Researchers from the Monash Energy Institute have created a longer-lasting, lighter, more sustainable rival to the lithium-ion batteries by simply adding a spoonful of sugar to address inherent stability issues.

In theory, lithium-sulfur batteries could store up to five times more energy than lithium-ion batteries of the same weight; the problem is in their useful life. Lithium-sulfur batteries, which are also lighter and cheaper than today’s models, maybe the next generation of power cells that we use in electric cars or mobile phones – if scientists can get them to last for longer.

The problem is – as the positive sulfur electrode suffers from substantial expansion and contraction during charging, it is subject to significant stress and quickly deteriorates. And the negative lithium electrode becomes contaminated by sulfur compounds.

Last year, a team of researchers at Monash University in Melbourne demonstrated that they could open the structure of the sulfur electrode to accommodate expansion and make it more accessible to lithium. Now, the team introduced a sugar-based additive into the web-like architecture of the electrode to stabilize the sulfur, preventing it from moving and blanketing the lithium electrode.

The breakthrough stems from a 1988 geochemistry report that describes how sugar-based substances resist degradations in geological sediments by forming strong bonds with sulfides.

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The experimental cell prototypes have shown 97% sulfur utilization with a cycle life of 1000 cycles and capacity retention of around 700 mAh per gram after 1000 cycles.

“So each charge lasts longer, extending the battery’s life,” says the first author of the study and Ph.D. student Yingyi Huang. “And manufacturing the batteries doesn’t require exotic, toxic, and expensive materials.“

According to the researchers, thanks to the sugar-based additive, their technology has the potential to store two to five times the energy of today’s lithium batteries. They are hoping to use the technology to enter the growing market for electric vehicles and electronic devices.

“While many of the challenges on the cathode side of the battery has been solved by our team, there is still need for further innovation into the protection of the lithium metal anode to enable large-scale uptake of this promising technology – innovations that may be right around the corner,” said Dr. Mahdokht Shaibani, second author and Monash researcher.

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WIDELY regarded as the pioneers of using lithium ion batteries in materials handling lift trucks, Jungheinrich, have overcome the problems associated with using Li-ion powered lift trucks in cold stores, at temperatures of -25⁰C and South Africa can expect this state of the art technology to arrive in Q4 2021.

The company began the introduction of li-ion batteries across its product range in 2010 amid much derision from competitors wedded to lead acid batteries. The much improved performance and advantages of li-ion powered machines soon had competitors developing their own lithium-ion powered machines, or retrofitting their own units with outsourced li-ion batteries

While all types of batteries show performance declines in cold temperature situations, Li-ion batteries capacity only declines by 10% at 0⁰C compared with 50% for the lead acid equivalent. Furthermore, lower temperatures experienced in typical cold stores can cause the electrolyte in lead acid batteries to freeze and crack the battery casing in prolonged usage in cold store environment.

The advantages of li-ion over lead acid batteries in lift truck applications, is well documented and includes:

Lower mass
Greater energy density provides extended shift times
Lower charging times – typically 80 minutes from almost flat – full
No electrolyte therefore no leakage problems, no dangerous gassing or freezing.
Longer working life – Jungheinrich guarantee its batteries for five years suggesting replacement only after eight. edit.

These advantages contribute to increased productivity, factory space saving as no battery bays are required as battery swapping is obsolete – li-ion powered trucks can complete up to three shifts with only 15 minutes charge intervals , from anywhere in the plant. In sub-zero conditions Jungheinrich’s two shifts one charge battery operated forklift is ideal for longer shift hours. Flexible charging options are the key to productive cold store operations, whether changing takes place inside an ambient environment or outside.

This means that all trucks in this range whether manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic machines can perform successfully in low temperatures, in all racking configurations.

Jungheinrich engineers have been perfecting the technology since its inception and have overcome low temperature battery issues allowing its new EKX range of VNA (very narrow aisle) machines to perform at temperatures as low as -28⁰C – which covers virtually all cold store applications.

Low temperature operation machines include specially designed features including special steel construction, anti-stick-slip additives, low viscosity oils and purpose designed pumps, tanks and hydraulic equipment to cater for the environment. Operators are not forgotten either with cabin heaters and windscreen and window de-misters.

