MWh battery system, co-

located at the 60MW Gannawarra Solar Farm, in the state. The Gannawarra system — which is being delivered and is also owned by Edify and Wirsol, with the torage system supplied by Tesla — was originally due to be commissioned in September. EnergyAustralia will operate the Gannawarra battery under a longterm off-take agreement. In March, South Australia’s departing premier Jay Weatherill announced the state would build a 120MW/140MW lithium ion battery. The state government would assist the building of the project by Simec Zen Energy with a loan of A$10 million from the state’s Renewable Technology Fund. Construction is to start this year at Port Augusta, and will support a 200MW solar farm installed for the Whyalla Steelworks.

Sodium ion replaces lithium batteries at Sydney sewage pumping station An Australian project will replace lithium ion with sodium ion batteries to store renewable energy at Sydney Water’s Bondi sewage pumping station, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency announced on October 26. The A$11 million ($7 million) system will feature 6kW of solar panels, an energy management system and a temporary lithium ion battery pack, which will be used for a year before transitioning to sodium ion as the first batteries are going to be received from a Chinese manufacturer. Researchers from the University of Wollongong’s Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials are leading the project in collaboration with Sydney Water. The system will generate around 8MWh of energy each year — more than the

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Bondi pumping station’s demand. ISEM director Shi Xue Dou said: “Sodium ion batteries are a potential game-changer because the materials are much more

abundant than those for traditional lithium ion batteries, reducing the cost of the raw materials as well as reducing reliance on scarce, expensive lithium. “Critically, this project

will deliver commercialscale, ready-for-manufacture sodium ion battery technology that allows lower-cost distributed renewable energy supply to become a reality.”

Pioneering microgrid partnership to bring 100MW system to Micronesia Engie EPS, the French microgrid and storage company, announced on October 12 it had deployed a 100MW hybrid microgrid project in the Republic of Palau, a Micronesian country in the Pacific. Dubbed ARMONIA, the microgrid will consist of a 45MWh energy storage system, 35MW of solar energy generation and diesel generators to give the Palau grid system an overall installed power of more than 100MW.

Construction should begin by the end of 2018, with commissioning taking place before the end of 2019. The solar component should deliver more than 45% of Palau’s total

power demand and allow the country to meet its Paris agreement goal five years ahead of its original 2025 target. The Republic of Palau signed a 30-year Power Purchase Agreement with Engie EPS. “This 100MW microgrid will be one of the largest storage-enabled solar projects in the world and a pioneering showcase for the whole global energy sector,” said Carlalberto Guglielminotti, CEO of Engie EPS.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 37

ENERGY STORAGE NEWS — DEALS ROUND-UP Younicos trades as Aggreko after acquisition repositioning Younicos, the German energy storage firm, announced on October 17 that it is now trading under the name Aggreko, the UK firm that bought it for £40 million ($52 million) in July 2017. Younicos will sit within a new business unit, Aggreko Microgrid and Storage Solutions. This will be headed by Karim Wazni, Younicos’ previous managing director and head of Aggreko’s solar-hybrid energy business. AMSS will be part of the Global Solutions business unit headed by Dan Ibbetson, group business development and strategy director. Battery storage will be available in mobile and modular 1MW lithium ion units both as stand-alone systems and as sections of Aggreko’s microgrid-as-a-service offer.

Nuclear giant and zinc hybrid firm sign ESS deal Hi-Power, a subsidiary of US nuclear power firm Holtec International, will build a battery manufacturing facility in New Jersey, US, after buying an equity stake in zinc hybrid company Eos Energy Storage. Hi-Power will have manufacturing rights for customers in North America and the preferred right to establish plants to serve local overseas markets, the company announced on August 14. The deal will involve scaling-up manufacturing and building out a global sales platform of the Eos Aurora battery system.

Pilot project utilizes three ESS technologies in one system Three energy storage technologies are being combined in a pilot project by mechanical engineers Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie Groupe at its site in Seraing, Belgium, the company announced on October 26. The installation, called MiRIS (Micro Réseau Intégré Seraing), will combine vanadium redox, lithium ion and sodium sulfur batteries with 6,500 solar panels on the roofs of industrial halls and carports at the site in the province of Liege. The energy storage system is supplied by: Sumi-

38 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

tomo (500kW/1.7MWh vanadium redox flow battery); ViZn (1.2MW/1.3MWh) BYD (1.2MW/1.3MWH lithium ion); and NGK NAS (200kW/1.1MWh sodium sulfur). “CMI uses different technologies to compare them and to use the best of each of them according to our customers’ needs or requests,” said a spokesperson. The equipment is connected to an energy management system developed by the University of Liège in collaboration with CMI to manage the installation.

Battery makers lock in lithium materials supply in latest deals Tesla has signed a three-year deal with Chinese lithium-hydroxide materials firm Ganfeng, according to news agency Bloomberg on September 21. Ganfeng will supply a fifth of its product to the vehicle maker, which in turn will designate its battery suppliers — namely Panasonic — to buy products from Ganfeng Lithium, said the report. The agreement runs to 2020 and could be extended by three years, the Jiangxi-based company is reported as saying. In August Ganfeng signed an agreement to supply 47,600 tonnes of materials to Korean battery maker LG Chem between 2019-2022. It followed a similar deal in July, whereby LG Chem signed a fiveyear deal with Canada’s Nemaska Lithium.

Arensis and Schneider Electric launch smart microgrid partnership Arensis, the US decentralized energy systems firm, and French microgrid development company Schneider Electric, announced on October 5 they had entered into joint development of a smart microgrid pilot program. The pilot will include the development of a blockchain Application Programming Interface platform for Entrade IO, a company founded by the CEO of Arensis Julien Uhlig this year. Mark Feasel, Schneider Electric VP Smart Grid North America Operations, said: “The system we are working on allows users to find

information faster, reduce operator error and avoid machine downtime, with features such as giving users the ability to virtually open electrical cabinet doors and increase their overall efficiency.”

Con Edison and Johnson Controls announce storage joint venture Consolidated Edison Solutions, a Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses subsidiary, and Johnson Controls announced a joint venture on October 1 to take advantage of growth in both the behind-the-meter and front-ofmeter markets. Con Edison Solutions will be the majority owner and operating partner of the joint venture, while minority owner Johnson Controls will contribute the intellectual property. Con Edison Solutions has been designated as the exclusive provider of battery energy storage to customers of Johnson Controls.

KACO new energy takes over storage provider Energy Depot KACO New Energy, the German solar technology firm, has taken control of energy storage firm Energy Depot as part of an asset deal, the company announced on October 5. Ralf Hofmann, chief executive of KACO New Energy, said they would integrate Energy Depot staff into its global research and development team. Energy Depot’s Centurio 10 hybrid inverter, which combines a solar inverter and a battery inverter in a single device received the ees Award as the most innovative storage solution at Intersolar Europe 2017.

Power supply merger given green light in the UK UK power supply companies SSE Energy Services — a subsidiary of distribution network operator SEE (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy) — and nPower, the British retail arm of Innogy, a subsidiary of German power firm RWE, will merge, the companies announced on October 10. The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed the merger did not raise any competition concerns following an investigation.

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ENERGY STORAGE NEWS — DEALS ROUND-UP

UK Power Reserve entrusts 120MW portfolio to Fluence UK Power Reserve has awarded the second 60MW phase of its battery storage portfolio contracts to Fluence, the Siemens and AES company joint venture, the UK power gas-fired energy firm announced on October 4. The expanded partnership for the full 120MW portfolio represents one of the largest global contracted energy storage portfolio transactions to date. UK Power Reserve secured the portfolio of energy storage projects in the 2016 UK Capacity Market auction. The sites are required to be online by the final quarter of 2020, but the entire portfolio is expected to

be online by end of summer 2019, UK Power Reserve said. In June, UK Power Reserve, which was bought for £216 million ($288 million) by Singaporean energy group Sembcorp Industries, signed a deal for three 20MW systems using Fluence’s Advancion technology platform. The additional 60MW of projects will be built using Fluence’s Advancion platform. Sam Wither, head of UK Power Reserve, said: “By splitting our portfolio into two 60MW sets of projects, we’ve had the opportunity to fully assess the market and took a nimble approach to keep up with this rapidly evolving space.”

Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of SSE, said: “This is a complex transaction and there is still much work to do in the coming weeks and months. “However, we’ve always believed that the creation of a new, independent energy and services retailer has the potential to deliver real benefits for customers and the market as a whole and it is good to see that the CMA has cleared the transaction following what was a comprehensive and rigorous inquiry.”

Cabot will receive $3 million to research aerosol manufacturing technology for low-cobalt lithium ion battery cathodes for next-generation batteries. The DoE is investing in 42 projects to support advanced vehicle technologies that can enable more affordable mobility, strengthen domestic energy security, reduce dependence on foreign sources of critical materials, and enhance US economic growth. Of the combined $80 million investment, nearly $32 million has been allocated for battery and electrification initiatives.

Argonne’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research renewed for five years The US Department of Energy will provide $120 million over five years to allow the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research to continue its work, the organization announced on September 18.

US DoE selects Cabot Corporation as low cobalt technology partner Cabot Corporation, the speciality chemicals and materials company, has been selected by the US Department of Energy to participate in advanced vehicle technologies research, the company announced on October 10.

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BYD delivers grid-scale storage plus solar system as Poland enters ESS market China battery giant BYD has tightened its grasp on the European energy storage market with the successful deployment of Poland’s first 1.3MW/2.5MWh lithium ion system, the company said on October 22. The storage plus 1MW solar plant — also produced by BYD — began operations in September, and will be operated in partnership with Polish PV company ML System. The project will enable grid-scale services including peak shaving. Poland is adding around 1GW of power capacity a year to meet its EU carbon emissions targets, following the introduction of its ‘Energy Policy of Poland’ in November 2009.

The country aims to cut its coal generated power supply from 94% to 60%, through new nuclear power plants, renewable energy and natural gas. BYD’s customers are in Germany, France, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, US, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

Firms join to create hybrid vehicle system of the future Johnson Controls Power Solutions and Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation announced on November 27 they will work together on developing low-voltage lithium ion batteries that will be paired with lead acid for use in hybrid vehicle applications. The new battery will be developed at a plant in Michigan, US, following the partnership between the US company and the Japanese firm which split from Toshiba last year. The two firms will work together to pair the new lithium battery with existing lead acid battery technology for dual-battery vehicles. “Low-voltage dual-battery technology is the next step in the evolution of vehicle systems that helps to strike a balance between consumer demands, increasing regulations and automaker economics,” said Brian Cooke, group vice president, Products, Power Solutions, Johnson Controls.

Nissan plans energy storage ‘ecosystem’ integrating EVs with power systems Nissan, the Japanese vehicle OEM, announced plans on November 27 to create an energy storage ‘ecosystem’ where electric vehicles are used to power buildings and reused in a storage system. The plan, called Nissan Energy, will let the company build on its Intelligent Mobility strategy programmes launched in the US, Japan and Europe by developing new ways to reuse EV batteries. The latest plan will establish new standards for connecting vehicles to energy systems through three initiatives: Nissan Energy Supply (vehicle charging), Nissan Energy Share (vehicle-to-grid/home/building applications) and Nissan Energy Storage (second-life battery pack applications).

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 39

VPP NEWS

Netherlands to test EV-powered VPP to balance grid, aFRR A pilot project to test the ability of electric vehicles organized into a virtual power plant to deliver secondary control reserve (aFRR — automatic frequency restoration reserve) in the Netherlands was announced on September 10 by virtual power plant operator Next Kraftwerke. Transmission system operator TenneT selected fellow Netherlands-based firms Next Kraftwerke and electric vehicle aggregator and smart charging platform provider Jedlix for the pilot project. TenneT aims to assess the ability of distributed energy resources, such as EVs, to deliver aFRR services as the country transitions from centralized and fossil fuel power generation. The project is set to begin next year and run for two years. The aFRR service in the Netherlands is considered one of the most important services in balancing a TSO’s grid, says Next Kraftwerke’s business and product developer Carlos Dierckxsens. The aFRR service supplier has to follow the system operator’s power setpoint, updated every four seconds, with their portfolio of generation and demand or storage assets. Those assets must deliver their maxi-

mum offered power contribution within 15 minutes. The pilot will begin with several MWs or several hundred EVs. The aFRR bids will be submitted in 1MW resolutions, with no upper limit to the pool size. New EV owners can sign up throughout the pilot project. Jedlix’s platform can receive charging preferences via a live connection with the EV. This data will inform whether the EV provides either positive (more production, or, less demand) or negative (less production, or, more demand) control reserves to restore the grid frequency. Dierckxsens said: “We will not stress the battery beyond the normal.

In fact, the battery is still just charged from its initial charge to full charge within the period requested by the car owner. “The only difference is that we start/stop the charging process in additional accordance with the TSO’s needs. We continuously monitor the state of the EV batteries to know how much we can offer to the TSO. “There is also no minimum or maximum battery capacity that we tap into. In fact, every car owner is remunerated in line with the energy that is to be flexibly charged. The more energy the EV needs to charge and the more charging can be shifted in time, the more benefits for the EV owner.”

Swiss firm SUSI invests in Australian VPP Swiss sustainable investor SUSI has pledged A$12.5 million ($9 million) to fund Western Australia’s first virtual power plant in Dunsborough. The Dunsborough Community Energy Project will begin as soon as the first 100 participants sign up and is expected

to reach 6.5MW at peak times, around 9.5GWh a year. Up to 1,000 solar and 9.6KWh lithium iron phosphate residential storage systems from UK firm Pylon Technologies will be installed in homes, then leased from the newly formed, not-for-profit

40 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

group for a flat fee of A$35 per week. Perth-based Redback Energy will provide the inverters, services and software to co-ordinate the project. The project is the first 100% privately funded plant of its kind in Australia.

Due to the high technical requirements, the aFRR service has typically sourced power from large fossil power plants that were available in the past. “With the advent of renewables, fossil power plants are not always available or at least their availability now comes at a cost,” said Dierckxsens. “At the same time, flexible and decentralized assets can together deliver a perfect aFRR service with even higher reliability than fossil plants, as already proven in Germany. “In the Netherlands, the scaling of aFRR from several 10s of (centralized and fossil) units to thousands or millions of highly distributed units requires some technical adaptations on the TSO’s side. “In this pilot we aim to both address these adaptations and test them in practice, as well as making decentralized asset owners comfortable with the product.” Next Kraftwerke and Jedlix will pool the EVs with other assets such as greenhouse lighting, wind, and solar plants, and biogas — as well as greenhouse CHPs.

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VPP NEWS

UK DER firm celebrates 19MW storage and VPP deals on same day Distributed energy resource software firm Origami Energy announced on September 20 it had sold the rights to build and operate a total of 19MW of storage to Gore Street Energy Storage Fund, the world’s first publicly listed battery storage fund. Gore Street Energy Storage Fund will oversee the construction of the projects — a 9MW behind the meter project and a 10MW front of the meter project — which are due to

be operational in Q2 next year. Both projects have revenue streams attached to them, including two, six-month firm frequency response contracts that begin at the end of this month. This will be followed by fulfilment of 12 and 15-year contracts secured in the UK’s T-4 Capacity Market auction. Origami Energy’s technology will deliver realtime monitoring, control

and operation of the batteries to enable access to multiple revenue streams for each asset, including the provision of grid balancing services. The company announced on the same day it had signed a deal to supply its software platform to UK Distributed Network Operator Scottish and Southern Electric. Origami Energy’s technology will support SSE’s delivery of its Virtual Power Plant services to

allow its industrial and commercial customers flexible energy management services. SSE’s Virtual Power Plant knits together distributed energy resources including demand side response, storage, combined heat and power, generation and electric vehicles to offer capacity and ﬂexibility to different markets. SSE also plans to operate some of its own embedded generation assets through the platform.

Sonnen to build battery plant and develop VPP in Australia to meet BTM demand Sonnen, the German microgrid and residential energy storage firm, announced on September 9 it would build a battery manufacturing plant in Australia to meet demand for behind-the-meter applications. The company aims to start manufacturing lithium cells this November in Adelaide, with the plan of producing 10,000 batteries a year for the domestic and Asia Pacific markets. A sales and technical training facility in the South Australia capital will also be established with the hope of creating a training accreditation program to be run with TAFE (Technical and Further Education) SA. The announcement came a day after the state’s government revealed a A$100 million ($72 million) Home Battery Scheme to assist households in buying Sonnen storage systems outright or over time with no upfront payment. Sonnen also plans to create a virtual power plant in South Australia to support the state and national grid

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infrastructure after successfully running a similar project in Germany. Sonnen founder and CEO Christoph Ostermann said: “We expect to contribute to increased grid reliability through the ability of the network of sonnenBatteries to store energy and act as a virtual power plant in a de-

centralized grid.” In February, the South Australia government began trials of a virtual power plant using Tesla’s residential lithium ion Powerwall energy storage systems plus rooftop PV. The VPP programme is initially supplying around 1,100 housing trust tenants

across the state with 5kW solar panels plus 13.5kWh ESSs to test the technology’s capabilities. The PV systems will convert solar and either feed it into the main electricity grid or store it in the ESS. The systems will remain operational for up to 20 years.

Alectra unveils VPP and blockchain led programs to cut emissions Alectra Utilities and Sunverge, the virtual power plant firm, are expanding their business relationship with two new programs, the companies announced on September 24. The Net Zero Energy Emissions program and a distribution level ancillary services market platform based on blockchain technology form part of Alectra’s strategy of decentralizing the grid through distributed energy

resources. The NZEE program consists of hybridheated homes fitted with Sunverge’s DER platform that will control and manage power demand and thermal load. The Sunverge Dynamic VPP platform will control emissions through switching between gas and power through the real-time monitoring of data. The second program is a blockchain-enabled energy platform designed

and implemented by Alectra. It will facilitate contracting, compliance, and settlement of distribution level market services. The objective is to validate how blockchain technology can support the energy sector by tracking renewable energy generation. The Sunverge VPP platform will control residential solar PV, energy storage and EV chargers for localized demand response events.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 41

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CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW The inherently poor dynamic charge efficiency of the lead–acid battery can be greatly improved by the incorporation of ‘extra carbon’ to the negative plate. To obtain maximum benefit, it is critical to determine the mechanisms whereby carbon proves to be beneficial, the most advantageous form and inventory of carbon, and the most expeditious method of introducing ‘extra carbon’. This article is a synopsis of a recent ALABC analysis undertaken by David Rand (CSIRO Energy) and Pat Moseley (formerly ALABC).

Optimizing the ‘extra-carbon effect’ for further enhancement of lead–acid battery performance The battery in ‘stop–start’, medium and full hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) must perform a duty that is far more demanding than the traditional provision of energy for the starting, lighting and ignition (SLI) of automobiles. In HEVs that make use of regenerative braking, the batteries are subject to high-rate partialstate-of-charge (HRPSoC) operation given that power returns of up to 30 kW are commonly experienced. Under such service, conventional lead–acid batteries exhibit a rapid decline in the efficiency of the recuperative

charging. Exposure to such rates of recuperative charge, even briefly, gives rise to a failure mode that is manifest as an accumulation of lead sulfate at the negative plate, in particular on its surface. By contrast, the higher surface-area of positive activematerial compared with that of the negative, results in a thinner layer of lead sulfate, overall, on the positive compared with that on the negative. Remarkably, the first demonstration and explanation of the mechanism of this adverse behaviour (see Figure 1) was presented in a study conducted by CSIRO under the auspices of the Advanced Lead–Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) some 17 years ago.

A.F. Hollenkamp R.H Newnham CSIRO

Figure 1: Electron probe micro-analysis showing concentration of sulfur in a crosssection of the negative plate during progressive stages of simulated HEV service.

