Grid-Level Energy Storage

Australia’s Hunter Valley is set to become home to the world’s biggest battery. At 1.2 gigawatts, it will set a new global benchmark – albeit one that’s sure to be eclipsed as the benefits of these giant grid-scale batteries become better understood.

By focusing on the way lithium moves between the two electrodes, scientists in the Netherlands have come up with a new battery design that promises much faster charging rates, which could help improve the grid storage capability of renewable energy.

A surprisingly simple new energy storage system is built on blocks that store thermal energy like melted chocolate chips in a muffin. The team says they’re efficient, scalable, safe, inexpensive, and can be used in existing coal-fired power plants.

A Scottish company called Gravitricity has now broken ground on a demonstrator facility for a creative new system that stores energy in the form of “gravity” by lifting and dropping huge weights.

A South Australia-based startup says it's built a thermal energy storage device with a lifetime of at least 20 years​ that can store six times more energy than lithium-ion batteries per volume, for 60-80 percent of the price.