Compared with conventional reach trucks the EKX machines are much narrower between 1 750mm and 2 100mm compared to 3m for a reach truck allowing greater storage density especially if specified with a 12,5m Stack and Retrieval capability

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As battery power becomes more viable in the quest to green the grid, it’s incumbent on business leaders across industries and continents to share the best practices that will help advance the clean-energy transition.
Thanks to increased R&D spending that has advanced the core science, the cost of lithium-ion batteries is plummeting. Already at record lows, the price of battery power could be halved again by mid-decade, meaning that the math of whether or not it makes economic sense to use battery power will likely soon be settled in the span of just one car-leasing cycle.​
As rare-earth element producers like China and Australia turn to protectionist policies, access to the raw materials that go into batteries is increasingly becoming a geopolitical issue. This may inspire a move to supply chains that are closer to home, along with more investment in emerging markets.

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South Africans looking to purchase a backup power solution should be careful when considering suitable batteries.
The prevalence of load-shedding has led many to resort to battery-inverter systems that are able to charge when the power is on and then provide stored electricity for use during power cuts.

These battery systems are also used to store energy generated from renewable energy solutions like solar power.

Understanding the specifications of these batteries can be difficult for those unfamiliar with electrical systems, however.

Batteries that aren’t rated to perform as advertised are in the market, and even those who buy from respected sellers should be wary of misleading performance ratings.

Blue Nova Energy, which recently launched its MegaBoy intelligent Energy Storage Solution (iESS), told MyBroadband what to look out for – detailed below.

The problem with battery specifications
Certain vendors used load-shedding to exploit a lack of knowledge among consumers to sell battery products that aren’t necessarily intended for backup power.

While many vendors don’t explicitly lie about a battery’s specifications, subtle manipulations in how the performance factors are calculated can misconstrue its true capability.

“A lower-quality product can be made to look better on paper by obscuring or neglecting to mention certain product specifics, and therefore seem to be more affordable,” Blue Nova explained.

The company said that consumers tend to compare product prices, rather than taking long-term product running costs into consideration.

“The data available on the data sheets of these products is, for the most part, accurate. The difficulty is determining what the published data is based on exactly,” said Blue Nova.

“For instance, minimum cycle life depends mainly on chemistry, maximum daily depth of discharge (DoD) percentage, ambient temperature, and capacity retention at end-of-life.”

“The latter is sometimes mentioned in small-print in warranty documents,” the company added.

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The Megamillion Energy Company intends to be Africa’s first large-scale producer of lithium-ion batteries, with a mandate to make batteries “in Africa, for Africa’s benefit first”.
Megamillion aims to have the continent's "first lithium-ion battery production pilot" plant up and running in the second half of this year, says Megamillion Group CEO Nechan Naicker.

The exact location is still to be decided, with Coega the current preferred site.

The initial 0.25 GWh (scaleable) pilot plant will be capable of producing more than ten-million lithium-ion cells a year.

Funding for the $35-million pilot plant will flow from a mix of local and global private equity investors, with Naicker not yet willing to provide specifics.

Lithium-ion batteries have been used in rechargeable products, such as cell phones and laptops, for a number of years already, and more recently in electric vehicles. They are also used in small-scale business and utility applications, and as energy storage solutions for renewable energy installations.

“Working with established battery technology pioneers from China, the plan is to ramp up to an annual production output of 32 GWh of cells by 2028, with the primary focus on cells for the energy storage market and, thereafter, for the electric vehicle market,” says Naicker.

​He adds that Megamillion is “not reinventing the wheel, but cutting and pasting” existing technology and processes from “respected Chinese lithium-ion battery specialists” for use in Africa.

“We have already produced sample batteries with our partner, and these have successfully undergone tests at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Our cell is very advanced, it has a high energy density and our partner has a number of patents for its safety aspects.”

An African Solution
With a high prevalence of load-shedding in the Southern African Development Community, affordable energy storage is a critical factor for energy security, says Naicker.

While renewable energy sources are playing an important role in supplementing the energy generated from the traditional fossil-fuel energy sources, energy from wind and solar can be intermittent and not completely reliable, he notes.

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Attractive costs for solar and wind power and cutting-edge innovations are making clean energy a compelling proposition in Sub-Saharan Africa, which faces the world’s largest gaps in electricity access. But solar and wind power are variable by nature, making it essential to find effective ways to store the electricity they produce to use when it is needed most.

Energy storage – batteries in particular – can help solve that problem.

Today, battery technology is costly and not widely deployed in large-scale energy projects. The gap is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 600 million people still live without access to reliable and affordable electricity, despite the region’s significant wind and solar power potential and burgeoning energy demand.

Catalyzing new markets will be key to drive down costs for batteries and make it a viable energy storage solution in Africa.

A recent partner- and investor-focused conference sought to do just that.

The “Batteries, Energy Storage & the Renewable Future” event in Cape Town on Feb. 24 and 25 was attended by more than 200 participants from companies including Tesla, General Electric, Fluence, Siemens, the Southern Africa Power Pool, and national research labs and utilities from many countries.