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Carbon — the perceived panacea In the manufacture of lead–acid batteries, it is standard practice for negative plates to be provided with a combination of carbon, barium sulfate and an organic additive, which is usually a wood extract such as a lignosulfonate. These additives are collectively called an ‘expander’, although this term is often used purely for the organic component of the mix. During charge–discharge cycling, the expander serves to prevent individual crystals of lead from growing and combining into a dense structure with a low surfacearea and, therefore, a low electrical capacity. The function of the carbon has been the subject of much debate. Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 43

CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW At one time, the presence of finely-divided amorphous carbon, otherwise known as ‘lampblack’ (or ‘gas carbon black’) was thought to improve the conductivity of the discharge product and to assist in the formation of pasted plates during manufacture. The total amount of expander used in valve-regulated lead–acid (VRLA) batteries varies between 1.0 and 2.5 wt.% with respect to the weight of the oxide in the paste mix. The individual additions of carbon, barium sulfate and organic material vary according to the manufacturer’s specifications and the intended Figure 2: First definitive demonstration of the ‘extra-carbon effect’. Changes in negativebattery application. The benefits of including carbon plate potential during HEV service. Upper set of curves are for potentials measured at the in the negative active-mass beyond end of each charging step, whereas the lower set of curves are for potentials measured the level that was traditionally used at the end of each discharging step. for the expander function were first reported by two Japanese workers Lead grid Lead grid in 1996–97, who made negative Sponge lead plates that contained up to 10 times Sponge lead + the customary level of carbon (the carbon actual amounts were not disclosed). They conducted trials directed Conventional lead-acid Conventional lead-acid towards both electric vehicle and with extra carbon photovoltaic power applications Carbon Lead grid with AGM-VRLA batteries that Lead grid replaces lead grid operated under PSoC conditions to Sponge lead Sponge lead Carbon lessen deleterious overcharge effects. sole negative active-material Batteries with standard levels of Carbon encapsulates lead carbon failed quickly whereas active-material those with extra carbon enjoyed Axion PbC ArcActive UltraBattery™ appreciably longer operating lives. On discovering the Japanese study, which appeared not to have Figure 3: Positioning the carbon. attracted any following investigation or comments in the published literature, the CSIRO team conducted research on the Thus, since it is primarily the former reaction ‘extra-carbon effect’ under HRPSoC conditions. For that should be encouraged, the true performance of a 10-fold increase in addition, it was found that an regenerative-braking should be reported in terms of improvement in battery performance could be obtained ‘dynamic charge-efficiency’ (DCE) and quoted in terms — especially when using a carbon with a high surface- of only those amperes (A) accepted into the lead sulfate area, see Figure 2. reduction per ampere-hour (Ah) of battery capacity. Given that carbon exists in a wide variety of forms, The practice of employing the term ‘dynamic chargefinding one that is fit for purpose is not easy. Several acceptance’ (DCA), which encompasses both reactions, modes of deployment of the extra carbon have been is misleading. examined, see Figure 3. Carbon has been intimately Various empirical studies have provided evidence that mixed with the negative active-material, or has taken the addition of certain forms of carbon can invest the the place of the latter. negative plate with an improved uptake of charge. The Alternatively, the grid, which is the structural optimum amount of extra carbon has been found to be component of the plate, has either been fabricated from around 2 wt.% of the negative active-material. carbon on to which a conventional negative paste mix The incorporation of greater amounts of carbon can be applied, or a conventional negative plate has renders the paste mix difficult to handle. Further, it has been sandwiched between sheaths of carbon, as in the become clear that the more the amount of carbon added, design of the UltraBatteryTM. the greater is the surface-area which is contributing to To date, the prime aim of the work on carbon addition hydrogen evolution. Consequently, there is a down-turn has been to support 12-V automotive batteries in stop– in performance at high carbon loadings start HEVS with recuperative charging. Unfortunately, Despite the above developments, an unequivocal charge is accepted at the negative by both the reduction of determination of the means by which carbon assists the lead sulfate to metallic lead and the evolution of hydrogen. recharge of lead–acid batteries is a subject of continuing This sharing of the charge represents an inefficiency. study. Such knowledge is essential for the future ®

44 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

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CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW

• A conventional negative electrode has a double-layer but

Grid

the capacitive function is only 0.06-0.08 F g-1 and therefore e

sulfates during HRPSoC duty • The capacitance is increased when the surface-area is magnified by the addition of carbon, for example: 2 wt.% @ 200 F g-1 = 4 F g-1

Sponge lead

Carbon

Electrochemical (Faradaic) system

Capacitive double-layer system

• The capacitance is now comparable with that of the positive, which has high capacitance ~ 7 F g-1 Electrolyte solution

• The battery is balanced and a substantial fraction of high-rate charging can be handled by the capacitance

PbSO4 + H+ + 2 e-

• Carbon absorbs charge current at higher rates than can be accommodated by the Faradaic reaction

Pb + HSO4-

Current fluxes during and after a short charge event

Figure 4: Carbon acting as a capacitive buffer for current fluxes during and after a short charge event on a negative plate.

development and design of cells – not only for HEVs but also for the storage of distributed energy resources that are being integrated into existing electricity grids.

Understanding the ‘extra-carbon effect’ In recent years, there has been much discussion over the mechanism by which the carbon component can enhance negative-plate performance. The effectiveness of any particular form of carbon in this role is likely to be influenced by a number of properties that include: • the presence of metal contaminants at the carbon surface • surface functional groups • hydrogen evolution overpotential • electronic conductivity • capacitance • the size of any pores in the carbon • the affinity of the carbon for lead • interaction with the organic component of the expander mix • wettability by the aqueous electrolyte solution • specific surface-area (cm2 g-1) The challenge of the optimization process is to identify those properties that are the most important and this can only be achieved through a full understanding of the mechanism(s) by which the respective properties exert an influence. As many as eight different functions have been put forward. Nonetheless, the growing body of evidence points to just three principal mechanisms that are each likely to have a significant beneficial influence on the function of the negative plate during HRPSoC operation, as well as on the performance of cells in long series-connected strings. The overall situation remains complicated, however, because the operative mechanism is determined by the specific duty that the battery is performing.

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Capacitance: current flows during an after a charge event In the first case, the carbon serves as a capacitive buffer to absorb charge current at higher rates than can be accommodated by the Faradaic (i.e., electrochemical) reaction; see Figure 4. A conventional negative electrode will itself have an attendant double-layer but the capacitive function only becomes noticeable when the surface-area is magnified appreciably by the addition of an appropriate form of carbon. Under HRPSoC conditions, charge from external events, such as regenerative-braking in vehicle applications, is taken up by the double-layer and thus boosts the DCE. When the external input is discontinued, this charge is re-equilibrated between the double-layer and the Faradaic reaction. This rapid response is the key to the buffering effect through which carbon protects the electrode against high-rate charge pulses and enables the Faradaic component of series-connected cells to remain balanced. Although the introduction of extra carbon may enhance the evolution of hydrogen (v.s.), it is possible for batteries thus-treated to promote a long operational life without excessive loss of water – provided that the charge events to which they are exposed are limited in duration or potential. Extending the conducting surface-area The second effect of carbon is to extend the area of the electrode microstructure on which electrochemical charge and discharge reactions can take place. During the charge reaction, lead can be deposited on the additional surface, as seen in Figure 5. Cycle tests under HRPSoC conditions of cells that contain extra carbon have provided strong evidence that the electrochemical and chemical processes can take place not only on the surface of lead metal, but also on the surface of carbon. Subsequent research has

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 45

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CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW

Figure 5: Lead crystals electrodeposited on a carbon surface.

confirmed that two electrical systems are operating on carbon at the negative plate, namely: • the capacitive system, which involves high-rate charging and discharging of the electric doublelayer (the mechanism that is shown in Figure 4, on previous page); • the conventional lead electrochemical system, which comprises the oxidation of lead to lead sulfate during discharge and the reverse process during charge A duty cycle that is completed in a few seconds is accommodated by the first (capacitive) mechanism, whereas longer periods of discharge and charge require the involvement of the Faradaic reaction.

Physical effects The third way in which carbon can modify the behaviour of the negative active-material is by means of physical effects, as follows. Steric hindrance. Studies have indicated that the carbon obstructs the growth of lead sulfate crystals that occurs via ‘Ostwald Ripening’. This action helps to maintain a high surface-area for the discharge product and therefore ensures that the recharge of lead sulfate back to lead is able to continue. Electrode irrigation. It has been advocated that the addition of carbon increases the porosity of the negative electrode by providing an additional structural skeleton that facilitates diffusion of the electrolyte solution from the surface to the interior of the plate. As a result,

sufficient sulfuric acid is supplied to keep pace with the electrode reaction during HRPSoC operation. One other possible mechanism for electrode irrigation remains to be explored. Many carbons with high specific surface-areas carbon interact strongly, through specific adsorption, with certain aqueous acid solutions. As a result, some carbons can give rise to electroosmotic pumping effects, whereby the choice of an appropriate potential can cause a net flow of electrolyte solution in or out of the plate. Such effects could actively assist the movement of sulfuric acid into the interior of the negative plate and thus counteract the adverse distribution of electrolyte solution. This, in turn, would act to reduce the initial uneven distribution of lead sulfate and help to prevent preferential charging in the interior of the plate. Restricting stratification. Flooded batteries that are subject to deep-discharge cycling may fail when the denser sulfuric acid that is produced during charging gravitates to the lower part of the cell. Battery designs with a carbon sheet adjacent to, and in contact with, the plate surface (as in the UltraBatteryTM) are able to restrict the stratification process and thereby extend life. The mechanism can be explained as follows. In general, the negative plate is comprised of comparatively large pores with an average diameter of about 1μm. During charging, the highly concentrated solution of sulfuric acid produced within the pores takes the form of large droplets that flow out from the negative plate, as illustrated in Figure 6. The heavy and large droplets then settle quickly to the bottom of the cell and thereby give rise to stratification. By contrast, the carbon sheet in the UltraBatteryTM has pores of one order of magnitude smaller in average diameter than those of the negative plate. Therefore, when the charging passes through the capacitor layer, it is broken down into many small droplets. Since small droplets will settle at a slower rate, there is sufficient time for them to diffuse and mix with surrounding electrolyte solution of lower relative density. Consequently, the stratification effect is restrained. In view of the conflicting requirements for the carbon to function in these several ways, it is not surprising that workers who are seeking to optimize the HRPSoC performance of lead-acid batteries have resorted to evaluating combinations of different types of carbon.

Figure 6: Limitation of acid stratification in a flooded UltraBatteryTM.

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Optimizing the choice of carbon Carbon can be found in various forms with a very wide range of physical characteristics that depend very strongly on the respective electronic properties of the atoms. The principal allotropes of the element are diamond (an insulator) at one end the range and graphite (a semi-metal) at the other. A wide variety of amorphous, or poorly crystalline, carbon substances can be prepared, see Figure 7. These candidates exhibit www.batteriesinternational.com

CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW physical properties, such as electrical conductivity, that are intermediate Which carbon? between those of the diamond and graphite ‘end-members‘, but Carbon Carbon Glassy Carbon foam Active also are strongly influenced by black fibers carbon (aerogel) carbon other parameters associated with materials. Nano Their conductivity, for example, Activated Graphitized Furnace Thermal PAN Phenol Pitch Polymer Polymer materials carbons soot black resin based based depends not only on the crystal structure, but also on the purity, The principal allotropes are diamond and graphite micro-texture, activation, and thermal pretreatment. The common • A wide range of amorphous or poorly crystalline carbons can be prepared with physical properties that lie between those of the precursors of carbon capacitor end-members, such as: electrodes are coal-tar pitch, coke • electrochemical conductivity produced by heating organic • pore size materials, and petroleum coke Diamond Graphite • surface area – few m g for graphite to 2000 m g for which is the carbonization product activated carbons and carbon blacks of heavy residues in petroleum • Ash components – Si, Ca, Mg, Fe, Na, K, Ni, Cu, Zn – present processing. as ions, oxides and other salts that may be eluted into the electrolyte solution, or may be catalytically active Hard carbons are nongraphitizable and are obtained by carbonizing thermosetting polymers, cellulose, charcoal, and Figure 7: Significant properties of different types of carbon. fruit shells. Graphitizable carbons are able to form graphite-like structures by heat by the oxygen from the positive plate that is destined treatment of petroleum coke, oil, and coal-tar pitch. for recombination. The particle-size of the carbon materials can be anywhere between a few nanometres and tens of Hydrogen evolution microns, whereas surface-areas can vary from a few Hydrogen evolution results in a waste of energy, as well m2 g-1 (graphite) to over 2000 m2 g-1 (activated carbons as water loss that may lead to battery failure. In general, and carbon blacks). Activated carbon, which is mainly an increase in the hydrogen evolution rate (HER) may amorphous, consists of flat aromatic sheets interrupted arise from: in places by slit-formed pores and of cross-linked • an increase in the applied potential; (ii) an increase in amorphous carbon. the surface-area of the active-material; (iii) the presAsh components (silicon, calcium, magnesium, iron, ence of certain impurities. Items (ii) and (iii) relate to sodium, potassium, etc.) appear as ions, oxides and a lowering of the hydrogen overpotential (see boxed other salts, which may be eluted by the electrolyte item below) that may be brought about by the addisolution, or may be catalytically active. Heteroatoms tion of extra carbon to the negative active-mass. It (hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, chlorine, should be understood that extra carbon aggravates phosphorus) are present in individual particles, as hydrogen evolution because the overpotential (see intercalated impurities between the aromatic sheets, or box below) is less than that on lead. incorporated as ‘functional groups’. Such groups dictate the acid character of the material and its ion-exchange UNDERSTANDING ‘OVERPOTENTIAL’ properties. Carbon blacks are composed of agglomerates of The basic discharge−charge reactions of the lead–acid interconnected clusters within which there are regions cell involve dissolution−precipitation mechanisms that, that are ordered and have the graphite structure. In collectively, are known as the ‘double-sulfate theory’. For the absence of other factors, electrical conductivity is example, discharge and charge of the electrodes may likely to follow the sequence graphite > carbon blacks > be considered as dissolution into, and electroplating out activated carbons. of, dilute lead-ion solutions. It should be noted that the The surfaces of these materials, however, can lead–acid cell is able to operate effectively as an energyaccommodate a range of atoms or groups of atoms storage device by virtue of three critical factors. that exercise considerable influence on properties such First, the liberation of hydrogen from acids by lead takes as wettability, double-layer formation, and chemical place at only a negligible rate, i.e., there is a high hydrogen reactivity. Impurity levels are equally important. ‘overpotential’. Depending on the production process, industrial Second, the high oxygen overpotential at the positive carbons can contain up to 10,000 ppm of foreign electrode allows PbSO4 to be converted to PbO2 before elements that can include various amounts of iron, appreciable evolution of gas commences. nickel, copper, zinc, silicon, potassium, and sulfur. In view of the need to restrict the evolution of hydrogen Third, although PbSO4 has a solubility in the electrolyte during charging, it is, of course, particularly important that is sufficient to promote the electrode dissolution−preto prevent or minimize the presence of those impurities cipitation reactions, the value is so low that there is little that would promote such gassing. migration of the material during charge−discharge cycling For VRLA cells, a further criterion in the selection of and, hence, a high degree of reversibility is maintained and appropriate carbon additives to the negative active-mass the porous structures of the plates are retained. should be their ability during charging to resist attack 2

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-1

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CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW After sufficient carbon has been added to overcome the danger of sulfation when the duty involves the high-rate charge events, the further addition of the additive will serve only to increase hydrogen evolution with no accompanying advantage. There are marked variations in hydrogen gassing behaviour between the different classes of carbon (e.g., graphite, carbon black, activated carbon). As expected, it has been shown that the presence of a significant concentration of iron invests graphite with a high level of hydrogen evolution. In another investigation, weight loss was monitored for cells that contained variously carbon black, expanded graphite and flake graphite. The cell that contained flake graphite was particularly prone to weight loss and capacity degradation. The degree of improvement in HRPSoC cycle-life that results from the deployment of extra carbon depends on the amount added. The enhanced performance that can be achieved in this way reaches a peak at different concentrations for different carbons but in all cases that have been investigated, the maximum benefit is obtained for additions of between 0.5 and about 2 wt.%. The observed peak in cycle-life performance occurs for the following reason. As soon as any amount of carbon is added to the negative active-mass there are two results. First, the carbon is able to accommodate high-rate charge pulses through a capacitive function so that irreversible sulfation is precluded and, second, hydrogen evolution is aggravated. For small additions of carbon (up to the point that corresponds to the peak in cyclelife), the benefit of avoiding sulfation is greater than the deleterious effect of increased hydrogen evolution. After sufficient carbon has been added to overcome the danger of sulfation when the duty involves the highrate charge events, the further addition of the additive will serve only to increase hydrogen evolution with no accompanying advantage. If the HER could be avoided, then the favourable action of carbon could probably be extended so that a greater fraction of the energy that is available in highrate charge events (as in regenerative-braking with HEVs, for example) could be accommodated. Any attempt to suppress the HER by reducing surfacearea is likely to be counterproductive because both the capacitive mechanism and the rate of charge have a positive dependency on surface-area. Consequently,

research efforts focus on the materials involved and additional solid phases. Spectroscopic analysis of the chemical composition of carbon samples provided evidence that organic groups can form bonds with organic species close to the surface. As a result, the surface energy and surface properties of carbon can be changed. For instance, bonds to lignosulfonates could explain the dependence between the amount of carbon and the necessary amount of expander, whereas bonds to lead and water could explain not only the differences in the affinity of lead to the carbon surface but also the high affinity of carbon to hydrogen. Clearly, the carbon materials should be free of elements that reduce the hydrogen overpotential. Nevertheless, it has been reported that certain other elements actually serve to suppress the evolution of hydrogen at the negative plate. For example, it has been proposed in a patent document that the carbons used in the UltraBatteryTM should be accompanied by lead or zinc. An ALABC-CSIRO project conducted a detailed exploration of the influence of residual elements on the oxygen- and hydrogen-gassing rates of lead–acid batteries. The results provided a more extended list of metals that presented some promise for limiting hydrogen evolution. For hydrogen gassing, masking effects (‘beneficial synergistic effects’) were found to arise mainly from the combined action of bismuth, cadmium, germanium, silver and zinc. A combination of bismuth, silver and zinc gave the greatest suppression of gassing. In more recent years, attempts to find metal additives that can resolve the abovementioned hydrogen evolution (and hence water-loss) problem have been pursued with some vigour. For example, beneficial effects can be achieved when activated carbon is doped with nanosized lead particles, or when it is intimately combined with Pb(II) ions. Another approach has been to form a composite material from lead-doped porous carbon and graphite, which are believed to function synergistically in inhibiting hydrogen evolution and prolonging HRPSoC cycle-life. It has also been demonstrated that the addition of Zn(II) — either as solid ZnO to a negative active-mass that contains electrochemically active carbon or as ZnSO4 to the electrolyte solution — reduces hydrogen evolution without any loss of the benefit in chargeacceptance. More recently, the addition of ZnO and carbon black of high surface-area has also proved advantageous. The ZnO was synthesized by ultrasound-assisted precipitation from a solution of zinc nitrate and potassium hydroxide. Despite these studies, however, it has not yet been confirmed that zinc is as effective as lead (in the appropriate form) in suppressing the HER. A third metal has now been shown to enhance the value of carbon added to the negative plate. It has been

In more recent years, attempts to find metal additives that can resolve the abovementioned hydrogen evolution (and hence water-loss) problem have been pursued with some vigour. For example, beneficial effects can be achieved when activated carbon is doped with nano-sized lead particles, or when it is intimately combined with Pb(II) ions. 50 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

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CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW reported that the addition of bismuth sulfide or bismuth oxide can inhibit hydrogen evolution on lead–carbon negative plates. The former is the more effective and its excellent behaviour is probably due to the more uniform distribution and stronger interaction with carbon. Notably, both zinc and bismuth appear in the group of elements that were found by ALABC and CSIRO to reduce negative-plate gassing during float charge. Clearly, the exploitation of metal additives to alleviate the problems of hydrogen evolution deserves further study.

Maximizing the benefits of carbon The addition of extra carbon to the negative activemass of lead–acid automotive batteries can extend the operational life during HRPSoC duty in HEVs. Nevertheless, a secondary, but undesirable, consequence of such additions is a reduction in the hydrogen evolution overpotential. Thus, whereas extra carbon appears to improve DCA it may not improve DCE due to the parasitic reaction of hydrogen evolution, with subsequent dry-out causing the early failure of VRLA batteries. Without judicious practice, both the benefits of adding carbon and the stumbling block of hydrogen evolution are expected to carry over into lead–acid batteries in stationary energy storage. One or more of the following mechanisms may serve to provide the improvement that, in some cases, carbon brings.

high-rate cycling can be handled by the charging and discharging of the capacitance. Further, the involvement of the capacitive element is complete before there is much contribution from the Faradaic reaction. Consequently, the problem of sulfation can be avoided.

Extending electrochemically the active surface area Adding carbon can increase the specific surface-area of the active-material by up to an order of magnitude. Provided that the carbon involved has sufficient electronic conductivity, the increase in surface-area can result in a significant increase in the rates of the electrochemical reactions during charge and discharge. Physical effects In cases where the ultimate failure mode of the negative plate is an accumulation of ‘hard’ lead sulfate, the addition of some forms of carbon may obstruct the growth of lead sulfate crystals that occurs via ‘Ostwald Ripening’ and ensure that the recharge of lead sulfate back to lead is able to continue. Other possibilities are that carbon admixed with the negative active-material can assist the diffusion of the electrolyte solution through the pore structure of the plate, and that separate sheets of porous carbon in contact with the external surface of the plate can limit the extent of acid stratification. Optimization of carbon additions should continue and this should include close attention to the effects of active groups at the particle surfaces. Furthermore, there deserves to be a thorough investigation of the potential additional benefits that can be provided by the inclusion of one or more of the metallic elements that appear to enable the suppression of hydrogen evolution. A ‘volcano plot’ of the hydrogen evolution reaction in acid solution as catalyzed by different metals is shown in Figure 8. The metals on the left-hand branch of the volcano

Capacitance The extra carbon, either admixed with the sponge lead or in the form of a porous sheet as in the UltraBatteryTM, introduces the characteristic properties of a capacitor in parallel with the Faradaic reaction. The positive plate in a lead–acid battery is inherently blessed with an anomalously high specific capacitance (~7 F g-1), which enables it to provide the ‘buffer mechanism’ during HRPSoC charge and discharge without assistance. By contrast, the raw active-material on the negative plate (sponge lead) has a low surface-area and a specific capacitance of only 0.06 – 0.08 F g-1 and sulfates during HRPSoC duty. When, however, ~2 wt.% of a carbon that is characterized by ~200 F g-1 is added, the mixture has a specific capacitance (4 F g-1) which is now comparable with that of the positive. This elevation of the overall specific capacitance of the negative active-material is sufficient to provide the acceptance of 4 A s g-1 V-1 which represents 1–2% of the total capacity of the active-material on the plate. During regenerativebraking, only about 2% of the capacity of the battery is used (at the very high rate of charge) and so 1–2 wt.% of carbon provides sufficient capacitance to absorb the greater part of this super high-rate charge. In other words, during the HRPSoC duty for the battery in a Figure 8: Exchange-currents for hydrogen evolution versus strength of intermediate HEV, a substantial fraction of the metal–hydrogen bond for different metals in acid solution. www.batteriesinternational.com

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CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW The observation that lead and bismuth also augment the specific capacitance of the carbon is a bonus. Evidently, there is considerable scope for further work in pursuit of increased efficacy of carbon additions. adsorb hydrogen rather weakly and hydrogen is evolved via a rate-determining primary discharge. All transition metals are located on the right-hand branch of the volcano. For these metals, the adsorption of hydrogen is strong and the surface concentration is close to saturation, thus making hydrogen evolution difficult. Precious metals lie in the intermediate range of M–H bond strength. For these, the M–H bond strength is close to the H–H bond strength, i.e., neither too weak nor too strong, according to the qualitative principle of Sabatier in catalysis, and the reaction may proceed at high rate with a mechanism that produces a low Tafel slope. Platinum is in fact among the best catalysts for electrolytic hydrogen evolution. The five metals bismuth, cadmium, germanium, silver and zinc (identified by CSIRO, v.s.) that show promise in limiting gassing from the negative plate of a lead–acid cell are grouped together. As reviewed above, the merits of lead, zinc and bismuth in suppressing the hydrogen evolution reaction on carbon additives to the negative plate have already been demonstrated. The observation that lead and bismuth also augment the specific capacitance of the carbon is a bonus. Evidently, there is considerable scope for further work in pursuit of increased efficacy of carbon additions. The overpotential (for hydrogen evolution) acts like a heterogeneous catalyst in that it dictates the rate at which the (hydrogen evolution) reaction proceeds. The presence of particles of certain metals on the carbon surface controls the overpotential in the same way that the presence of certain other metals controls the catalysis of gas-phase reactions on the surface of semiconducting oxides (e.g., SnO2, CeO2). The difference is that, in the case of carbon-enhanced lead–acid batteries, the search is for metal particles that exercise a negative influence on the reaction rate, whereas normally in heterogeneous catalysis metal particles are intended to accelerate reaction rate. Perhaps that is why it is the base metals, zinc, bismuth, lead, that are found to be useful.

THE AUTHORS This article summarizes the findings of an ALABC Investigation Project initiated by Alistair Davidson and Boris Monahov with support from ABERTAX Technologies Ltd. The detailed account has been published as: Patrick T. Moseley, David A.J. Rand, Alistair Davidson, Boris Monahov as Understanding the functions of carbon in the negative active-mass of the lead–acid battery: A review of progress. It can be seen in full in the edition of Journal of Energy Storage 19 (2018) 272–290.

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Key findings The duty cycle to which a battery is exposed is an important factor in controlling the function of extra carbon added to the negative active-mass. When the quantity of carbon is of the order of a few wt.% of the active-material, the capacitance mechanism can cope with charging and discharging up to a few percent of the capacity of a lead–acid cell in around 5 s. Such a cycling regime is typical of the schedule to which the battery is exposed during most regenerative-braking events. There is then inadequate time for the Faradaic capacity of the cell, even operating through the extended surface-area, to make a significant contribution. The acceptance of charge by the capacitance at very high rates avoids the danger of any excess charge current spilling over into the parasitic reaction of hydrogen evolution and thereby may leave lead sulfate unreduced. Duty cycles where the charge and discharge events last much longer than 5 s, however, may still involve charging or discharging the capacitance initially but depend on the Faradaic reaction to access a greater fraction of the overall cell capacity. In such cases, the extended surface-area provided by the carbon material allows charge to be accepted by the Faradaic reaction at higher rates than when the carbon is not present. Thus, once again, the threat of hydrogen evolution and reduced DCE is diminished. In either brief or more extended duty cycles, the presence of carbon can help to prevent the development of so-called ‘hard sulfate’ by obstructing the process of Ostwald ripening. Unfortunately, given that the hydrogen evolution overpotential on carbon is below that on lead (see Table 1 below), the presence of the extra carbon gives rise to an increase in the loss of hydrogen which, in turn, causes ‘dry-out’ of the electrolyte solution that ultimately leads to cell failure. The search for methods of limiting hydrogen evolution currently represents an active area of research. Detailed evaluation of published work suggests that the following two approaches are the most promising. • Introducing metal-based additives The addition of certain metals can alleviate the hydrogen loss without degrading the benefits that carbon brings. For instance, it has been found that the incorporation of lead (either as nano-sized lead

Platinized platinum Silver

Graphite

Lead

–0.07 V

–0.62 V

–0.71 V 0.77 V

–0.22 V

Zinc

Table 1: Overpotentials of metals for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

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CARBON AS AN ADDITIVE: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW

particles or as lead monoxide), zinc (either as zinc oxide or zinc sulfate) or bismuth (either as sulfide or oxide) in the extra carbon serves to restore the hydrogen overpotential and thereby diminishes the HER. • Action of functional groups Certain functional groups at the carbon surface appear to be capable of reducing the hydrogen reaction by discouraging the rate of proton adsorption. Consistent with this hypothesis is the observation of a strong positive correlation of normalized HER current with the increasing ability of functional groups (examples shown in Figure 9) to render the surface of the carbon more acidic.

Figure 9: Active functional groups that can be accommodated at the periphery of a graphene sheet.

Future avenues of research Although the addition of small amounts of certain carbons to the raw negative active-material takes care of sulfation, hydrogen evolution is aggravated. The benefits of adding up to 2 wt.% of such carbons to the raw negative active-material outweigh the deleterious effects of hydrogen evolution. At carbon levels above 2 wt.%, however, there is no further benefit because the sulfation has already been suppressed but hydrogen evolution continues to increase pro rata and so battery life decreases. The rate of the HER depends upon the supply of the reactants, electrons and protons to the reaction site. The supply of these reactants can be controlled by the metal additions and surface functional groups, respectively. Metals that can modify the electrocatalytic evolution of hydrogen on carbon do so by affecting the rate of electron transfer from the carbon surface. To date, only lead, zinc and bismuth have been found to reduce hydrogen evolution on carbon. The CSIRO study of 17 ‘residual elements’ (v.s.) identified bismuth, cadmium, germanium and zinc as being ‘beneficial’ in reducing hydrogen gassing during float charge. The ‘volcano curve’ indicates that indium, cadmium, lead, gallium, zinc, tin and bismuth all have

similar hydrogen evolution properties. Undoubtedly, there is room for further investigation here. Future work should complete the survey of metals that can effectively increase the HER overpotential and the optimum manner in which such additives should be deployed. Simultaneously, mitigation of hydrogen evolution by incorporation of functional surface groups on different types of carbon should be evaluated systematically. Obviously, in undertaking modifications of the negative active-mass, it is imperative to safeguard against any adverse influence on the performance of the corresponding positive plate. Most of the work devoted to the use of extra carbon in the negative active-mass has been aimed at improving the DCE and extending the life of 12 V batteries for micro-HEVs. In stationary applications of energy storage, however, battery voltages generally need to be much greater than 12 V. If the buffering mechanism that appears to be largely responsible for the improved DCE and life extension of automotive batteries is also accountable for the self-balancing of high-voltage modules during mild-/medium-hybrid vehicle duty, then there should be considerable value in also maximizing the ‘extra-carbon effect’ for batteries in stationary energy-storage applications.

Future work should complete the survey of metals that can effectively increase the HER overpotential and the optimum manner in which such additives should be deployed. Simultaneously, mitigation of hydrogen evolution by incorporation of functional surface groups on different types of carbon should be evaluated systematically.

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COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES

Technology to prove the driver for the next advances at Exide New Exide CEO Tim Vargo talks innovation, staff, customer care — all key to driving the firm forward once more. As Debbie Mason reports, these are exciting times as the battery giant takes its next steps.

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COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES It has had to emerge twice from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and has been fined millions of dollars for the Vernon recycling plant pollution — but Exide Technologies refuses to stay down, instead constantly coming back with new products, new acquisitions — and new CEOs. Latest in the top job, brought in this November, is Tim Vargo, a seasoned pro with more than 40 years’ leadership experience in the automotive supply chain and process improvement arena. He’s got an impressive track record. As president and COO of AutoZone, the largest aftermarket automotive parts and accessories company in

the US, Vargo increased the number of stores from 1,000 to 3,250 before he moved to Exide. Sales quadrupled under his tenure, from $1.5 billion to more than $5 billion. It wouldn’t be a ridiculous assumption to make that Vargo is looking to do something similar at Exide, where he replaces Vic Koelsch, who had been in place since May 2015 and who remains in an advisory role. “I’ve been asked to accelerate the changes necessary to improve the key pieces of our business leveraging the three key things (customer focus, quality, environmental responsibility) that Vic helped put in place,” Vargo says.

“I’ve been asked to accelerate the changes necessary to improve the key pieces of our business leveraging the three key things (customer focus, quality, environmental responsibility) that Vic Koelsch helped put in place.”

THE INTERNET OF THINGS AND BEYOND

Perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of talking with Vargo is that the idea of tailoring products is going to be a key part of the industrial side of Exide’s business — especially as the GNB Industrial Power arm joins the Internet of Things revolution in what he calls ‘a unique way’. “We look at this technology as a means to better understanding our customers’ energy challenges for designing customized solutions from our wide bench of motive power technologies. Pre-sales this means monitoring vehicles to develop multivariate energy profiles and auditing facilities to ensure seamless integration of our technologies. “Once we have this information, we can model our entire product line to understand which solutions are the most viable from an operational and financial perspective. This allows us

to give more informed answers to our clients, who are understandably confused about the plethora of new batteries hitting the motive power market.” Perhaps what’s most exciting about this is that this is a launch of a battery manufacturing and technology firm into understanding the complete electronic lifecycle of its products — for the gain of both consumer and vendor. “We’re committed to being the experts with the answers to design better systems for our customers — with their input and their data. And once deployed, we can monitor our systems to understand how we are doing. We look at system design as our promise to the customer, and the back-end monitoring as a way to better understanding how well we are living up to that promise.”

What’s most exciting about this is that this is a launch of a battery manufacturing and technology firm into understanding the complete electronic lifecycle of its products — for the gain of both consumer and vendor.

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Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 55

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Our completely enclosed lead delivery system delivers molten lead from the furnace into our patent pending feed nozzle without any exposure to the atmosphere. The lead feed nozzle distributes lead to the casting wheels without any turbulence for consistent grain sized, dross and impurity free high quality strip. There is no dross generated anywhere in the process. The caster is easily started, runs automatically with little-tono operator intervention, and can be stopped and restarted very easily during production runs. It was designed to take very little floor space. We understand grid and plate making. We developed and patented the grid surface “Reforming and Texturizing” to improve paste adhesion to the highly corrosion resistant wrought strip punched grid. Our steel belt pasting developments revolutionized plate making by holding exacting tolerances at high pasting speeds, and our patented “On the Fly Thickness Control” gives operators the ability to adjust plate thickness to be during operation. Call Wirtz to produce the highest quality strip and punched grids and pasted plates in the world at +1 810 987 7600 or email us at sales@wirtzusa.com.

INNOVATION. PERFORMANCE. RELIABILITY.

COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES NEW PRODUCTS, NEW APPROACHES

Vargo says the company is setting out a new approach to customers, with products tailored towards specific needs, for example whether a vehicle requires more starting power, or more power for its electrical systems. “Modern vehicles demand more from their batteries than ever. In a race to provide more modern conveniences and safety features, car makers have dramatically increased the number of electrical components in their vehicles. “While some of these features are easy to see, such as touchscreen infotainment systems and powered accessories like windows and locks, other items such as lane departure avoidance systems and emergency braking systems are out of sight. “All of these systems create an additional burden for the car’s electrical system. To put this in perspective, a modern vehicle may contain more than 100 pounds (45kg) of wiring and as many as 90 small computers, whereas a base model vehicle from the 1970s contains less than 10 pounds (4.5kg) of wiring. “In addition to these electrical demands, features such as stop-start functionality place additional strain on the batteries.” Improving batteries to meet these demands is what Exide calls ‘reinventing batteries from the inside out’, says Vargo, and the new EFB Marathon and Marathon Max products released by the company were specifically designed for the North American market: Marathon uses enhanced flooded battery

58 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

technology, which was introduced to North America for the first time in November, when the Nautilus marine battery was launched on the continent to meet growing energy need in modern boats. “Marathon EFB is for the automotive market and provides added heat protection and delivers two times the cycle life of a standard flooded product with a higher charge acceptance over the life of the battery,” says Vargo. “We will also have an EFB offering for heavy-duty applications as well. “Certain customers are going to take advantage of our ability to build EFBs in a good quantity and provide them with an option to take market share from their competitors that only have an AGM offering. “With EFB, our customers can provide an option to their customers that falls between the entry-level standard flooded batteries available and the premium AG batteries. Our customers are excited to have another option to sell.” Vargo says all EFBs include the company’s new punched plate LifeGrid technology, improving performance and enhancing durability. New products for vehicles that only need greater starting power are the Sprinter and Sprinter Max lines, and will be available in North America next year. “Overall, our new products and new path-to-purchase strategy will reduce customer confusion, increase customer satisfaction, and strengthen profits in the battery category,” he says.

But although Vargo says major investments made globally have and will continue to increase production capacity, more important at the moment is customer delivery. “The goal of our company is not to achieve world leadership position in terms of volume in the battery business,” he says. “We want to be the best battery supplier for our customers and make sure we are providing them with what they need. We want to make sure we are their preferred supplier in whatever segment we serve.” And with this premium customer service must go innovation. “Exide truly excels in innovation,” he says. “We have a 130-year history, which was built by the merging of many battery companies, each with their own rich history of innovation. “Innovation is critical in our industry to ensure that batteries continually become ‘smarter’ to meet new demands from customers and environmental regulations. “We are not operating in a ‘one size fits all’ industry, meaning that we have to develop the best battery for each market we serve, taking into account numerous industry trends and factors that impact battery operation. “I believe the innovations we are bringing to our customers will really set Exide apart from our competition. There is a renewed vision for Exide to be the quality provider in the industry, something we have worked hard to earn back over the past few years. “Now we are ready to take advantage of the opportunity we see for us to earn a larger piece of our customers’ battery businesses. We will do this with innovative, high-quality and energy efficient products delivered on time.” But the approach will differ from region to region. “In Europe, even as we see some hybrid and electric vehicles emerging from OEMs, the aftermarket’s main focus will continue to be on lead batteries for many years,” he says. “European Union environmental regulations on limiting carbon emissions and increasing fuel economy standards have encouraged the rapid adoption of start-stop AGM and EFB batteries as well as lithium-based energy solutions in automotive, industrial motive and stationary energy storage applications. These environmental trends and the market demand for those types of batteries have developed later in the US.”

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COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES

When it comes to the different sectors in which Exide operates, the company is keen to expand its capabilities. This June, the company bought Aker Wade — a charging, software and telemetry firm — whose purchase was made with the intention of growing Exide’s motive power business worldwide, Vargo says. “Exide offers a battery portfolio with a solution for every application using a variety of technologies including flat plate, tubular and lithium. Adding the Aker Wade capabilities to this portfolio will allow us to be more competitive in applications that require advanced lead and lithium ion batteries,” he says.

Continued product launches

New batteries have been launched across the marine and leisure, material handling and heavy-duty truck applications, with AGM, Gel and VRLA ranges across the board. But automotive is where Exide began and where it’s going to stay tuned, Vargo says. “Exide’s 130-year history is in the transportation battery business and that is our clear focus on both enhancing the technology to starting and charging wherever that may go. Yes, we’re in other segments, but we are primarily a transportation battery manufacturer. Motive and

network power are good, solid businesses for Exide, but the bulk of our business is in transportation and we see that as a great growth opportunity for our business.”

Employees — a key resource

One of the key messages that comes up time after time talking with Vargo is his belief in the importance of Exide’s employees. It’s a sentiment that echoes the mindset of the late CEO Gordon Ulsh, the man who was responsible for successfully restructuring Exide a year after it came out of Chapter 11 in 2004. When he took charge in 2005, Ulsh identified one key problem at Exide was its low morale, and that this was taking hits from the outside as well as within. “You really have to thank people and praise them, and after just a little bit of celebration, you raise the bar so that we keep trying to get better the next time,” he said in an interview with Batteries International in 2008. “The only thing that erases selfdoubt is success. Turning around morale is the constant reinforcement of successes, be they small or large.” The issue is intrinsic in every area discussed with Vargo: when he stresses the importance of continuous improvement he says it benefits employees as well as customers;

“We have improved our team in the past three years and have hired great people from this industry and others to up our game so that we can improve all facets of our business. We’ve done it and now we’re going for it.” www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 59

COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES when we talk about investments in manufacturing facilities, he says a big focus has been ‘to improve ergonomics and to provide an even safer work environment’; and when it comes to customer service, he says ‘how we do that starts with our employees’. “I see our responsibility as being first to our employees and to continue in investing in and nurturing a culture based on integrity, accountability, quality, customer success, courage and safety,” he says. “Our employees embrace the ‘Powered by You!’ rallying cry, which means each of us knows what we have to do each day to help drive the

EXIDE’S LITHIUM PATHWAY

In 2013, while the company was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, in Europe it was turning its sights to lithium. The GNB Industrial Power team put itself at the forefront of this burgeoning industry by launching its first lithium battery for material handling systems, the GNB Sonnenschein lithium battery, to be used in large distribution centres, AGVs, hybrid cruise ships and other demanding applications. “Following the success of these batteries in Europe, Exide launched its GNB LiFTFORCE LPX lithium battery in the US in April 2018,” says Vargo. “Its benefits are streamlined operations, reduced downtime and lower total cost of ownership than traditional lead batteries.” It can charge in just 15 minutes, up to eight times faster, and provides increased cycle life and lower maintenance requirements in forklifts and AGVs. It is suitable for large distribution centres and companies that run heavy-duty or multiple shifts looking to lower their operational costs. “In terms of the future, we clearly see a role for lithium-ion because of all the advantages these batteries offer,” says Vargo. “But lithium is just part of our portfolio. Our battery portfolio will continue to include both lead acid and lithium ion options. The focus is always on the customer and the economics driving the decision.” As its lithium battery business grows, Exide is going to have to consider the recycling implications, especially since

60 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

environmental concerns are one of its three key focuses. “For our lithium products, we are exclusively working with external business partners,” says Vargo. “From the beginning of Exide’s entry to the market for lithium-based batteries, we have had end-of-life management integrated into the development of our product line. “We have a clear understanding of the end-of-life transport requirements and have selected our business partners in light of these requirements. “Also, we have designed products in a way that facilitates dismantling them to achieve the best recycling efficiency. “The remaining challenge in lithium collection and recycling is recycling efficiency. While reclaiming the content of metals such as copper, aluminium, steel and cobalt is well established, the recovery of the lithium content (about 1%-2% w/w) is still a technological and economical challenge. “This is addressed in multiple ways. On one hand our business partners in the recycling industries are addressing this, and on the other we see public-funded programmes (eg the Strategic Action Plan for Batteries of the European Commission) that can improve the sustainability of battery systems. “It makes no difference whether we talk about lithium or leadbased batteries, At the end of the useful life, all batteries are collected and processed for the recovery of the materials used.”

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COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES success of Exide Technologies. “When employees are aligned with our company strategy and believe in the future success of our company they will naturally be more engaged with customers, provide excellent service levels and partner them to help them more profitably grow.” This is new, he says. “Who we are today is different from who we were in the past. We have improved our team in the past three years and have hired great people from this industry and others to up our game so that we can improve all facets of our business. We’ve done it and now we’re going for it.”