South Africa’s Minister for Energy, Mr. Jeff Radebe, delivered opening remarks, and underscored the country’s commitment to the application of battery storage in its energy systems.

The event focused on the potential for batteries and other forms of energy storage to complement renewable energy by supporting off-grid and mini grids, which supply electricity to millions of people living in remote communities or areas that are not supported by traditional infrastructure.

It also demonstrated the tremendous demand that exists in the region today for energy solutions that do not just boost the uptake of clean energy, but also help stabilize and strengthen existing electricity grids and aid the global push to adopt more clean energy and fight against climate change.

Global demand for battery storage is expected to reach 2,300 GWh by 2030, while power systems around the world will need nearly ten times more — 22,000 GWh — of storage capacity by 2050 to integrate more wind and solar energy into the electricity grid.

The World Bank is already taking steps to address this growing need.
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​A new, first-of-its-kind $1 billion World Bank Group (WBG) program aims to help fast-track investments in battery storage by raising $4 billion more in public and private funds and convening a global think tank with the ultimate goal of financing 17.5 GWh of battery storage by 2025 – more than triple the 4-5 GWh currently installed in all developing countries.

“Last year, almost twice as many energy storage projects were announced globally – and the same is expected this year. The market is still small, but exponential growth has begun,” said Michael Solomon, the Chief Executive Officer of Clean Horizon.

To that end, the World Bank, in partnership with the Climate Technology Fund (CTF) and the African Development Bank, will support a large-scale distributed battery storage program in South Africa.

The WBG is also developing solar parks with 150 MW of PV and some 200 MWh battery storage each in Mali and Burkina Faso – the largest in the region. Other projects include a combined solar and battery storage project in Haiti, an emergency solar and battery storage power plant in the Gambia and mini-grids in island states to improve resilience.

In recent years, the WBG has also been working with other countries to support the deployment of batteries with solar and wind power, with projects currently under preparation in Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The World Bank event, “Batteries, Energy Storage & the Renewable Future,” was held in Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 25-26, 2019 with the support of the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the Middle East and North Africa Knowledge and Innovation Program (MENA KIP).

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The Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is at an advanced stage of setting up factories that will supply gigawatt factories with manganese, a key ingredient in most lithium-ion batteries.

Coega Development Corporation (CDC) business development metallurgic sector manager Sadick Davids says the SEZ is the “most ideal location in terms of readiness for the beneficiation of the base material for this industry”.

He added that the Coega SEZ has the infrastructure nodes in place to provide services for exporting manganese, as well as the skills capacity.

The local industry, Davids notes, is known for historical battery manufacturing such as Eveready Batteries, in Port Elizabeth.

From a jobs perspective, the value chain in the development of manganese at Coega for the battery or energy storage markets has the potential to create more than 10 000 direct jobs and 15 000 indirect jobs plus an investment value of more than R20-billion.

“What makes Coega SEZ an ideal location for the manufacturing of lithium-ion battery capacity is experience in this sector. The CDC is also located near the Nelson Mandela University which could provide research based insight for advancing and growing the sector,” highlights Davids.

The university is already a key technology player and boasts a testing facility specifically for battery development, while the CDC’s partnership with other key State institutions in the province is making headway for the first investment in lithium-ion battery factories within the next two years.

“The CDC believes the local production of manganese-based batteries will position the Eastern Cape to benefit from the emerging energy storage and electric mobility or e-mobility markets,” adds CDC energy sector manager Sandisiwe Ncemane.

The urgent relocation of the current manganese facility from the Port of Port Elizabeth to Ngqura will serve as an enabler to the Coega SEZ, which has the capacity and infrastructure for a battery storage and manufacturing, Ncemane concluded. 