TECHNOLOGY AND THE APPS

Exide equips users such as garage workshops or high-end users with tools to identify and analyze aftermarket battery reference. This includes a Wi-Fi enabled, future proof battery tester suitable for use with EFB, AGM, Gel and standard flooded batteries for light, commercial, marine and leisure vehicles. There is a companion mobile tester app which evaluates driving patterns and vehicle criteria to give installers tailor-made direction on whether a battery is at risk, or when it should be retested. “Exide also launched a major update to its online battery finder, which features a modern interface and all-new user experience and supports battery selection and fitting for the most comprehensive range of vehicle types

such as cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles — plus, for the first time, construction and agricultural vehicles, snow mobiles and jet skis,” says Vargo. “The tool’s new calculator function for motorhome and boat batteries is also the first of its kind from any battery manufacturer. This trio of new Exide tools can help installers optimize the rising battery servicing demand created by the higher power requirements of today’s vehicles, and the global trend towards fuel and energy efficiency. “Being able to offer a faster, expert service while also accessing vital data for service recall can also help garages improve customer satisfaction, enabling them to stand out from the competition.”

“We are not operating in a ‘one size fits all’ industry, meaning that we have to develop the best battery for each market we serve, taking into account numerous industry trends and factors that impact battery operation.”

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Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 61

COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES

Exide: The first 130 years were the hardest The creation of Exide as a global giant has had its ups and downs over the years — the last 20 of which the firm is ready to acknowledge as having been difficult — but this year the firm has every reason to celebrate its strength and continuity. 1888 was a year of invention in the US. That year George Eastman patented his Kodak camera, Edison filed a patent for the optical phonograph — now better known as the movies — and the US War Department installed its first rudimentary (and distinctly not electronic) computer. But that spring, while the eastern seaboard of the country was ravaged by one of the worst blizzards in the country’s history, William Gibbs had other things on his mind. As vice president of the United Gas Improvement Company, a Philadelphia gas lighting firm, Gibbs saw that electricity would eventually wipe out the business. His answer was diversification. That year he set up his own firm — The Electric Storage Battery Company. Armed with the ideas and patents of French inventor Clément Payen, Gibbs immediately realized that lighting and batteries would inevitably go hand in hand. The result was the “Chloride Accumulator” — a name that still resonates throughout the lengthy history of the battery industry.

62 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Within two years the firm had won its first major contracts in Philadelphia. Initially it was to power electric streetcars, and Exide must be given credit for having been the first battery firm in at the start of the hybrid. By 1895 the Electric Storage Battery Company — under the extraordinary business genius of Isaac Leopold Rice — annually grossed $1 million from batteries designed to fit lathes, drill presses, sewing machines, telephone and telegraph stations, switchboards, fans, fire alarms, phonographs, hospital tools and automated pianos. In 1898 Exide provided the first batteries to the US Navy’s first modern commissioned submarine the USS Holland. By the turn of the century, Electric Storage Battery Company batteries were used as power sources in electric locomotives, streetcars, passenger cars, surface boats and telephone exchanges and signalling systems for railroads. In 1898 they were even used to power the US Navy’s first submarine. The first recognized instance of the name ‘Exide’ occurred in 1900, when

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COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES

that is what it labelled its star battery — in full, ‘Excellent Oxide’. Exide batteries powered some of the first electric cars but they also solved a common health problem for drivers at the time: motorists’ broken arms. As a driver’s hand cranked the engine, the crank often swung back violently, injuring the driver’s arm. It was efforts to eliminate dangerous engine cranking that led to the development of battery-started vehicles. The 1912 Cadillac became the first battery-started car with an internal combustion engine, courtesy of the Electric Storage Battery Company. Over the years, Exide has been a part of many major developments in exploration, communications and warfare. In 1934, an Exide deep-cycle battery was the sole source of electrical power when Commander Byrd established a military base on Antarctica. Exide batteries provided power for Piccard’s balloon flight and diesel locomotives that same year.

New frontiers

In 1969, NASA’s first lunar landing module used the stored energy of Exide’s solar-recharged batteries. NASA took silver-zinc Exide batteries to the moon on all of the Apollo space missions. By 1987, with Exide’s acquisition of General Battery Corporation, the company’s product line had become broad enough to be fitted in nearly every vehicle on US roads. In 1992 Exide introduced free electrolyte and gel batteries, climate tailored batteries and maintenance free technology for various marine applications. Its technology continued to push out the bounds of battery power and in 1999 it introduced the cylindrically wound Exide Orbital technology into the automotive and speciality battery markets. Exide bought GNB Technologies in 2000, expanding its presence in North

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America for automotive and industrial batteries. It also bought Gould National Battery, the owner of the Vernon recycling plant, which was to be a source of trouble for many years ahead. In 2001, Exide announced batteries would be in the X-38, the prototype for the emergency Crew Return Vehicle for the International Space Station. The vehicle and its batteries had to stand at the ready for as long as three years and be able to evacuate a crew of seven from the Space Station within three minutes. But it was at the turn of the century that some of its troubles began. In 2002, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Under US law Chapter 11 allows a firm to trade while being technically insolvent. During this period it is allowed time to reorganize itself so that it can trade profitably afterwards.) The reasons for the collapse predate the move into Chapter 11 by almost a decade. The expanding battery manufacturing firm was growing rapidly with acquisitions across Europe. Notable take-overs included BIG batteries and Gemala in the UK, CEAC in France and Tudor in Spain. As corporate financiers are keen to point out (and usually do so at length), the hardest part of a merger is not necessarily the acquisition of the firm but more often its assimilation. So, although Exide had achieved global status it was gradually accumulating fat across its operations with inefficient practices going unchecked, excess staff accumulating and a coherent, cohesive organization was starting to fall into disarray. In a sense the problems came to a head in October 1998, when chair-

man, president and CEO Arthur Hawkins and executives Alan Gauthier and Douglas Pearson were forced to resign from Exide. Charges against the former executives included conspiracy to defraud the US and defraud by wire. The charges stemmed from allegations that Exide executives had lied to secure a large contract with Sears, Roebuck & Co in 1994, which also involved more than $100,000 in alleged bribes paid to a Sears battery buyer.

Indictments

It wasn’t until July 2001 that the culmination of legal proceedings brought about an indictment of Hawkins, Pearson and Gauthier. As part of this, Exide was fined $27.5 million. Alan Johnson headed the firm for eight months before Bob Lutz — who described himself as the interim president and CEO — took over. Lutz pulled some bold initiatives. He sought to pull the disparate parts of Exide’s global operations into functional business units by geographical region and pushed to ensure that Exide would continue to focus on its core business (by selling off non-battery units). Lutz saw the future of the firm lying in one further acquisition, which would transform Exide into a global giant. And, since financial analysts at the end of 2000 were already speculating that Exide might be technically insolvent, the new company’s cashflows would be immensely useful in propping up Exide’s troubled bottom line. So in May 2001 Exide bought GNB Technologies for $368 million from Pacific Dunlop. Strategically, GNB Industrial Technologies, renamed GNB

This May — on the 130th anniversary of the firm — Exide bought Aker Wade Power Technologies, signalling yet again that Exide was as much a technology firm as a battery manufacturer. Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 65

COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES EXIDE’S GLOBAL SIZE AND REACH

GLOBAL CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS • Milton, Georgia EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS • Gennevilliers, France TRANSPORTATION, MANUFACTURING FACILITIES USA/North America • Florence, Mississippi • Manchester, Iowa • Salina, Kansas Europe • Azuqueca, Spain • Büdingen, Germany • Manzanares, Spain • Pinsk, Belarus • Poznan, Poland • Romano, Italy South Asia • Prantij, India TRANSPORTATION DISTRIBUTION CENTRES USA/North America • Manchester, Iowa • Mississauga, Ontario • Salina, Kansas Europe • Albairate, Italy • Azuqueca, Spain • Brunn, Austria • Castanheira do Ribatejo, Portugal • Ciempozuelos, Spain • Florival, Belgium • Helsinki, Finland • Herblay, France • Nimes, France • Moscow, Russia • Nol, Sweden • Oslo, Norway • Poznan, Poland • Romano, Italy • Rotterdam, The Netherlands • Swarzedz, Poland • Trafford Park, England • Vejle, Denmark

66 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Tactically the acquisition made a lot of sense. To this day GNB is the crown jewel in Exide’s operations. But hopes that it would solve Exide’s cashflow problems were unfounded. Industrial Power, was to give Exide strength in the network power and motive power businesses (the industrial battery market). Tactically the acquisition made a lot of sense. To this day GNB is the crown jewel in Exide’s operations. But hopes that it would solve Exide’s cashflow problems were unfounded. However, the core problem of bloatedness was intact. It was now much more than a potentially flawed M&A strategy. The very size of Exide had created its own set of problems — most particularly in that the economies of scale had been lost in scale itself. A year later, the DTSC began a yearslong investigation into the Vernon recycling plant — which came with the GNB acquisition — and fine after fine was levied upon Exide, which was ordered to clean up the residential areas around the plant. The Vernon issue continued in the background for years, and the clean-up is still continuing (see separate piece). In 2004 the firm emerged from Chapter 11. And that same year Exide Europe released the first start-stop AGM battery for a French car manufacturer. Under the charismatic leadership of CEO Gordon Ulsh, the firm regained lost ground quickly. Four years later, Exide Europe developed its first EFB battery for start-stop systems, as well as its first generation of high-vibration resistance truck battery technology in 2008. In terms of technology the firm was on a roll. And business still advanced. In 2010, Exide opened a $4 million Global Technology Centre in Georgia, aiming to develop new materials, products and processes along with its existing facilities in Spain and Germany. Two years later, the Edge AGM product line was launched in the Americas as the first AGM stored energy product. But dark clouds over its finances had already started to form as early as 2008. The worldwide economic crisis hit Exide’s European business — which generated just over half of its revenues — hard and continued to do so for years to come. A further blow happened in 2010. Wal-Mart, one of Exide’s then major customers, chose Exide’s principal rival

Johnson Controls as its sole supplier of transportation batteries and stopped carrying Exide’s rival products. Exide said Wal-Mart’s switch resulted in a loss of about $160 million in annual revenue. “More significantly, in addition to the revenue lost from Wal-Mart sales, Exide also lost an important and reliable source of battery cores under a captive-core arrangement with WalMart,” Exide later said. The situation wasn’t helped by increased production costs that couldn’t be passed on to the consumer, and the long-standing problems with the battery recycling plant in Vernon, near Los Angeles, which had come under increasing scrutiny and fines by California’s Department of Toxic Control Substances. Ironically the acquisition of what became GNB Industrial Power — the basis for Exide’s present success story — came with the related acquisition of its battery recycling plant. Chapter 11 became inevitable. In June 2013, Exide again filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming $1.9 billion in assets and $1.1 billion in liabilities. It emerged two years later as a privately held company, substantially in its current form — operating across all industrial energy and transportation business segments globally. In August 2015, it opened a new motive power R&D testing facility in Michigan to develop advanced materials, products and processes. In May this year — on the 130th anniversary of the firm — the company bought Aker Wade Power Technologies, the advanced charging system designer and manufacturer for the motive power industry. The move signalled yet again that Exide was as much a technology firm as a battery manufacturer. Aker Wade’s existing research development and light manufacturing facility remain in Charlottesville, Virginia while Exide remains based in Milton, Georgia. New CEO Tim Vargo was appointed in November. He takes charge of a company with a 130-year history of technological advancement, a firm with 10,000 employees and a presence in more than 80 countries.

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COVER STORY: EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES

Vernon: fixing the sad saga of a lead recycling plant gone wrong Exide has a plastic recycling plant and two battery recycling plants in the US, and three battery recycling plants in Europe. Its former plant at Vernon, California, is still undergoing clean-up operations after years of investigations, public outcry, soil testing and millions of US dollars in fines. The history of Exide and the recycling plant goes back to 2000, when the company bought Gould National Battery and its assets, which included the Vernon plant. But the history of the plant goes back to 1981, when GNB was issued with an ‘interim status document’ by the California Department of Health Services and the recycling plant was opened. It has never actually operated with a full permit, although in 2006 the Department of Toxic Substances Control did invite public comments on a draft permit issued in response to an application by Exide in 2006 for a full permit. The first fine was levied on Exide in 2003, when $40,000 was demanded by the DTSC for improper storage of lead batteries. The payment was delayed because at the time the company was in the throes of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Since then, fines and orders to clean up have been issued on a regular basis, and investigations by the DTSC have tested the soil in and around hundreds of homes in the area. In 2009, the first six-figure fine was levied on Exide, this time by the Air Quality Management District, which agreed a settlement of $400,000 for air quality violations and enforcement costs. Just a year later, in 2010, the DTSC fined Exide $100,000 for illegally storing hazardous waste lead and failing to remove contaminated sludge from a storm water retention pond. In the same year, the AQMD set more stringent monitoring and reporting requirements on the facility, as well as requiring additional testing and housekeeping measures. Another hefty fine was imposed in 2012, when Exide had to find $119,000 for seven air quality violations — and a year later, the site was briefly closed for the first time by the DTSC, which found there was ‘an imminent and substantial

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CEO Tim Vargo: “In Vernon we are meeting our obligations to the State of California and the DTSC. Exide will continue to be a constructive participant in evaluating and addressing the need for clean-up of industrial and residential properties to the extent they were impacted by the facility’s former operations.” danger to the public health, safety and the environment’. Exide contested the shutdown and there followed years of public meetings, soil tests and removal, resident blood testing and other health assessments before a final, permanent Closure Plan was agreed in 2015.

The clean up begins

Under the plan, 2,500 properties within a 1.7-mile radius would be cleaned up over a two-year period, the largest clean-up of its kind in California, according to DTSC director Barbara Lee. Homes with soil concentrations of 400 parts per million or higher would be prioritized, along with any which had individual samples of more than 1,000 parts per million, even if the overall concentration was less than 400. But the situation isn’t as bleak as this history of fines and penalties would suggest. Incoming CEO Tim Vargo is insistent that the firm is doing its best. “In Vernon we are meeting our obli-

gations to the State of California and the DTSC and Exide will continue to be a constructive participant in evaluating and addressing the need for clean-up of industrial and residential properties to the extent they were impacted by the facility’s former operations,” he says. “Clearly the industry had to change its practices a number of years ago and Exide has worked hard to make sure we have fulfilled our obligations to change our processes to meet current standards,” he says. “We are committed to providing clean air for our employees and we embrace the current standards for air quality, water quality and soil quality. We work hard to make sure we are good stewards of the environment. “Exide is committed to operating in a manner that protects the health, safety and well-being of our employees, contractors, visitors and those in the communities where we live and operate. In all facilities, we meet or exceed the requirements of national, provincial, state or local EHS laws and regulations.”

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EUROPE’S GIGAFACTORIES

Plugging Europe into the future Europe may need as many as 20 gigafactories to meet future lithium cell demand. Given its late moves into the sector, the big question is whether the region can stand on its own two feet or whether established players will walk away with the market. So is it better to be late than never? There’s a hint of desperation in the air. Or is that optimism too? Just a couple of weeks ago, TerraE — a consortium of 17 European firms seeking to create the continent’s first home-grown gigafactory — appeared to give up the ghost. Consortium insiders talked about a reluctance within the group to commit the huge sums of money that would be needed. Was it really true that lithium ion gigafactories would soon be dead, some of them were unofficially reported as saying, as soon as solid state lithium batteries entered the market? And then came the bombshell on November 15. BMZ Group, a European leader in lithium products, announced it was taking over the shares of the entire consortium — leaving the original

70 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

members with a small stake — and was ploughing ahead with the project. Germany was about to get its first lithium cell gigafactory and it looked set to be based in Karlstein, near Frankfurt, in the geographic centre of the country. It was as if, all of a sudden, Europe’s investment into its energy future had gone beyond words to something tangible.

Shifting sands

Just a week before, Peter Altmaier, Germany’s federal minister for economic affairs and energy, announced that his government realized the urgency of the need for a domestic capability to make lithium cells in huge volumes. He said it had set aside €1 billion ($1.2 billion) to build lithium ion gigafactories and related research facilities.

Now, more than likely with the TerraE take-over and Altmaier’s announcement, the funding has found a destination. Confirmation of this should be given by early December. Irrespective of any possible connection, Altmaier’s concern over a European domestic need to enter into lithium cell manufacturing is very real. There is a huge catch-up that needs to take place. European manufacturing of lithium battery cells is at least four years behind where commercial rivals — and their related experience and expertise — from South Korea, Japan and China are positioned. So far the first mover in Europe is South Korea’s LG Chem, where production began in the first quarter of 2018 in a plant that the firm has built in Poland.

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EUROPE’S GIGAFACTORIES Intercontinental moves

The trouble for Europe is that other countries and regions saw the future impact of lithium batteries far earlier. In the US in 2009, then president Barack Obama introduced the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Part of the $27 billion devoted to energy efficiency was aimed at giving the country a foothold into the expanding world of lithium batteries. Nevertheless, with the exception of Tesla’s operations in the US (partnered with Panasonic), there are few signs that battery manufacturers can compete against the commercial inroads that firms such as Samsung, Panasonic, CATL, BYD and LG Chem have made in advancing the future of the business. Europe may have been slow to come to the party, but oddly enough it has been at the heart of a great deal of discussion over the future direction of the industry. It occupies a strange no-man’s-land of predicting huge numbers for the world’s demand for energy storage and electric vehicle markets while doing little — apart from talking — in advancing the manufacture of the batteries that will power these developments. Altmaier wants cell production to begin by 2021. This is a timeline that verges on the practical but it is unlikely that it can develop the volumes that European automakers, in particular, say they may need. Bosch, the industrial chemical and engineering giant, predicted that the cost of any manufacturing plant to match that of Tesla’s facility in Ne-

vada would be in the region of $20 billion. It’s a strange territory, too, in which Europe’s leaders continue to talk the talk … but walking the walk? “Batteries are at the heart of the industrial revolution and I am convinced that Europe has what it takes to become the world’s leader in innovation, decarbonization and digitization.” These are powerful words from the vice-president of the European Battery Alliance Maros Sefcovic. Sefcovic is also a vice president of the European Commission and was once positioned as its next president. The intention is unambiguous. But as one observer later said, “then again he would say that, wouldn’t he?” Another said, “I asked him where he saw the future of lead batteries in Europe’s future. He couldn’t answer the question. He didn’t know. The Battery Alliance that he trumpeted so much last year hasn’t contemplated doing anything except focus on lithium. “The approach by the European Commission has been slow and blinkered. There’s too much talk but not enough action.”

Advancing policy

In its defence, the EC can point to numerous studies and policy documents drawn up from 2015 onwards, but solid action has not been forthcoming. That said Sefcovic is no fool. And his judgment is spot on: “Europe needs to invest in a competitive and sustainable battery manufacturing framework that includes access to materials and

“The objective is to create a competitive, innovative and sustainable value chain in Europe with sustainable battery cells at its core. To prevent technological dependence on our competitors and capitalize on the jobs, growth and investment potential of batteries.” – Anca Paduraru, European Commission innovation if it is to nurture its electric vehicle and energy storage markets in any kind of meaningful and autonomous way”. The rapid deployment and planning around lithium ion battery megafactories, dubbed gigafactories due to annual outputs of at least a gigawatt, is a story that begins with electric vehicles and continues today with the exponential growth in energy storage systems — from 5kWh residential packs to 100+MW, record-breaking grid-scale projects. While Sefcovic reckons Europe can nurture a lithium battery industry from scratch, the fact is the region is playing catch-up with the rest of the world.

The big picture: lithium demand by end applications (2013-2025)

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Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 71

EUROPE’S GIGAFACTORIES WILD CARDS IN THE OFFING One known unknown is the rapid advance of battery technology. Talk that lithium solid state batteries, which have a greater energy density and thermal stability, would not appear until the 2020s seems to be wrong. Qing Tao Energy Development in Kunshan, East China says it is now manufacturing the first lithium solid state battery on a commercial scale.

The firm, an offshoot of Tsinghua University, one of the highest-ranking technical universities in China claims to have a production capacity of 100MWh per year and plan to ramp it up to 700MWh by 2020. The firm says it has achieved an energy density of over 400 Wh/kg compared to the new generation Liion battery cells having a capacity of 250 to 300 Wh/kg.

If it is to wrestle any kind of share last year that number was 144GWh of the market from Asia’s first mover and in 2015 overall capacity was advantage — given Chinese and South 57GWh. Korean firms are bankrolling more China has led the way in investment than half of the planned European gi- and capacity, and remains the domigafactories — it has to act fast. nant force. Firms such as CATL, with Only a few years ago there were its operations south of Shanghai in three gigafactories run by Tesla/Pa- Ningde and a long relationship with nasonic in the US, and LG Chem and OEMs such as BMW, are already Foxconn in China. Today there are at world-class firms. CATL said last year least 26 planned. If posthat it already makes sible start-ups’ plans are more lithium cells and to be considered seribatteries than any other HOW EUROPE ously there could be as operation in the world. COMPARES much as 45 projects under way worldwide next Maturity WITH CHINA year. The question now is Within five years, 26 whether Europe’s batCATL companies will have tery potential can reach 88GWh by 2020 bumped worldwide caa level of maturity BYD pacity up to 658GWh where it will manage 60GWh by 2019 via established factories, its own battery supply the expansion of existchain with almost a Funeng Technology ing plants or planned quarter of all planned 10Gwh in 2018 projects, according to global capacity proEve Energy industry analysts Benchduced in the region. 9GWh in 2018 mark Minerals. By 2028 Forecasts suggest Guoxuan High-Tech the global supply of liththat Europe’s supply 4GWh in 2018 ium ion batteries could chain could handle a top 1,102GWh. To put that in context,

Source: Various

rise from the 7GWh last year to 93GWh

by 2023 and 207GWh just five years later. To put this in perspective, pre-2017 there was only one planned gigafactory in Europe: LG Chem’s 4GWh plant in Poland. The ground was broken on that plant in October 2016 and the first cells are now reaching the market. The initial output level of being able to produce batteries that can power around 100,000 pure EVs is being upgraded to 300,000. Altmaier’s desire for cell production to begin by 2021 is do-able once the issues of finance, design and project management are in place. Today there could be as many as 14 gigafactories in construction, planned or at the rumoured stage of development, in Europe (see facing page). These include Samsung SDI 2.5GWh (late 2018) and SK Innovations 7.5GWh (early 2020), both in Hungary; and vehicle OEM Daimler (unknown capacity by 2019). Northvolt — run in part by former Tesla employees Peter Carlsson, ex-supply chain head who founded the company, and executive Paolo Cerruti as its chief operating officer — plans a 32GWh (by 2020) plant in Sweden. The appetite for these plants’ creation seems at first to be there — mostly perhaps because of the realization that Europe’s automotive industry is looking increasingly vulnerable to Asian competition. If the electric vehicle revolution predicted to happen does materialize then the key component of the cars — the lithium ion battery — will mostly be made in Asia or Asian subsidiaries in Europe. Anca Paduraru, spokesperson for health, food safety and energy union projects at the European Commission, said that to cover the EU demand alone, Europe requires a conservative estimate of at least 20 gigafactories. “The scale and speed of the necessary investment requires a combined effort to address this industrial challenge,” she said.

Issues of size

China dominates global battery production

72 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

None of the European plants is as big as Tesla’s US gigafactory, which is projected to reach 50GWh (in August it was running at around 20GWh) at the end of the year, and could top 150GWh on completion. Interestingly, even at 20GWh the US electric vehicle and residential storage OEM had to source cells from South Korea at the end of 2017 to fulfil its promise to build a record-breaking

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EUROPE’S GIGAFACTORIES 100MW/129MWh project in South Australia. At the time, a Tesla spokesman confirmed the powerpacks for the project were being manufactured at the gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, using cells produced by Samsung SDI. It was the first time the gigafactory had not been able to meet demand with cells from their manufacturing lines. This case of demand outstripping supply is a strong argument for Europe needing to build a supply chain as the EV and storage markets grow. The biggest concern facing the industry is whether the supply chain can grow in parallel with demand. “We’ve never seen such demand,” said Yayoi Sekine, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “But the supply is struggling to keep up.” To understand the growth rates of the market, take a quick look at Volkswagen. It plans to build three million EVs a year by 2025; today there are around four million EVs globally. Or have a glance at the numbers coming from South Korea. A Bloomberg New Energy Finance report in September said the country was aiming for almost 4GWh of storage by the end of this year; 697MW of electrochemical energy storage capacity was deployed globally in Q2 this year, according to China Energy Storage Alliance’s Global Energy Storage Market Analysis – 2018 Q2 report.

Too little, too late?

Many industry commentators believe plans to build European gigafactories by new European ventures into the sector are too little, too late. However, as batteries become as essential to the automotive industry of the 21st century as the combustion engine was in the 20th, second or even third-mover advantage may be better than none at all. If the EU is to maintain any leadership in the automotive sector and in clean energy systems, it has to have independent capacity to develop and produce batteries. As Germany alone closes in on the 600MWh installed capacity mark, and with 10 European countries announcing the ban on internal combustion engine vehicle sales — starting with Austria in 2020 — demand for cells will spiral upwards. According to some forecasts of market uptake, the battery market could be worth €250 billion ($281 billion) a year from 2025.

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One firm hoping to plug the supply gap is Northvolt, which changed its name from SGF Energy in March 2017. The company aims to raise $4 billion for its 32GWh factory in Sweden. It will target four primary markets: automotive, grid, industrial and portable. Jesper Wigardt, Northvolt’s public affairs director, said he believed Eu-

rope was clearly behind, but it was not too late to catch up. “If you look at what has happened in Europe during the past year it is clear that there is a willingness from the political leadership and industry to create a comprehensive, Europeanwide, supply chain for battery manufacturing,” he says. “This is crucial for the European industry.”

EUROPEAN CHAIN OF GIGAFACTORIES Samsung SDI (South Korea) Location: God, Hungary When: Late 2018 Investment: $358 million Output: 2.5GWh Size: 330,000m2 SK Innovation (South Korea) Location: Komarom, Hungary When: Early 2020 Investment: $777 million Output: 7.5GWh Size: 430,000m2 Comment: Should break ground on plant before the end of the year Daimler (Germany) Location: Kamenz, Germany When: Autumn 2018 Investment: $620 million Output: unknown Size: 80,000m2 Northvolt (Sweden) Location: Sweden When: 2020-2023 Investment: $4.7 billion Output: 32GWh Size: 400,000m2 Comment: Also has plans for battery assembly plant in Poland. TerraE Location: Date: Cost: Output: Size:

Germany 2020 €300m (first phase) 4GWh (rising to 8GWh) TBA

LG Chem (South Korea) Location: Wroclaw, Poland When: production began in Q1, 2018 Investment: $1.63 billion Output: 6GWh rising to 15GWh by end of 2018 Size: 41,300m2 Comment: Already has supply agreement with Volkswagen

CATL (China) Location: Thuringia, Germany When: 2022 Investment: Up to $1 billion — $280 million first phase Chemistry: TBA — has 24GWh lithium ion plant in China Output: 14GWh Comment: Already has supply agreement with BMW IN THE PIPELINE, PERHAPS ... Fortum (Finland) Location: Finland Tesla (US) Location:

Possibly Germany. Tesla already has operations in Pruem

Farasis Energy Location: Germany Investment: raised $1 billion C-round financing Chemistry: TBA — but has two NMC plants in China BYD (China) Location: Europe Comment: Already makes electric buses in Hungary and France GSR Capital (China) Comment: Already assembles batteries in UK, Bought Nissan Motor’s battery business in 2017 Continental *Germany/China) Comment: Formed joint venture in March to make mild hybrid in China GS Yuasa (Japan) Location: Hungary

Source: Various

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 73

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EUROPE’S GIGAFACTORIES But foreign firms have already circled the region. South Korean firm LG Chem is investing an estimated $1.63 billion in a plant in Wroclaw, Poland. The company started exploring lithium ion batteries in 1995 and began developing EV batteries five years later. Its European plant will form a corner of its global cell manufacturing reach, which includes Ochang in South Korea; Nanjing in China; and Holland in the US state of Michigan. But having a plant is one thing, having the cell technology another.

Increasing range

Third generation battery packs using high nickel content chemistries will offer a high EV driving range of 500km600km. In terms of investment, Wigardt believes it is a good thing that both Asian and European firms are establishing manufacturing hubs in the region. “Asian manufacturers are establishing themselves in Europe but there are several European projects, such as Northvolt, starting up,” he says. “We are going to need companies from outside Europe and local companies to create a comprehensive supply chain and the ecosystem surrounding it.”

CATL MOVES INTO GERMANY BMW, the German car giant, announced in June it had struck a deal with Chinese battery cell manufacturer CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd) to buy battery cells over the next few years, for €4 billion ($4.7 billion) in total. The deal was made in connection with a CATL decision to build a high-volume battery cell factory at Erfurt, a city in the German state of Thuringia. CATL has already made the battery cells for BMW’s early range of electric vehicles. It is the largest lithium cell maker in the world. Thuringia’s economy minister, Wolfgang Tiefensee, said the factory would be “one of the most important of the past decade”, and could create up to 1,000 jobs. The German metalworkers’ union also welcomed the announcement. The deal was presented just four and a half months after Bosch, a German firm that includes a mobility solutions division, announced it would cancel plans to build a battery cell factory, and would discontinue its massive, years-long battery cell technology research and development (R&D) programme. BMW has said it may eventually get into battery cell production, but only

once a future generation of improved battery technologies is ready for implementation. It will continue to investigate making complete battery packs for its cars using CATL lithium ion cells as their key components. The cells that will be produced in CATL’s Erfurt factory are for BMW’s new iNext model, a fully electric, selfdriving vehicle the company reckons will come to market in 2021. Daimler, the company that produces Mercedes Benz cars, has also hinted it will become a client of CATL as it too gears up production of electric vehicles Some suggest that German companies such as BMW and Bosch have opted out from opportunities to build battery cell production factories — despite spending many years on cell R&D — as they don’t believe battery cell production will be profitable — or not profitable enough. Like auto manufacturers in the US there is the perception that once lithium cells become a commodity product, made in the millions by a variety of manufacturers, the profit margins will be low but the problems of supply will not be an issue.

THEY LONG TO BE … CLOSE TO YOU Car manufacturers need the cells for their battery packs to be made close to their car assembly plants, In terms of cost, shipping a complete EV battery pack from, for example, China is expensive. Pack sizes of up to 750kg in bulk are expensive.

76 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

In terms of supply chain risk, a nearby factory makes the carmaker immune to geo-economic reversals such as the imposition of sudden trade tariffs or embargoes. There needs to be a security of supply for car manufacturing to continue more or less unimpeded.

One advantage of arriving at the battery party late should be that lessons learnt from previous facilities can be incorporated into the new plants. But that’s only if they’re public knowledge. LG Chem is reluctant to discuss what these lessons might be — and clearly have no need to give away any commercial and manufacturing secrets. WonJae Yoo, a specialist from LG Chem’s communications team, said details of the plant were confidential but the company had developed knowhow on yield rates and the management of workers through trial and error. Know-how was also generated from building its gigafactory in Nanjing, China, and in the construction of its second in the area, a 32GWh facility set to be completed in 2023 at a cost of €1.5 billion. “Every year an existing player refines their in-house manufacturing techniques is another year gained over their rivals,” says a commentator.

Northvolt

Northvolt, however, is building its first plant from scratch and says it has looked at existing factories; the company is focused on scale, vertical integration and highly controlled manufacturing in building its next generation lithium ion battery factory. “The execution is fundamentally different compared to current battery production facilities,” said Wigardt. “We are dedicated to creating a circular system, and have the highest ambitions for life cycle management. Our approach covers cradle to grave. “Compared to traditional lithium ion battery manufacturers, our production process spans many portions of the value chain and the factory is designed to achieve optimal scale benefits. It gives us a structurally lower cost level and also allows for a high degree of cost and quality control.” By building the factory in Sweden, a country with a carbon free power base, Northvolt will rely on fossil free and, it hopes, inexpensive energy in all aspects of the plant, from building to manufacturing. Today, 80% of the world’s existing and planned battery production capacity is in Asia. China alone has 69%, with the US at 15% and Europe at under 4%. Building European gigafactories is a way of ensuring security of supply, and having to rely less on Asian batteries to meet demand as the region slowly

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EUROPE’S GIGAFACTORIES bans sales of ICE vehicles and adopts renewables and energy storage. Where it is not the purpose of the European Battery Alliance to usurp other markets, it does aim to build on its role in the automotive and clean energy system sectors while having independent capacity to develop and produce batteries. “The objective is to create a competitive, innovative and sustainable value chain in Europe with sustainable battery cells at its core,” says Paduraru at the European Commission. “To prevent technological dependence on our competitors and capitalize on the jobs, growth and investment potential of batteries.” To light the fuse under the explosion of Europe’s battery making facilities, the European Commission has started with the rapid implementation of the Strategic Action Plan for Batteries. Subjects of its key actions include: regulatory framework; raw materials, including building refining capacity; interregional partnerships on batteries to accelerate towards scale-up and commercialization activities; research — €114 million from the EU research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 next January, and €70 million in 2020 for battery-related topics; and skills.

Proximity

From an environmental and economic point of view it makes sense to European OEMs to have production close to their production facilities, rather than ship batteries across the globe, says Wigardt. This was a concern for LG Chem, which considers the establishment of a secure supply of cells key to growth. “We already have a lot of customers on the Germany side,” says Yoo. “To ensure the security of our product supply, we made our EU plant in Poland, which shares borders with Germany.” With the huge growth of the EV and ESS markets, the scale of economy is another attraction for establishing manufacturing facilities in Europe. “The price of batteries will continue to become cheaper and cheaper,” says Yoo. Northvolt is seeing demand from consumers and manufacturers as well as legislators. And demand is increasing faster than anyone had expected. Wigardt said Northvolt sees the automotive (including EVs), portable products, industrial solutions and ESS markets growing quickly over the coming years.

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LG Chem’s decision to build a facility in Poland follows big commercial demand from its European vehicle OEM customer base that includes VW, Audi, and Renault. While it is clear the market is maturing rapidly, there is the not-so-trivial question of materials supply. While the plants are being built, the question of materials supply meeting demand is still writ large above all facilities around the globe (see following page).

Finance and technology

Northvolt is making the necessary preparations to be able to take the next step in terms of technology once the timing is right. To prepare for the introduction of new battery chemistries, Northvolt began construction of its Northvolt Labs in April. Construction is due to be completed in Västerås, 100 kilometres west of Stockholm, within the next two years. The research facility will be used to develop, test and industrialize lithium ion battery cells before large-scale production. The 19,000 square meter facility will have an annual capacity of 125MWh once completed next year. Wigardt says: “We will do our re-

search and development there. It will also be used to qualify and industrialize products and processes together with our customers.” The facility is being supported by a grant of up to Skr146 million from the Swedish Energy Agency to build Northvolt’s demonstration line. In February, the board of directors of the European Investment Bank approved a loan for Northvolt of up to €52 million. The financing is to be supported by InnovFin — the EU Finance for Innovators’ Energy Demonstration Projects facility — with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020. At the beginning of the year Scania, the Swedish commercial vehicle OEM, announced it was to invest €10 million in Northvolt’s demonstration line and research facility to develop and commercialize cells for heavy commercial vehicles. Northvolt is also taking recycling into consideration. “It is key that we manage to industrialize large-scale recycling of lithiumion batteries for this transition to be truly sustainable,” says Wigardt. The pessimistic corners of the battery manufacturing industry might scoff at the thought of Europe becoming a global cell-making hub, but investors, OEMs and entrepreneurs are more optimistic. With more than 70GWh of capacity planned for the region, it might not hit the heights of Asia, but within a decade Europe might possibly boast its own supply chain to meet demand from EV and ESS markets.

EUROPE AND CHINA UNITE IN $2 BILLION DEAL TO BUILD ASIAN GIGAFACTORY But it’s not just a one-way ticket of Asian firms muscling into Europe. Dutch energy storage and battery company Lithium Werks announced on October 16 it had signed a framework agreement with Chinese Zhejiang Jiashan Economic and Technological Development Zone Industry Corporation to build a lithium ion gigafactory in China. The planned gigafactory in the Yangtze river Delta will cover 60 hectares, cost an estimated €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) and have installed production capacity of 500GWh a year by 2030, said Lithium Werks. The Lithium Werks factory and related facilities will produce cells for lithiumion batteries. The agreement was signed in the presence of the Chinese premier Li Keqiang and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte. Lithium Werks plans to build multiple gigafactories across the world as part of a 15 to 20-year programme. The company expects its revenue to top $1 billion by 2020 as it grows its share of the energy storage market.

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EUROPE’S GIGAFACTORIES

Security of supply Casper Rawles, an analyst at Benchmark Minerals, says that in terms of raw material demand there will be enough lithium and cobalt material in the coming years, but as the industry enters the early-mid 2020s the markets will go into under supply. “There is certainly concern around supply meeting demand from around 2023 onwards,” Rawles says. “Alongside cobalt reduction another important factor will be recycling, something which is starting to happen in meaningful volumes in China, but there is still a considerable way to go for recycling to help meet the volumes needed in the future.” To date, apart from the recycling of cobalt in those lithium ion batteries that contain the metal, all recycling is a cost rather than an asset. It is the complete opposite of lead battery recycling, where the price of lead is sufficient to merit the recycling and smelting process. Lithium ion batteries are also a hazardous waste product and not suitable for landfill. “Speaking specifically about cobalt, with the growth in production that is expected to come online/ramp up in the coming years, there will be enough supply to meet demand and in fact in the nearer term the intermediates market is likely to go into oversupply,” Rawles says. The key cobalt projects are all in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Glencore’s Katanga (restarted in Q1 2018 but now facing delays); Eurasian Resources Group’s Roan Tailings Reclamation project (production starting now); and Chemaf’s Mutoshi project. A lot of research is happening within the industry to reduce cobalt use in cathodes, primarily around nickel cobalt manganese cathode types. The industry has moved from NCM 111 (one part nickel, one cobalt, one manganese) to NCM 523 and 622, which are now being used commercially. Rawles says the ultimate goal was to reach NCM 811. “This has engineering challenges associated with it and is still some years away from having an impact on the materials supply chain.” Even with this reduction, cobalt use in batteries is expected to grow five-fold in the next decade. This is a challenge, considering cobalt’s by-product nature, and shows that volume of sales will far

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outweigh any reduction of cobalt use in the cathode. “So for raw material supply to meet demand there will be a combination of factors that go into helping plug the gap, but without more investment in mining and new projects actually making it into production the cobalt crunch is still very much on the horizon,” says Rawles.

“It is key that we manage to industrialize large-scale recycling of lithium-ion batteries for this transition to be truly sustainable.” — Jesper Wigardt, Northvolt To ensure a steady stream of raw materials, companies such as LG Chem are signing deals with raw material suppliers. For example, the company has signed a cathode-producing Joint Venture with Huayou Cobalt (China Cobalt producer). LG Chem’s plan includes extending its total capacity for EV batteries to 34GWh by the end of this year based on its four battery plant spots. It also plans to extend its capacity to 90GWh by 2020 to meet customer demand. But cobalt supply is going to prove problematic in terms of the uncertainty that will continue to surround the issue

— particularly over the price. “Most of us grew up in extraordinary times when the word ‘shortage’ meant ‘it will cost more but you can still get all you want if your wallet is deep enough,’” says John Petersen, a corporate lawyer with a lifetime of experience in the battery and energy industry. “With each passing day, I’m increasingly convinced that the cobalt cliff will teach all of us that the word ‘shortage’ means ‘not available in sufficient quantities at any price.’” International mining firm Glencore announced in late October that exports of cobalt hydroxide from its Katanga copper-cobalt mine in the DRC have been halted due to high levels of uranium. Prices that had spiked earlier this year at around $80,000 a tonne — but had drifted downwards to around $50,000/t — will soar back to those levels in 2019. Although production will be stockpiled, the $25m ion-exchange plant to remove the radioactivity won’t be completed until next summer and it will take much longer before the backlog of mined cobalt is processed. Glencore idled Katanga in 2015 for an extensive refurbishment and only restarted operations earlier this year. To date, Glencore has produced 25,700 tonnes from its DRC mines. In July, Glencore said it expected to achieve an annual rate of production of 40,000 tonnes by the end of the first quarter next year. That said, its previous target represents a third of total global output. One way of mitigating the need to secure a raw materials supply is to use less of the material and LG Chem is developing batteries that use less cobalt. For now its main product for EV batteries is NCM622 (nickel 60%, cobalt 20% manganese 20%), but the company is developing NCM 712, which it aims to start producing from 2020. “We are also developing NCMA batteries by 2022. The NCMA battery will have almost 90% nickel on the cathode, and the amount of cobalt should be under 10%,” said Woo. “We’re focusing on every type of battery so we are prepared for the future, but non-cobalt and sodium ion batteries are so far in the future story it is not appropriate to talk about these batteries at this moment. We’re focusing on 2020, with the present type batteries like an NCM-type lithium ion battery.” Wigardt says battery chemistries are constantly developing, and believes the newer chemistries will be less dependent on cobalt.

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OPINION: THE YEAR AHEAD, A ROUND-UP Rather than just look at what 2019 will bring, wider discussions with market players suggested that fears of lithium batteries blowing lead ones out of the water in terms of sales are almost certainly misguided. Michael Halls reports.