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Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), part of Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA), the front runner in electric trucks, has delivered the first units of its eCanter, in two ceremonies to its first Japanese customers, Seven-Eleven and Yamato Transport.
The eCanter is the first all-electric light-duty truck in series-production by a global manufacturer. The truck made its worldwide debut last month in New York City, and is being leased initially in a small series-production in Japan, Europe and the US. Today’s handover ceremonies mark the first worldwide delivery of FUSO’s eCanter into customer hands.
Kazuo Matsunaga, Chairman of MFTBC & DTA stated, “In times of rapid urbanization, manufacturers, forward thinking customers, and municipalities have to cooperate in order to lower greenhouse gas emissions and make cities greener and quieter. FUSO has taken the leadership role in the electrification of trucks, and is very happy to hand over these first eCanter to its customers today.”
He added: “We are grateful we could convince such iconic and forward thinking companies like Seven-Eleven and Yamato, to become the first customers to receive the eCanter and operate it in their fleets, setting a benchmark for corporate citizenship”.
The handover ceremonies were held at Seven-Eleven’s Chilled Hino Center (Hino City, Tokyo) and Yamato Transport’s Haneda Chronogate (Ota Ward, Tokyo). Seven-Eleven will gradually start to operate the eCanter in eight of their centers in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba. Seven-Eleven is committed to reduce the burden on the environment by optimizing their distribution systems. Yamato Transport also plans to use the eCanter for its transport operations in the Kanto region to contribute to a sustainable urban environment. Seiichi Awa, Managing Director of Yamato, said: “As the largest logistics company in Japan, trucks are at the heart of our company. We are excited to be the first to integrate the electric eCanter into our operations and make deliveries emission-free. We believe electric trucks are the future of urban delivery.”
The FUSO eCanter is a light-duty truck that emits zero local emissions and zero engine noise. This enables businesses to have deliveries, even in dense neighborhoods, in early morning hours and late into the night. It is also a positive business case, as customer fleet tests have shown that the electric eCanter can save up to approximately 1000 Euro per10.000 kilometers in operating costs. The electric truck has a GVW of 7.5 tons, carries 6 lithium-ion battery packs and offers a range of roughly100km on a single charge. Charging takes around 1.5 hours (DC quick-charging system) and 11 hours with a regular system (200 V). The body comes in various configurations such as box body and flatbed. MFTBC has a long history and experience in alternative drivetrains. Since 2005, we are manufacturing and selling the Canter Eco Hybrid. In 2010, we presented the first prototype of our all-electric light-duty truck “E-CELL”.

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Bushveld Minerals Limited , a mineral project development company with a portfolio of vanadium and coal assets in Southern Africa and an investment in tin, is pleased to announce that its 84%-owned energy subsidiary, Bushveld Energy Limited ("Bushveld Energy") has confirmed its first vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) deployment in South Africa.
The system will be deployed with Eskom, the South African national power utility, at its Research, Testing and Development (RT&D) Centre in Rosherville, South Africa.
This follows Eskom's identification of the need for potentially up to    2,000MW of additional, daily balanced energy storage within the existing grid earlier this year. The project is co-developed by Bushveld Energy and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) and will allow Eskom to test the VRFB, its performance and applications under numerous simulations. This will include minimum load shifting, wind generation smoothing, solar generation smoothing, power quality improvement and self-black-start capability. The VRFB commissioning is expected in the first half of 2018.

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The U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a grant to Solafrica Energy (Pty) Ltd., a developer of utility-scale solar power plants in Southern Africa, for a pilot project that demonstrates the performance of an energy storage system based on Primus Power Corporation's (California) EnergyPod2® technology.

The EnergyPod2® is a long-duration energy storage system based on zinc-bromine flow batteries. The pilot will demonstrate the performance of this energy storage system under South Africa's electric grid conditions at the large-scale energy storage test and demonstration facility of Eskom, South Africa's national electricity utility.

The pilot will include a series of assessments to determine applications where long-duration energy storage has the greatest value on South Africa's electric grid and will generate an implementation plan for the deployment of Primus Power's energy storage systems throughout the country. Large-scale deployments of energy storage on South Africa's electric grid will increase the capacity of the grid, support further integration of renewable energy resources, and offset the use of diesel fuel for peaking power and backup power generation.

"USTDA is pleased to support this project that will increase energy storage capacity in South Africa and ultimately expand access to affordable, reliable electricity," said Lida Fitts, Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Director at USTDA. "The project will display the value and applications of innovative U.S. technologies in a growing and important sector in South Africa."

"South Africa's rapid increase in renewable energy integration has introduced challenges related to intermittent power generation," said Nasi Rwigema, Project Director of Solafrica Energy. "Innovative and cost-effective energy storage solutions will add great value to energy users and electricity network operators alike."

"As a continent, Africa has the majority of the world's population without access to reliable electricity," commented Tom Stepien, CEO of Primus Power. "By commencing this pilot with the support of USTDA, we aim to demonstrate the performance, reliability, durability and cost competitiveness of our EnergyPod2® system and apply it in order to satisfy energy storage needs in South Africa, and additional countries in Africa, for years to come."

This pilot project was submitted through USTDA's previous proposal window for energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa. USTDA currently has a new call for initial proposals from energy project sponsors or U.S. companies working in the region. Interested parties must submit an initial concept paper by 5:00pm Eastern Time on September 25, 2017 and may refer to the press release as well as USTDA's full proposal guidelines available on its website.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

Source: U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA)

See also..... ​US Trade and Development Agency
​pays for South Africa flow battery pilot