Troubles ahead for lithium — but not in the near term

enial. That was the prominent reaction when the lead battery business talked about the first arrival of lithium batteries in scale. Every argument that could be marshalled against them was aired — cost and safety featured highly but shortages of lithium and recycling difficulties (still unresolved) also featured. And all spelled the death knell of this upstart chemistry. There was even joy when lithium mishaps occurred — the Dreamliner battery fire, the GM explosion in the testing lab and the 16 Fisker Karmas that caught fire in the middle of a hurricane deluge. And pure delight when A123 failed as did others that had received some of $2 billion funding from the US government to develop advanced batteries. But a more mature attitude is emerging, in part because behind the scenes all the US lead battery firms have been looking at ways of making lithium batteries themselves for the past three to six years. For the most part they don’t like to talk about what is arguably the industry’s worst kept secret. And with maturity there has come acceptance. Perhaps the best point of view is that of the ILA, which says there is a valid place for both lead and lithium in the future. The huge demand for energy storage will be such that both sorts of batteries — and many other types — will predominate. Looking beyond the one-year view, various commentators suggest that lithium will take a greater slice of market share in the coming years. But the road won’t be smooth and there are impediments ahead.

Large scale ESS

In large scale energy storage applications, it would appear that lithium has won the battle. But this isn’t necessarily going to always be the case. For

80 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

the moment, the most recent statistics show that somewhere close to 98% of all new grid enabled storage solutions are lithium ion based. This won’t go away in a hurry but the balance will start to change. The momentum behind markets continues for years but the huge demands for energy storage in emerging markets — as yet untapped — will favour price over performance. Limitations to this sector will start to emerge once other issues, such as the large-scale disposal of what will eventually be gigawatts of lithium batteries, surface in the next few years. The cost of recycling has yet to be taken seriously — lithium cannot be disposed of safely and it can’t be put into landfill. Some environmentalists are already making noises that governments will soon have to hear. The European Commission, for example, with its emphasis on the circular economy, is already flagging to new project proposals that battery disposal needs to be part of their planning.

Blips in the supply chain

Talk of a catastrophic lack of lithium, cobalt, manganese and the like has always verged on the far-fetched. Historically, worldwide shortages of resources have regularly been forecast — but likewise they’ve never materialized. The world should have been out of copper, lead, oil and much more by the 1990s if the analysts in the 1970s had been correct. We have not yet failed to overcome the lack of any essential resource. But that’s not to say there won’t be difficult moments in the immediate years. Cobalt looks like being the first difficulty ahead for lithium batteries, but again that looks a temporary affair and will probably be overcome by the early 2020s. The market over-reliance on the Democratic Republic of Congo as a major source of cobalt is being tackled

with mines opening that would have been uneconomical when the cobalt price was low. Whether believable or not, deep sea mining promises to unlock huge stores of cobalt within the next five years. (Or that’s what some mining firms claim.) Oddly enough the ability to supply battery-grade lithium carbonate also looks set to be fragile in the near to middle term. Although there have been long term panics — mostly unfounded — about the availability of lithium for the past few years, the new worry is the lack of processing capabilities. Again this is a short term impediment rather than a block to an entire industry.

Our cars electric

The irrational enthusiasm for all carselectric is set to backfire at some juncture, to the lead automotive battery’s advantage. But when is a moot point. The extrapolated demand curves predicted are flawed, at least in many commentators’ views. The price point of EVs has come down rapidly — encouraged by government subsidies as much as by consumers wanting to be environmentally friendly — but it is still a large way off from cars powered by internal combustion engines. That said, the economic case for them has changed swiftly over the last decade. Once the initial outlay for the expensive car and home charging point have been made, EV driving is markedly cheaper than using diesel or petrol. Unlike some of the more irrational parts of the lithium EV economy — where a blind faith that science will provide a magic solution to issues such as lithium battery recycling — this drive down in cost will continue. However, huge uncertainties remain over the economic value of pure electric vehicles once their batteries have come to the end of their driving life. The issue of EV charging will con-

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OPINION: THE YEAR AHEAD, A ROUND-UP tinue to remain problematic, with the main challenges still ahead — and likely to cause disruption in demand within the next five years. If the general public moves en masse to driving electric vehicles then there will be huge demands on the capabilities of electric generating utilities to meet this demand for power. These look problematic but solvable, depending as they do on the rate of EV uptake and also domestic PV uptake. The integration of renewable energy as part of a larger picture where cars represent a store of electricity is theoretically possible now — but mass adoption as a component of a new virtual power plant reality is unlikely within the next 10 years. It may be possible to create the charging infrastructure required to meet the needs of a population that owns 1% of all cars on the road. But as soon as one moves to the idea of 10% of all cars, difficulties in location of placing sufficient charging points — from their location in front of houses in residential streets to coping with the sudden huge volumes of occasional traffic during holiday periods — remains difficult to make economic sense. In effect this means that countries whose cities refuse to allow the sale of internal combustion engines are still in La La Land. The bulk of these pledges will end up as wild promises. The ones caught out will be the mayors of cities such as London, Paris — and Los Angeles of all places — where they plan to restrict the use of non-EVs in their centres by 2025. The charging infrastructure is not insoluble. But it will be another blip in the development of EV markets and the relentless drive into lithium batteries.

Lead picks up its game

Innovation in lead is a moot point. At the moment it is difficult to say which way markets turn, if they turn at all. Lithium batteries have the momentum and research momentum behind them

although some of the advances lead has made have been astonishing. Better lead batteries may carry a punch of cost and better performance but are they enough to shift perceptions in the short term? Some of the early problems with the early VRLA batteries, and solved by the ALABC in the early 1990s, took time to be understood. In the end VRLA became a mainstream product; but it took time. In a monopoly situation — lead battery versus another lead battery type — that lag is less important than the present situtation. Here we have two different chemistries and products competing with each other. There have been at least two main advances in lead battery technology in the past decade. (There have been many others, of course: better paste formulations, better formation, better manufacturing techniques and much more, but these two probably are the game changers.) The first was the UltraBattery, although it’s still unclear about the extent of its future deployment. East Penn and Furukuwa Battery are pressing ahead, but despite all its potential advantages it is a very long way from being a mainstream product. The second has been the arrival of the first successful bipolar battery developed by Advanced Battery Concepts from an idea that emerged more than 20 years ago. ABC is now in licensing arrangements with major battery manufacturers. But again, to date this is still not a mainstream product and its superior qualities versus standard lead batteries still make it vulnerable to what lithium can deliver. Forecasts over the lead lithium battle for market share can only still range from the putative to the speculative. “In the end it’s how we balance price versus performance,” one commentator told Batteries International. “At its very simplest, lead has the price advantage, lithium the performance one. Until that balance changes, the status quo will only shift by small amounts.”

Industry voices ... the following pages Batteries International spoke to key participants about their views of the way the lead battery business will emerge in 2019. The next section details their own perspectives of the year ahead. www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 81

2019: THE YEAR AHEAD

Staying ahead of the game

Doug Bornas MAC Engineering

or MAC, the direction of success into the future will hinge on innovation as well as customers’ needs. Customers today, all over the world, need to reduce their labor force,

better protect their workers from the inherent challenges of working in a lead acid battery factory, all the while continuing to produce at higher and higher rates to keep up with demand. We have been challenged to not only make equipment that we know is successful, but also to make improvements to decrease labor, reduce emissions, and better protect all the areas where an operator could get hurt. Oh, and by the way, please make it go faster than it has before… Battery makers are continually looking for better ways to make batteries with the added caveat of less cost to make them. They are changing grid thickness, alloys, paste formulas and much more in an attempt to find the right technology to stay ahead of the

Battery makers are changing grid thickness, alloys, paste formulas, and much more to stay ahead of the challenges from lithium and other technologies.

challenges from lithium and other technologies. Lead acid is still the most cost effective way of making a battery but that may not always be the case. MAC, as well as all others in our industry, needs to help each other and work together and continue to push forward with better and more cost effective ways to produce machines and batteries. Of course, the regulatory commissions will continue to have a profound impact on our industry as they already have. The EU, OSHA and all others will continue to impose limits on manufacturers which will make it increasingly difficult to manufacture. The added ventilation and safety requirements that are required today have already made it challenging to keep production at a high level. Innovation by machine suppliers and manufacturers working together will help keep up with all new and future standards. It is a challenge we at MAC have been successful in and continue to look forward to being successful in.

A significant year of change ahead

Andy Bush International Lead Association

he year ahead will without doubt be a significant year of change but some of the themes that have dominated in the last 12 months will remain drivers for our industry. In Europe, with elections to the European parliament, we will see the start of a new political era and potentially a review of EU priorities. Working with our European partners and members

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we will be investing more in our advocacy and communications efforts, working with newly elected MEPs and EU officials to ensure there is a clear understanding about the benefits of lead battery technology. Whatever happens politically in Europe and elsewhere, there is little doubt that the transformation of the global economy and society will continue to reflect the challenges presented by climate change that were discussed in Poland in December. How the lead and lead battery industries respond to these changes and the opportunities presented by decarbonization and electrification will determine our long-term prospects. Lead battery research and innovation has received some significant boosts over the past year, with among others a new cutting-edge research programme with the US government’s Argonne

National Laboratory. But this is only the start. The need to innovate and develop new products is one of the reasons we are relaunching our research consortium in 2019, to better reflect the global nature of its membership and the focus on innovation. So, look out for the Consortium for Battery Innovation, as we will be publishing some groundbreaking new material and projects during the year. Finally, I have no doubt that the growth in demand for rechargeable battery energy storage will continue apace. It is partly why we must continue to bring to market advanced lead battery technology to help meet that requirement and also open up new market opportunities for the longestserving and most safe and reliable rechargeable battery technology available.

There is little doubt that the transformation of the global economy and society will continue to reflect the challenges presented by climate change. www.batteriesinternational.com

2019: THE YEAR AHEAD

The politics of trade tariffs to bite

Andy Honkamp Cellusuede Products

here are hundreds of millions of dollars spent on Chinese raw materials for US battery production. The Trump tariffs, and his

trade war with China, will hurt many in our industry in 2019. Cellusuede supplies pasting fiber across the globe, with the majority of our fibers being used in North America. Because we require fiber to be in tow form, we do not have a great deal of options when it comes to purchasing raw material. Therefore, we must turn to China for some of our key fiber tow purchases. The trouble is that president Trump, in his infinite wisdom (cough, cough), has included fiber tow on the list of Section 201 Tariffs, even though there is not a single company in the US that makes fiber in tow form for lead-acid pasting applications. As president of Cellusuede, I went to Washington DC to testify in front of USTR and state our case for the re-

moval of fiber tow. After all, the USTR grants testimony for cases where tariffs may induce undue hardship on domestic companies, while not achieving its goal of creating commerce in the US. In other words, Cellusuede’s price increases from China — even though we still cannot buy from a domestic source — mean that no one is better off. Either our profits shrink, or we raise prices to customers. Most likely, both will happen. Two days after testifying in front of the US government, I read that the tariffs will go on as planned. They could have simply spared me the air fare and hotel room for the night, and said thanks but no thanks to my testimony. I don’t know the exact figures, but my guess is there are hundreds of millions of dollars spent on Chinese raw materials for US battery production. The Trump tariffs, and his trade war with China, will impact many of this magazine’s readers in 2019. But hopefully, not beyond 2019.

Cellusuede’s price increases from China — even though we still cannot buy from a domestic source — mean that no one is better off.

Getting the big picture in place

Dawn Heng Daramic

n 2018, we’ve seen an aggressive wave of EV policy roadmaps with a 2030 timeframe emerging in European and Asian countries in particular. In the US, regulatory forces are driving

new energy storage demand in some states such as California, which has become the first state to require that new homes be built with solar panels from 2020. As a result, batteries will be required to deliver greater energy and power while working in a more stringent environment than ever. This brings big challenges to especially the lead-acid battery — we can’t operate in a ‘lazy mode’ anymore where new norms require approximately 100 times higher flow of energy in and out, and much deeper cycling capability. And that’s not forgetting the need for a much better charge efficiency in a dynamic way versus the previous generation in SLI, where they were only required to start the engine in automobiles or only operate for a third of the day in a forklift.

In 2019, we are seeing the urgency for improvement in the lead battery industry — the alternative being a market to shift to other technologies, with lithium ion being the most obvious. In the meantime, Daramic sees this market as opportunities to drive the lead-acid industry forward — that’s developing from being the status quo to one of pioneering innovation. As one of the most critical components in the battery, and the inventor of the PE separator in the 1970s, Daramic is reinventing our technology again. With leveraging the cost advantage and production maturity, recyclability and safety while significantly improving partial state of cycling capability and charge efficiency, we are supporting our partners in innovating lead-acid battery technology to a new spectrum in 2019 and beyond.

We can’t operate in a ‘lazy mode’ anymore where new norms require approximately 100 times higher flow of energy in and out, much deeper cycling capability and much better charge efficiency. www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 83

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2019: THE YEAR AHEAD

Future opportunies for all battery chemistries Batteries International asked Terence Murphy, chief executive of Hammond Group, for his take on the major issues facing the lead battery industry. With weight down and power density up, lead batteries could effectively leverage their natural advantages of economy and closed-loop sustainability against lithium’s increasingly public safety and sustainability issues.

Terence Murphy Hammond Group How untapped is the potential for sales to emerging markets next year? When could we expect to see rapid uptake of energy storage for stationery power? Motive power? UPS? Every new forecast of utility energy storage demand has been increasingly aggressive. We’ve now seen reports predicting 50 gigawatt-hours of storage by 2020. That’s a big jump from previous forecasts and perhaps a harbinger of exponential growth that could dwarf the traditional SLI market. To date, utility energy storage has been almost 100% lithium ion, driven by solar PV’s intermittency and need for voltage regulation. Outside this narrow segment, lead appears to be a better solution for transmission deferral, baseload arbitrage and microgrid evolution because lead offers an economic and appropriate technical solution and, more important, closed-loop sustainability that is essential at this scale.

How over-ramped is talk that this year lead faces the first full challenge from lithium? Or will the slow mission creep of lithium continue unabated?

ly leverage their natural advantages of economy and closed-loop sustainability against lithium’s increasingly public safety and sustainability issues.

Lithium is a great technology, but so is lead. The energy storage market is growing fast and there will be plenty of opportunities for both technologies. Lithium is the best solution for cell phones and lap-tops, but we’re not convinced it offers an environmentally appropriate, long-term solution in large format applications, especially utility-scale storage systems.

Do you think the regulatory aspect of lead in the environment — thinking REACH in the EU or California — will change much in the year ahead?

What do you think of all the promises of mass electrification with 2019 being a pivotal year as all the major car manufacturers release a wave of electric vehicles? Or is this just another wave of hype? The continued electrification of vehicle fleets is not hype, it’s reality. I doubt we’ll see an all-electric fleet, those likely will remain a minor segment, but the continuing hybridization of vehicles just makes good engineering sense. I think we’ll see a great opportunity for lead batteries in a bi-polar 48v configuration able to compete headto-head with lithium. With weight down and power density up, lead batteries could effective-

Regulations will continue to become more stringent. Even as we operate in a closed-loop infrastructure, as an industry we need to continuously improve our processes. Oxide production is probably one of the more environmentally challenging battery operations, so we are spending considerable effort on modernizing production technology to improve battery oxide while reducing airborne entrainment. If lead battery manufacturing has (mostly) gone east, will R&D follow? Battery economics dictate that manufacturing (and recycling) remain close to demand. Ours is not an ivory-tower industry, battery R&D needs to be close-coupled with manufacturing, both west and east. All the good R&D ideas in the lab aren’t worth much if they can’t be smoothly integrated into mass production.

The continued electrification of vehicle fleets is not hype, it’s reality. I doubt we’ll see an all-electric fleet, those likely will remain a minor segment, but the continuing hybridization of vehicles just makes good engineering sense. www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 85

2019: THE YEAR AHEAD

Backlash probable to lithium adoption

Guy Dauwe Amer-Sil

he biggest impact for us and the lead battery industry will likely come from the US — Trump’s tariffs — and how much their actions will disturb international trade, with particular effect due to US-China tariffs. As I expect further strong actions from the US, this will greatly disturb battery business. Perhaps, by limiting Chinese exports, it could lead to a regional uptick in lead battery sales. Still, as those battery types are not necessarily locally made anymore, I rather expect disturbances. I don’t see electric cars making a big impact anytime soon. The speed of introduction of EVs is totally overhyped. The cars are too expensive, the range too small and the charging infrastruc-

Future positive for the year ahead

David Reinhart Brentwood Industries

hese are challenging times for some parts of the lead battery industry. That said at Brentwood we expect 2019 to be another positive year for our part of the business which continues to expand. Uptake of one of our core products,

Koroseal, looks set to keep growing on the back of a steady growth in the industrial and automotive sides of the business. Koroseal — also known as perforated plate wrap or battery perf — prolongs the life of the battery by preventing corrosion of the internal lead plates. Koroseal is being used extensively as the industrial standard given its years of extensive testing. At Brentwood, we don’t see that changing at all next year. One trend we can identify that will continue next year is an acceleration of research into the technology within batteries and the growing specialization of battery forms: accessories in other words. This is an area where Brentwood’s own research and experience in injection molding will match the changing demands of battery manufacturers worldwide.

One trend we can identify that will continue next year is an acceleration of research into the technology within batteries and the growing specialization of battery forms: accessories in other words. 86 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

ture not in place (no standards, and it’ll take decades to roll it out). Let’s just imagine that EVs would make up 30% of the car park tomorrow. To go on vacation — both summer or winter — everybody takes the same roads south and will want to charge (quickly), around lunch time … One would need a pretty good sized power stations lining some highways! One of the main argument for EVs — that average users drives only short distances which is in fact my case — is irrelevant as people do occasionally use their car for very long trips. For these and other reasons, I don’t expect that the wave of EVs coming on the market will find buyers easily. However, in China, due to the enforced roll-out of lithium EVs, there will be an industry backlash as these lithium batteries will come on the market soon for a secondary life usage. This secondary life use will inevitably be stationary and energy storage applications. This may/will wreak havoc on the China market for lead acid batteries — and perhaps elsewhere. Lithium will continue its slow general creep as it is the sexy battery technology out there and the PbA industries’ marketing efforts, which remain too weak, will not change that easily. New applications in Africa (inverters for blackouts or electrification) and Asia (electric three wheelers) will sustain/create growth. Energy storage for stationary power will likely grow slowly everywhere but a lot of that will be lithium ion or other technologies. Finally it would be foolish to underestimate the regulatory aspects in Europe. The effect will be negative for lead batteries but its effects will not be felt for another five to 10 years. Still, I am encouraged by some new reports and analysis by specialized companies finally putting batteries and energy storage in the correct full-life frame, with recycling a major issue.

I don’t see electric cars making a big impact any time soon. The speed of introduction of EVs is totally overhyped. The cars are too expensive, the range too small and charging infrastructure not in place. www.batteriesinternational.com

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2019: THE YEAR AHEAD

The future is now for energy storage!

Kevin Moran Battery Council International

was recently invited to participate in a roundtable forum on energy storage that was put on by the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade association that represents the industry. Hydro and other storage options were briefly discussed, but the main topic

was large-scale battery storage. I was both delighted and surprised to be included in the discussion along with two NGOs and the Edison Electric Institute, which represents all investor-owned US utilities. I was surprised because nuclear is synonymous with baseload power, while much of the talk in recent years has been on the need for large-scale, grid-level energy storage to support intermittent generation sources like wind and solar. Before this I never gave much thought to the potential value of grid storage for baseload power generators, but now I realize that utility operators are thinking about the future in entirely new ways. The potential for an expansion in grid-scale battery storage installations may be even greater than I had previously thought. A lot has been happening in the US to encourage this trend. Earlier in 2018 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued order 841 which directs Regional Transmission

Organizations and Independent System Operators to draft market rules for storage to participate in wholesale energy, capacity and ancillary services markets. In addition, several states have either passed, or are considering setting targets for storage. The move towards renewable energy will drive innovation and adoption of large-scale battery storage solutions. California recently mandated that 100% of its electricity must come from renewable sources by 2045. It’s hard to believe they can meet this goal without a massive investment in battery storage. The moral of this is that there will likely be tremendous progress made on the battery storage front during the next several years. A number of different battery chemistries will be competing in the market with well-known pros and cons for each, and a level playing field is needed so markets can function properly and determine how best to meet this emerging demand. Amazing opportunities await.

The potential for an expansion in grid-scale battery storage may be even greater than previously thought.

2019 — a key political year for Europe’s battery industry

Rene Schroeder EUROBAT

hat will 2019 bring? It will certainly be a key political year for the European battery industry and set the scene for the years to follow. In May, we’ll have European elections with a new composition of the European Parliament as a result; in autumn, a new Commission mandate with new Commissioners will start. The new European Commission and the new European Parliament will be important partners for our industry on numerous policy files: revision of the Battery Directive, revision of the Endof-Life Vehicles Directive, REACH, review of the Occupational Health & Safety framework, eco-design for batteries, revision of the Waste Shipment

The main objective in five years’ time is to have legislation in place that recognizes the role of all battery technologies. 88 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Regulation… and more. So how do we prepare for it? As EUROBAT — the Association of European Manufacturers of Automotive, Industrial and Energy Storage Batteries — we will be presenting through our “Election Manifesto” our policy priorities for the next five years in February. Our priorities are to develop EU policies on sustainable batteries, to create legislative measures on workers’ protection and to continue with policies that recognize the important contributions of automotive and industrial batteries to the decarbonization of transport and energy systems. The main objective in five years’ time is to have legislation in place that recognizes the role of all battery technologies and does not aim at banning any technologies. A strong presence both in Brussels and in the member states is essential — and we will work with our member companies, with our national partner associations and with partners such as the ILA so that the industry messages are heard by all European and national policy-makers.

www.batteriesinternational.com

2019: THE YEAR AHEAD

Regional perspectives set to continue to shape development

Craig Brunk Bitrode

he overall picture is this. Lithium battery manufacturers are charging ahead to grow their market through the claims of smaller size, lighter weight, deeper discharge and increased overall life. That said don’t discount the research and development that the lead acid battery manufacturers are expending to extend their battery life and depth of discharge. Stationary batteries used in energy

storage systems typically don’t require lightweight or smaller footprint; they are nice to have, but when it gets down to it, it’s all about $/kWh. Lead acid battery manufacturers are working closely with additive manufacturers to decrease charging times, increase life cycles and control operating temperatures. The initial cost of a lithium battery storage system may be more expensive, but their total lifecycle cost is closely approaching that of a lead acid battery energy storage system. Lead acid battery manufactures recognize this threat and are responding through innovation and testing to improve their merits. But don’t count them out yet…. 2018 was a year of global growth for all companies in the battery industry

and 2019 should continue to be another year of the same. China continues to dominate in the investment in lithium cell manufacturing. Significant growth has begun in North American and European through the purchasing of the lithium cells that are built into modules and packs. India had significant investment and growth the past two years in lead acid battery manufacturing and they are now investing in the development of lithium cell manufacturing. South-east Asia and South America are mature in the manufacturing of lead acid batteries, but are just beginning the investment in lithium battery manufacturing. Whichever chemistry you’re in, next year will be a great time to be in the battery industry!

2018 was a year of global growth for all companies in the battery industry and 2019 should continue to be another year of the same.

Interesting times ...in part by an evolving global political landscape Scott Fink Sorfin Yoshimura

e live in interesting times and 2019 presents many new challenges! Several years ago, globalization looked set to be an invincible force widely accepted by most governments around the world. Now, leadership changes in many countries have shifted these dynamics. More populist leaders with protectionist tendencies have emerged

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and this presents a significant threat to a globalized economy. This potentially impacts all globallyminded businesses, including Sorfin Yoshimura. Thankfully, because of our global footprint, we are well positioned to offer our clients substitutions to products from different origins in order to guard against added cost of tariffs. Alternative chemistries for various applications challenge lead acid batteries more each year and 2019 will continue this trend. Lead battery manufacturers are tasked to increase production volumes while in parallel focusing on increasing power and adhering more strictly to performance criteria. To achieve these goals, the depth of the partnership we need with our customers and vendors becomes more critical than ever before. The specific

No longer can we take a standardized approach to our supply chain services.

understanding and knowledge can only transfer properly with excellent communication. No longer can we take a standardized approach to our supply chain services. As 2018 comes to a close, we are again grateful for the faith the industry has shown us as we continue to expand our global business. We have scaled up and increased our capability to undertake greater volumes of business. Our knowledge base continues to evolve enhancing our service offering to cater to more specific technical and commercial challenges that our individual partners require. Looking forward, Sorfin Yoshimura is confident that we will continue to meet our revenue goals while also refining our internal systems and procedures to offer the industry optimum service for all supply chain related needs. We are committed to offering solutions to these challenges and the others which will undoubtedly come up in 2019. Overall, we are optimistic about 2019 and the future of the lead acid battery in general.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 89

The Battery and Energy Storage

CONFERENCE WATCH MONTHLY The definitive guide to battery energy storage conferences and meetings for the year ahead

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE Contact Jade Beevor jade@energystoragejournal.com

BACK TO BASICS Ever more advanced battery management systems are being developed to match the sophisticated needs of the applications that the batteries serve, writes Isidor Buchmann, chairman of Cadex Electronics and founder of the Battery University.

How to improve the battery fuel gauge Increasingly, batteries are being controlled by a device called a Battery Management System. The BMS assures safety, extends battery life and provides state-of-charge (SoC) readings. Current systems do this by measuring cell voltage, current and temperature, some also include coulomb counting. Coulomb counting measures the in-and out-flowing battery current, a theory that goes back 250 years. The accuracy of the SoC is adequate for consumer products and decreases with use and time. By then the user has gotten used to the quirks of the portable device and no one gets hurt. Military, medical and other critical instruments demand higher accuracies and this article focuses on the intelligence that is responsible to measure battery SoC. The challenge of the so-called “smart battery” is keeping the electrochemical battery and the digital battery together. The electrochemical battery is known as the actual energy storage vessel and the digital battery is the circuitry that predicts the remaining energy. Figure 1 illustrates the drifting apart of the digital battery from the electrochemical battery and how periodic calibration corrects the error. The values

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are assumed and accentuated. All batteries have losses and the released energy is always less than what has been fed into the pack. Inefficiencies in charge acceptance, especially towards the end of charge, resistive losses that turn into heat, and storage losses in the form of self-discharge reduce deliverable energy. A common flaw with BMS design is assuming that the battery will always stays young and energetic. Aging takes on many dimensions and some BMS record user patterns and environmental conditions to generate a “learn” algorithm that corrects the tracking error. Such modelling will help, but tracking the aging process causes limitations.

Device calibration

Calibration, also known as capacity re-learning, is a better method to correct the tracking error of a smart battery. Manual calibration occurs by running the battery down on purpose. This can be done in the equipment or externally with a battery analyzer. With most fuel gauge chips, a full discharge resets the discharge flag and the subsequent recharge sets the charge flag. Establishing these two

Electrochemical battery

Digit al Ba ttery

Comparisons Calibration

Calibration

Figure 1: Tracking of an electrochemical and digital battery as a function of time. With use and time the electro-chemical and digital battery drift apart; calibration corrects the error. Note: The accumulating error is application related; the values on the chart are accentuated.

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flags allows SoC calculation by tracking the distance between the flags. The calibration of a device in constant use should be done once every three months or after 40 partial cycles. If the device applies a periodic deep discharge on its own accord, no additional calibration is required. Although feasible for a portable device, such a service would not be practical for EV and UPS batteries. A device that often runs into calibration problems is a defibrillator, a medical instrument that provides shock treatment to a patient suffering from a cardiac arrest. A defibrillator seldom reaches the full discharge needed for self-calibration, and applying a full charge alone is not sufficient. Nor does the SMBus help. SMBus provides communications and the results are only as good as the available data. Nowhere is the accuracy of the battery fuel gauge more critical than in the electric powertrain. Surveys show that range anxiety is one of the largest concerns among EV buyers. A less known but equally worrisome impediment are inaccuracies in the battery fuel gauge. EV drivers have run out of battery power while the fuel gauge still indicated a comfortable 25% reserve. Getting stranded because of false readings adds fear and paranoia. Anecdotal comments made by engineers at a SAE Consortium reveal that the SoC error of new EV battery modules can be as high as 15%. The fuel gauge of the combustion engine does not have this problem. The storage tank stays the same for the life of the vehicle and the fuel dispensing remains accurate. The battery in the electric vehicle, on the other hand, shrinks and technology to measure dispensed energy needs improvement. People compare the battery with a fuel tank, but estimating storage capabil-

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 91

ity and measuring battery energy from an electrochemical device is far more complex than with a liquid fuel storage system. The BMS of an electric powertrain should also indicate the total energy a battery can hold at any given time. Accurate capacity measurements are not yet feasible and the losses are mostly hidden to the user. The battery capacity may have dropped to 80%, but the BMS will still show 100% SoC after a full charge. A lower capacity reduces the runtime and shortens driving range. A weak battery also charges more quickly because there is less to fill. A BMS should display SoC and SoH. But even if SoH were available, many manufacturers would be hesitant to show a capacity that is less that 100 percent during the warranty period for fear of customer complaint. SoH, if made available, could be shown to service personnel through an access code. To compensate for losses and honor the eight to 10 year warranty, EV manufacturers oversize the battery by 20%. This allows for aging and offers extra driving range, just in case.

Conductivity

BACK TO BASICS

Magnetic field

Ferromagnetic layer Non-conductive magnetic layer Ferromagnetic layer

Figure 2: GMR sensor: The magnetic property of a battery changes with THE SoC. A sensor reads the change when exposed to a magnetic field.

Voltage

Q-Mag

Time

BMS

Current

Improving the BMS

Battery voltage, current and temperature alone are not sufficient to provide accurate SoC estimations, much less state-of-health (SoH). Early Li-ion correlated the rising internal resistance with SoH. This no longer works because most modern Li-ion batteries maintain low resistance as the battery ages. When designing a BMS, one also must consider how the battery serves the host. In an iPhone and most EVs, for example, the battery is married to the host. This enables collecting data for learning. The battery and host cohabitat in a similar way to partners in a good marriage. Batteries for a two-way radio, on the other hand, are picked from a common charger and returned to a pool for recharging after use. Learning is difficult and a different method must be found to track battery health. Cadex Electronics is making critical progress in measuring battery SoC by using magnetic susceptibility. Quantum magnetism (Q-Mag) could provide the most accurate battery SoC readings ever achieved. Q-Mag makes use of the magnetic property relating to SoC that can change as much as threefold between empty and full charge on some batteries. A coil generates an AC field and a sensor reads the magnetic susceptibility, which is linear to SoC. There are several choices of sensors

92 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Coulomb counting

Temperature

Figure 3: Q-Mag serves as primary BMS contributor. Q-Mag simplifies the BMS and allows state-of-health estimations on resident batteries.

and because of availability and low price Cadex conducts the research with a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor. It consists of ferromagnetic alloys that are sandwiched on an ultrathin non-magnetic conducting layer. Applying a magnetic field lowers the resistance; removing the force increases it. The principle is known as electron scattering, which is also used on hard drive read/write heads. Figure 2 illustrates the function of a GMR sensor. Q-Mag has successfully been tested with Li-ion-cobalt, NMC, lithium iron phosphate, as well as several types of lead acid batteries. The system is immune to most outside interference and does not rely on voltage for SoC estimations. This allows reading SoC while the battery is on charge or on a load. Q-Mag works with prismatic and cylindrical cells in aluminium and stainless steel casings, but not with ferrous material. The accuracy on lithium-based chemistries is ±5%, lead acid is ±7%. This high accuracy should be retained

as the battery ages. Calibration occurs by applying a full charge. With voltage and current references added, Q-Mag is able to calculate SoC and SoH estimations. The BMS can also detect micro-shorts by observing the self-discharge of a faulty cell, a feature that enhances battery safety. Furthermore, Q-Mag can be used for load levelling. This eliminates the rubber-band effect that complicates SoC estimations through voltage. Figure 3 shows Q-Mag as key contributor to BMS. Q-Mag can be made small and sandwiched between the cells. A multi-cell battery may have one sensor for an overall assessment or several to enable diagnostics to cell level. An ASIC containing Q-Mag could also include temperature sensing and digital processing. A high volume, low price product would make this technology available for big and small batteries, including consumer products. Displaying precise energy reserve, as is possible with a liquid fuel system, may be closer than we think.

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CONFERENCE IN PRINT

Welcome to a special section of our magazine, called Conference in Print. Our aim is a simple one. We want to offer you the readers a section where you can highlight your products, technology and skills to our broader audience — rather like going to a conference or an exhibition without the inconvenience of all the travel! We’re putting no restrictions on what you’d like to showcase — this is your section not ours — but hope that this will prove an invaluable and cost-effective way to reach our audience of subscribers and readers.

CONFERENCE IN PRINT: NAIL PENETRATION TESTING A regular nail penetration test of a LiFePO4 battery has shown unlikely subsequent retention of electrical energy, report Shouji Usuda and Isao Iyoda, academics at the Electro-Communication University, in Osaka, Japan.

Simple nail penetration test of LiFePO4 battery A simple nail penetration test of a LiFePO4 battery, which is said to be a non-burnable battery, has been carried out. resulting in the discovery of a reproducible phenomenon peculiar to the LiFePO4 battery. We also demonstrated that the simple type of nail penetration test method is useful for small capacity batteries of below 2000mAh class.

(a) Battery fixing jig and round nail

The jig for the simple nail penetration test consisted of a metal fixing frame (89mm by 92mm by 125mm height) with a through hole and a round iron nail (4.6mmϕ by 125 mm length). Batteries to be tested are caught in fixed frames. The round nail is placed near the centre of the battery, and the nail is penetrated through the battery by hitting the head of the nail with a wooden hammer (Figure 1). For nail penetration, the circumference of the simple type jig was shielded with a metal plate and both hands were fitted with gloves for welding as protection against flames and scattered objects of the battery. At the time of nail penetration of the battery, the terminal voltage of the battery, the temperature of the surface of the battery and the

(b) Fixing the battery

Figure 1: Battery fixing jig and state of nail penetration using a wooden hammer

(a) Winding work

(b) Electrolyte injection

As a result of the test, a reproducible phenomenon peculiar to the LiFePO4 battery was discovered.

Figure 2: Production example of a LiFePO4 battery cell

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Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 95

CONFERENCE IN PRINT: NAIL PENETRATION TESTING thermal image by thermography were measured. Batteries to be tested were a LiFePO4 battery with a capacity of 1200mAh, terminal voltage 3.8V and a conventional LiCoO2 battery (2000mAh, terminal voltage 4.2V) as a comparison. Both batteries were manufactured in-house by our laboratory (Figure 2). In addition a Li polymer battery (3000mAh, 3.8V) built in a commercially available smartphone was removed and used for nail penetration for comparison.

Evaluation of the results Measurement results on temperature rise and thermal image, and temporal change in terminal voltage on batteries under testing are described below.

Figure 3: Thermal images of the changes in temperature rise after nail penetration (Room temperature:19.3˚, Humidity: 35%)

• Temperature rise and thermal image The temperature rise of the three types of batteries after nail penetration and corresponding thermal images are shown in Figure 3. In the case of a LiFePO4 battery, the temperature rise between before and after nail penetration was about 7°C. The temperature rise in the case of LiCoO2 battery was about 25°C. In addition, in the case of a lithium polymer battery mounted on a smartphone, a temperature rise of about 60°C was observed. For this nail penetration test, no smoke was observed in in the case of LiFePO4 battery and only a little smoke was observed in the other two. No flame due to nail penetration was observed in any of the batteries.

• Temporal change in terminal voltage The change in the terminal voltage of the battery after nail penetration was measured with the memory high scope. The measurement results of the two types of batteries are shown in Figure 4. In the case of the LiFePO4 battery, the terminal voltage temporarily decreases at the time of nail penetration, but we have now found that the voltage instantaneously recovers.

For this nail penetration test, no smoke was observed in in the case of LiFePO4 battery and only a little smoke was observed in the other two. No flame due to nail penetration was observed in any of the batteries. 96 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Figure 4: Changes in terminal voltage after nail penetration(2V/ div, 500ms/div)

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CONFERENCE IN PRINT: NAIL PENETRATION TESTING Also, it was confirmed that even after the nail was withdrawn, the initial voltage was maintained for several hours. The recovery voltage was about 0.5V lower than the initial voltage (3.8V). However, the terminal voltage dropped to about 0.5 V after 24 hours passed. For the LiCoO2 battery, the terminal voltage dropped to 0V from the time of nail penetration, and voltage recovery was not observed. After extracting the nail, the terminal voltage was kept at 0V and it remained at 0V even after 24 hours passed. • Discharge characteristics in nail penetration state The discharge characteristics of a LiFePO4 battery after nail penetration was measured. The measurement started within five minutes after nail penetration. For comparison, the same discharge test was also performed on a similar battery without nail penetration. The measurement results of CCCV discharge at discharge current of 300 mA are shown in Figure 5. In addition, the whole measurement view is shown in Figure 6. It was found that the discharge capacity of the remaining LiFePO4 battery sample within five minutes after nail penetration was about 100mAh, whereas the discharge capacity of the unpenetrated sample battery was about 1200mAh.

Figure 5: Discharge characteristics after nail insertion

THE IMPLICATIONS OF IT ALL The research shows that LiFePO4 batteries have unique properties. The discharge capacity of the battery after nail penetration in the LiFePO4 battery decreases by 1/10 compared with that before nail penetration, but this residual capacity is considered to be effective in battery usage. As an example of the usefulness of this research, if one assumes that future aircraft can be driven by batteries alone then an electric aeroplane equipped with a conventional LiCoO2 battery would crash if the real-world equivalent of a nail penetration situation existed. Effectively the voltage immediately decreases and is never recovered. However, if such an electric aeroplane is equipped with a LiFePO4 battery, even if the nail sticks to the battery, the voltage is restored, and if the remaining battery capacity can be secured, the electric plane can safely fly to a nearby airport and escape a potential crash situation.

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Figure 6: Whole view of the discharge test

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 97

EVENT REVIEW: BCI EHS CONFERENCE BCI Environmental Health and Safety Conference Philadelphia, US • October 22-23, 2018

Lead industry shows way forward for safety and regulatory compliance Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the City of Brotherly Love, and the home of the cheesesteak sandwich, hosted 95 attendees at the Battery Council International Environmental Health and Safety Conference, October 2223. The conference was aimed at providing safety professionals with information on current best practices and updates on regulatory and legislative initiatives affecting the lead battery industry. Participants learned from a number of noted experts and shared ideas on improving worker safety and compliance. Among the highlights was a presentation by Nicholas DeJesse from the Philadelphia Region III OSHA office who provided a comprehensive update on the agency’s activities, processes and links to a myriad of resources available to business and the public. “His frank delivery and willingness to both challenge the industry and to answer tough questions was like a breath of fresh air,” said one delegate. BCI enlisted scientists from the International Lead Association to report on the current progress in blood lead health science, the medical surveillance study on the scientific data regarding the health effects of lead, and the life cycle assessment study of lead batteries and the environmental footprint. Steve Binks and Cris Williams fielded questions about research by ILA and other initiatives working in conjunction with BCI. BCI’s outside counsel for environmental health and safety, Roger Miksad of Wiley Rein, spoke on BCI’s voluntary blood lead level reduction program, State OSHA, Federal OSHA, and a list of things to come that could affect the industry

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in the US. “The lead battery industry continues to be a leader in worker health and safety improvement. This conference is a key piece of BCI’s effort to promote this mission”, said Miksad. The program was rounded out by a series of presentations on best safety practices focused on wastewater treatment, robotics, industrial ventilation, and industrial hygiene and medical management. Information and suggestions on new ways to reduce worker exposure came from experts speaking on this wide range of subjects. Across many of the conference presentations, a common thread arising from the conversation was that employee buy-in is critical to enforcing compliance and improving workplace practices. This was highlighted in a session led by Carl Raycroft, VP of EHS compliance from RSR Corporation, on behavioral and observational safety incentive programs who provided an overview of RSR’s highly successful program and piqued the interest of many in the room. The conference ended with the ever-popular 60 ideas in 60 minutes giving each attendee an opportunity to share their own ideas and takeaways from the meeting. In support of the conference, four companies participated as exhibitors displaying their products and services — ESCA Tech, Cooper Environmental, State Safety & Compliance and Tamarac Medical. It was a jam packed, one and half days of education and networking. Jim Anderson from Crown Battery and a member of the Conference Planning Committee, summed it up: “All the speakers were engaging and informative and the topics highly relevant to our industry.”

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 99

EVENT REVIEW: EES/IBESA SUMMIT 2018 The organizers of the Intersolar/ees event series have taken to the road with IBESA in the first of a series of country-focused summits.

Making the case for energy storage opportunities in France The ees & IBESA Summit France in Strasbourg on October 24 turned out to be a lively affair with some 135 energy professionals attending the one-day event. The morning session looked at how the integration of renewables and energy storage was progressing in France — the frank answer was not very well — and then looked at the broader picture, across Europe as a region and wider. Over the course of the day the focus shifted to major business and technology trends in place across the industry. The French situation is interesting in that the country was one of the first to see the economic advantages of solar+storage when in most parts of the world interest was confined to technical studies and trial projects. In France, however, an immediate application was found for deployment on its overseas territorial departments. As early ago as 2012 solar farm projects were being developed on the Pacific island of Réunion and there was talk of several hundreds of megawatts of electrical storage that would be planned. The first concrete projects including involvement with major players such as Saft emerged the year afterwards.

100 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

The economic cases for these projects — essentially that solar+storage is far cheaper than the use of diesel to power gensets — turned out better than expected. For a while France was a leader in early experiments of micro-islanding. By contrast, as the summit clearly showed, the growth of renewables+storage was as one of the first speakers pointed out, at best, “stable” in mainland France. The reason for this could be summed up in two words — nuclear power. Some 75% of France’s electrical power comes from its 58 nuclear reactors dotted across the country. The price of electricity is a fraction of what it costs in Germany, for example, making the drive to combining renewables and storage as an expensive alternative. (And oddly enough, despite the huge decommissioning that Germany has achieved of its nuclear plants in the north of the country, France has four MW1300 plants next to the German border in Cattenom in the Moselle.) Once renewables+storage reached a price point similar to that achieved by nuclear power then, the summit

heard, could renewables+storage take off. French government policy is also vague on the role of nuclear power in the future, meaning that opportunities could be forthcoming sooner rather than later. Nicolas Hulot, the country’s environment minister, announced in 2017 that the country “could” close up to 17 nuclear reactors by 2025. This would reduce the country’s energy dependence on nuclear power to around 50%. Hulot has since resigned but there is a lively debate going on whether a new generation of nuclear plants is to be built. (The average plant is around 30 years old with a planned lifespan of 40 years.) Irrespective of that decision, the conference heard there was still the potential for growth in some more specialized areas such as C&I (commercial and industrial). The principle of micro-islanding, first explored in Réunion and Martinique, for example, could be extended to mainland France at a much smaller scale for schools or factories for reasons of self-sufficiency or security. One impediment to a speed-up in the numbers of PV installations

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EVENT REVIEW: EES/IBESA SUMMIT 2018 has also been due to the fact that insurance for French solar installers has been unavailable from local insurers. This is a situation that could change, however. But the growth of energy storage in France was seen as inevitable in the longer term given the larger worldwide context of our need for yet greater amounts of energy — mostly sparked by the drive to electric vehicles. France is committed to banning the sale of petrol or diesel cars by 2040 — as promised by its president Emmanuel Macron— but there is also a plan to only allow emissionfree vehicles to drive in Paris by 2030. Perhaps the most interesting of the discussions was led by Pablo Ralon, an associate programme officer for IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency). He said that Europe’s power mix which presently consisted of 24% from renewable sources and 76% from others was set to flip to around 85% from renewables by 2050. Ralon said that he saw V2G — vehicle to grid — technology as being “hugely important” in the way that the world’s energy mix will balance itself. This was a view that was echoed by other speakers during the summit. IRENA anticipates that by 2050 there will be some 965 million EVs on the world’s roads and 57 million electric buses. Ralon also said that he saw no business case for V2GAS at present and that the technology was at a trial stage but could become important for longer term storage. The lack of a business case may soon be changing following the UK government’s recent announcement that it planned to use hydrogen fuelled trains in some parts of the country. Interestingly enough for an audience of mostly lithium ion

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battery enthusiasts, he said that storage would be so essential that other chemistries and technologies would have to form part of the mix. He reckoned that lead batteries, flow batteries and high temperature sodium batteries would all contribute to this energy mix, as would other combinations. “Mostly they will be application specific but we anticipate that lithium batteries will be dominant by an order of a magnitude,” he said. Other topics that dominated discussions in this highly useful set of talks and presentations included the latest thinking on virtual power plants and the creation of the socalled digital utility. The role of the existing utility, France’s energy giant EDF, was discussed. Unlike most other European countries, which have a number of independent utilities, almost all electricity in France comes through EDF. “The situation for utilities could change enormously,” said Kerstin Pienisch, manager for international

business development at Next Kraftwerke. “In a virtual power plant the new utility doesn’t own the assets but manages them. The shift for the industry is the move towards production to consumption. It’s a radical way to organize things.” Perhaps the liveliest discussions came after Christophe Bourgueil, in charge of energy storage business development at Eaton, gave a presentation entitled Building the Case for Behind the Meter Energy Storage. Most of the audience are aware that to date recycling large scale lithium car batteries is a cost rather than a source of revenue, so business cases for second life batteries were of great interest. This was the first country summit led by ees and IBESA and proved a day well spent. Although the technical and business case was high, as you’d expect from these two organizations, the networking opportunities proved excellent and this reviewer looks forward to seeing further summits for other countries.

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 101

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS Energy Storage Summit 2018

Intersolar India

San Francisco, California. US December 11-12

Bangalore, India • December 11-13

Now in its fourth year, the Energy Storage Summit will bring together utilities, financiers, regulators, technology innovators, and storage practitioners for two full days of dataintensive presentations, analyst-led panel sessions with industry leaders, and extensive, high-level networking. This year, we’re expanding our traditional U.S. event to cover the global market. Contact GTM Events Email: info@greentechmedia.com www.greentechmedia.com/events/live/ energy-storage-summit

San Francisco hosts Energy Storage Summit 2018 in December

Battery India 2019 Goa, India January 5–7 Battery India will focus on growth and usage of Lithium batteries for India and neighbouring countries. The conference is expected to raise the standards of participatory interaction among stakeholders, regulatory authorities from various countries, user industries, researchers, technologists and equipment manufacturers. Battery India 2019 will ensure a direct opportunity towards international cooperation and business promotion by ensuring quality lectures by eminent specialists and researchers, buyer and seller meetings. Contact Battery and Recycling Foundation International Ajoy Raychaudhuri Email: info@bfi.org.in Tel: +91 11 2955 2649 www.bfi.org.in/index.htm

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This is India’s most pioneering exhibition and conference for the solar industry Solar developments in India grew exponentially in 2017. Further announcements and new market opportunities in the energy storage and electric mobility sector strengthen India to become an interesting and very promising market in the future. The state of Karnataka is one of the most flourishing Indian solar markets and the first Indian state to launch a specific EV policy. Intersolar India, the most pioneering exhibition and conference for the solar industry is celebrating

its 10th edition in Bangalore, the capital city of the top solar market. The event will focus on the solar, energy storage and electric mobility industries and will welcome more than 17,000 industry professionals and 300 exhibitors. In addition, Intersolar India will continue to connect solar businesses in Mumbai at the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) on April 4-5, 2019 with a focus on financing and India’s western solar markets. Contact Brijesh Nair Tel: +91 22 4255-4707 www.intersolar.in

World Future Energy Summit-WFES Abu Dhabi, UAE • January 14-17 WFES (World Future Energy Summit) is a global industry platform connecting business and innovation in energy, clean technology and efficiency for a sustainable future. WFES Expo hosts over 850 exhibiting companies from more than 40 countries; The Future Summit; the unique WFES Forums, covering everything from disruptive technologies to future cities; a set of ground-breaking WFES Initiatives; and WFES Hosted Events, where individual growth markets come under the spotlight. Contact Rajveer Singh Tel: +971 2409 0444 Email: rajveer.singh@reedexpo.ae www.wfes.ae

Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 103

FORTHCOMING EVENTS Energy Storage India New Delhi, India January 9-11

Energy Storage India conference and exhibition brings together industry professionals and speakers from more than 20 countries. Powered by India’s leading Energy Storage Alliance “India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), attending will give you a platform to meet all energy storage and EV tender authorities, state and central regulators, policy makers and government bodies. Contact Messe Düsseldorf India Amruta Dhumal Tel: +91 11 4855 0059 Email: DhumalA@md-india.com www.esiexpo.in

Advanced Automotive Battery Conference Europe (AABC Europe) Strasbourg, France January 27-31 Each year, AABC Europe brings together a global audience of battery technologists and their key suppliers for a mustattend week of development trends, breakthrough technologies and predictions of the market for years to come. Our 2018 event was the largest AABC event ever with 1,000 attendees from 35 countries taking part in interactive discussions on the development and future market trends for vehicle electrification. As more European nations and international automotive OEMs make their own commitment to vehicle electrification, we are excited to carry that momentum forward for 2019. Our program continues to expand coverage of the research and development of the chemistries and materials supporting the next generation of electric vehicle batteries, while maintaining our core focus on applied technologies needed for hybrid and electric cars and specialty vehicles. Contact: Tel: +1 781 972 5400 Email: ce@cambridgeenertech.com www.advancedautobat.com/europe

104 • Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019

Solar Power Northeast Boston, Massachusetts. US February 5-6 Solar Power Northeast is the largest forum in the Northeast for the solar and energy storage industries to come together and learn about the trends and legislation impacting grid resilience and reliability in the region. This event will feature multiple tracks of education that include business and market insights, technology, policy, energy storage, innovation, and more — plus, extensive networking opportunities. Attendees can also expect over 80 exhibitors, 1,500 attendees, and expanded energy storage business opportunities on and off the show floor. Contact SEIA & SEPA Tim Morris Email: tmorris@sets.solar www.events.solar/northeast/

Hydrogen & Fuel Cells Energy Summit Madrid, Spain February 6-7 The two day event will bring together key industry stakeholders from all facets of the hydrogen industry to discuss the required economical and infrastructural innovations for a sustainable future energy carrier. The key discussions will involve monetization, latest technologies implementations, material optimization, production and transportation. Contact ACI Rob Cheeseman Tel: +44 203 141 0625 Email: rcheeseman@acieu.net www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/hydrogenand-fuel-cells-energy-summit/

5th Annual Energy Storage Policy Forum Washington DC, US February 13 Featuring nationally recognized policymakers and energy thoughtleaders, the ESA Annual Policy Forum convenes a select audience of stakeholders from across the energy ecosystem — including state and federal regulators, policymakers, storage industry members, utility decision makers, and power sector stakeholders. The 2019 Policy Forum promises to build on exciting developments to help guide one of the most interesting and important conversations in the electric sector today. Who should attend? • State and federal regulators • Policymakers • Storage industry members • Utility decision makers, and • Power sector stakeholders The 2019 Policy Forum will return to the prestigious National Press Club in Washington DC. Contact Energy Storage Association Justin Aquilante Email: sales@energystorage.org www.pf.energystorage-events.org

Madrid, Spain hosts the Hydrogen & Fuel Cells Energy Summit

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3rd ANNUAL co-located with

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS Lithium Mine to Market, Australia 2019 Perth, Australia February 21-22 The Western Australian lithium industry is dynamic and undergoing a period of change, in that it is transforming its traditional mining output into lithium chemical production. New government policies are now being discussed to develop the lithium downstream industry even further. This could represent a momentous shift for the industry, with Western Australia potentially incentivized to become a source of materials for the manufacturers of batteries and-beyond that-cell and pack manufacturing. Roskill’s inaugural Lithium Mine to Market, Australia 2019 Conference offers you the opportunity to discover what is really happening in the lithium supply chain. The conference will bring together a high profile list of expert speakers to offer insights and supply and market outlooks for the current situation in Australia and further afield. It will also give you the chance to meet and network with key decision makers across the entire lithium supply chain. Contact Roskill Information Services Tel: +44 20 8417 0087 www.roskill.com/event/lithium-mine-tomarket-australia-2019

Energy Storage Summit February 26-27 London, UK. This is the largest UK downstream focused event addressing energy storage returns to London in February 2019. It includes four streams filled with developers, financiers, utilities, networks and aggregators discussing standalone storage, along with colocated and C&I applications. Contact Rachel Morrissey Solar Media Tel: +44 207 866 4922 Email: rmorrissey@solarmedia.co.uk www.storagesummit.solarenergyevents.com

Graphene Automotive 2019 Detroit, Michigan, US March 4-5

9th International Smart Grid Expo Tokyo, Japan February 27-March 1 Japan’s largest international exhibition showcasing various cutting-edge technologies and products related to smart grid and smart communities. Reed Exhibitions Japan strive to provide the most effective platform for exhibitors showcasing the latest technologies, products and services to meet professionals from around the world. Contact Reed Exhibitions Tel: +81 3 3349 8576 Email: visitor-eng.wsew@reedexpo.co.jp www.smartgridexpo.jp

Resource Recycling Expo 2019 Tokyo, Japan February 27-March 9 This is a newly launched show specializing in recycling technologies and services of renewable energy resources such as solar panels and rechargeable batteries. The 1st Resource Recycling expo will be held inside the world’s largest-scale smart energy show — World Smart Energy Week 2019. Contact Reed Exhibitions Japan Tel: +81-3-3349-8576 Email: rr-e@reedexpo.co.jp www.recycling-expo.jp/en-gb.html

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This year’s conference is set to become the world’s leading exhibition and conference exclusively for graphene researchers and automotive manufacturers to meet and explore new uses of graphene in automotive applications, and to address the specific challenges associated with the commercialization of graphene for use in a multitude of new applications. Key topics on this year’s agenda include: • Graphene availability, market supply, and demand forecasts • New markets and the commercialization of graphene automotive applications • Quality and standardization of graphene materials to meet commercial needs • New developments in manufacturing processes and material integration techniques • Latest methods, results, and new developments in graphene-based composites • End-user automotive manufacturer case studies and successful applications This exhibition and conference will provide a forum for all stakeholders, from researchers and suppliers in the graphene industry, to end user manufacturers, to network and build cross-market relationships and to discuss the latest developments in graphene use in new automotive applications. Contact IQ Hub Tel: +1 206 582 0128 Email: delegates@iq-hub.com www.usa.graphene-automotiveconference.com

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS Energy Storage Europe Düsseldorf, Germany • March 12-14

21st International Conference on Lithium Batteries — ICLB Miami, Florida, US March 11-12 The ICLB 2019: 21st International Conference on Lithium Batteries aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results about all aspects of lithium batteries. It also provides the premier interdisciplinary forum for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns, practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted in the field of lithium batteries. The conference solicits contributions of abstracts, papers and e-posters that address themes and topics of the conference, including figures, tables and references of novel research materials. Contact World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology www.waset.org/conference/2019/03/miami/ ICLB/keynotes

10th Annual NAATBatt Meeting and Conference Phoenix, Arizona, US March 11–14 This year’s NAATBatt 2019 program will focus on the markets for advanced battery technology in North America. As in past years, NAATBatt will invite the leading market analysts in the world to report on trends in the markets for electric vehicle, stationary energy storage, industrial, military and consumer batteries in North America. The impact of recently enacted US tariffs on the battery market and on domestic battery manufacturing will be covered. NAATBatt’s chief science officer and chief technology officer will make their much anticipated annual addresses predicting how changes in the technology of batteries are likely to impact the business of selling stored electrical energy. Contact National Alliance for Advanced Technology Batteries (NAATBatt) James Greenberger Email: jgreenberger@naatbatt.org Tel: +1 312 588 0477 www.naatbatt.org/2019-annual/

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Those who would like to get to know the entire world of energy storage, its leading technologies and key-figures, for them there is only one destination: Energy Storage Europe in Düsseldorf. The unrivalled focus on the topic of energy storage can only be found here in Düsseldorf. Only here the entire range of technologies in all its diversity can be discovered: Electrical,

thermal, chemical and mechanical solutions. Only here the energy storage of future energy systems can already be experienced today. Contact Messe Düsseldorf Caroline Markowski Tel: +49 211 4560 7281 Email: markowskic@messe-dusseldorf.de www.energy-storage-online.com

36th International Battery Seminar and Exhibition Fort Lauderdale, Florida. US March 25–28 Founded in 1983, the International Battery Seminar and Exhibition has established itself as the premier event showcasing the state of the art of worldwide energy storage technology developments for consumer, automotive, military, and industrial applications. Contact Cambridge EnerTech Tel: +1 781 972 5400 Email: ce@cambridgeenertech.com www.internationalbatteryseminar.com

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS 2019 SEPA Utility Conference

BCI Convention and Power Mart Expo 2019

San Diego, California, US April 8-10

New Orleans, Louisiana, US • April 28-30

Utilities teaching utilities how to implement clean energy and grid modernization technology — that’s what the 2019 SEPA Utility Conference is all about. In 2018 attendees had opportunities to connect and learn with other utilities from across the nation during 54+ hours of networking and education. Sessions and events ranged from EVs to DERs and from storage as a utility asset to low-income solar. If there has been an incredible utility innovation somewhere in the country, you’ll learn about it at utility conference. Whether your utility is tackling electrified transportation, grid resilience, DER integration, regulatory innovation or new utility business models, the conference will give you the tools you need to be the hero for your utility and your customers. Join us to learn lessons that will help you further your utility’s grid modernization, clean energy, and distributed energy technology efforts. Contact Smart Electric Power Alliance Kevin McGrath Email: kmcgrath@sepapower.org www.sepapower.org/event-complex/2019sepa-utility-conference/

29th Annual Energy Storage Association Conference & Expo Phoenix, Arizona, US April 16-18 The 29th Annual Energy Storage Association Conference and Expo is the industry’s premiere conference and networking event. It is the most influential gathering of market leaders, customers, decision makers, and technology innovators. Attending will provide you with new strategies, new connections and innovative ideas that will move your organization forward. Contact Energy Storage Association Tel: +1 202 293 0537 Email: events@energystorage.org www.esacon.energystorage-events.org

Battery Council International’s convention and power mart expo is North America’s premier lead battery event attracting a huge national and international audience of around 600 delegates and some 50 exhibitors displaying their wares at the Power Mart Expo. The recent introduction of the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz innovation award has proved to be a huge success for the entire lead battery industry as candidates for the award display a huge range of new

Battcon Orlando, Florida. US April 23-26 Now in its 23rd year, Battcon is a high-energy mix of industry specific presentations, panels, seminars and workshops, plus a trade show.

products that have the capability of changing the business entirely. With applications already being submitted for the award, 2019’s event situated in the heart of New Orleans should prove an exciting and worthwhile event to attend. Contact Battery Council International Tel: +1 312 245 1074 Email: info@batterycouncil.org www.batterycouncil.org/page/2019Home

More than 600 stationary battery users meet at Battcon for three days of professional development and networking with industry experts and peers. It’s a forum focusing on design, selection, application and maintenance for those in the data centre, telecom and utility industries can learn from and network with industry experts. Every year, more end users are discovering Battcon; the conference geared for industry novices and seasoned battery professionals alike. Contact Vertiv Email: battcon@vertivco.com www.battcon.com

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Batteries International • Winter 2018/2019 • 109

The Leading Exhibition Series for Batteries and Energy Storage Systems

MARCH 5–7, 2019, DUBAI, UAE EES@MIDDLE EAST ELECTRICITY: MENA‘S MOST COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY STORAGE EVENT www.ees-mena.com

MAY 15–17, 2019, MUNICH, GERMANY EUROPE’S LARGEST EXHIBITION FOR BATTERIES AND ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS www.ees-europe.com

JULY 9–11, 2019, SAN FRANCISCO, USA NORTH AMERICA‘S ULTIMATE HOT SPOT FOR ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS www.ees-northamerica.com

AUGUST 27–29, 2019, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL SOUTH AMERICA’S NEW HOT SPOT FOR BATTERIES & ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS www.ees-southamerica.com

NOVEMBER 27–29, 2019, BANGALORE, INDIA INDIA‘S LEADING ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE EXHIBITION www.ees-india.in

FORTHCOMING EVENTS The Battery Show Europe 2019 Stuttgart, Germany May 7-9 The Battery Show Europe, co-located with Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo Europe, is the industry’s largest and fastest-growing trade fair for advanced battery and H/ EV technology. Some 400+ suppliers from across the battery supply chain, such as A123 Systems, CATL, Leclanché, Voltabox and Bosch Rexroth will display thousands of design, production and manufacturing solutions, including battery management systems, battery pack assemblers/integrators, materials, components, research, testing and recycling. This free trade fair is an opportunity to source the latest energy storage solutions to reduce costs and improve the performance of battery applications.

International Energy Storage and Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Conference & Exhibition Shanghai, China • June 3-6

Contact Smarter Shows Tel: +44 1273 916 300 Email: info@thebatteryshow.eu www.thebatteryshow.eu

Energy Storage International Conference and Expo (ESIE) Beijing, China May 14-16 Since its inception in 2012, ESIE has become the leading annual event for energy storage in China, bringing together nearly 6,000 attendees including government representatives, academic experts, and private industry leaders both domestic and international. The three-day event includes over 100 speakers covering the latest topics and trends in the energy storage industry, as well as over 60 exhibitors showcasing innovative energy storage technologies, applications, and services. ESIE 2019 will also feature the Third Annual Energy Storage Innovations Competition, honouring the year’s best energy storage technologies and applications. Other exciting events include industry leader salons, site tours, networking opportunities, new product releases, and more. For those eager to learn first hand about energy storage in one of the industry’s fastest growing markets, ESIE is the can’tmiss event of the year. Contact China Energy Storage Alliance-CNESA George Dudley Tel: (+86) 010-65667066-805 Email: george.dudley@cnesa.org www.esexpo.org/?lang=en

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International Energy Storage and Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Conference & Exhibition (IESH) covers the entire industry chain, focusing on PV-plus-storage, mobile energy and storage, hydrogen energy and fuel cells. The aim of the exhibition is to promote international cooperation and exchange in the industry of energy storage, mobile energy, hydrogen energy and fuel cells. Focusing on engineering technologies and products of PV-plus-storage, mobile energy and storage, hydrogen energy and fuel cells, covering the entire industrial chain.

The conference will gather policy makers, industry experts, scholars, leading enterprises, financial institutions, consultancies and media, in the field of PV-plus-storage, mobile energy and storage, hydrogen energy and fuel cell, to discuss the policies, cutting-edge technology, market trends, business model, and the financing channels.. Contact SNEC Tel: +86 21 33685117-888 / 806 Email: info@iesh.org.cn www.iesh.us/HomePage.aspx?lang=en#

Beijing, China hosts the Energy Storage International Conference and Expo (ESIE)

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