The world’s largest lithium-ion energy storage system has come online in the US, Vistra Energy announced on 6 January.
The300MW/1.2GWh system, at Vistra's Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County, California, was connected to the power grid and began operating on 11 December.
US electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla has signed a five-year deal to receive battery-grade lithium hydroxide from China’s Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group.
The total value of the contract, signed by Yahua's wholly-owned subsidiary Yaan Lithium, is $630-$880 million and lasts up to 2025, according to news outlet Reuters, which quoted a filing by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The cost value translated into a total lithium hydroxide procurement amount of 63,000-88,000 tonnes, or 12,600-17,600 tonnes per annum, according to analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets.
Last May, Yahua commissioned a 20,000 tonnes per year lithium hydroxide plant in Yaan city into operation, more than doubling its previous capacity.
It already sources lithium - an ingredient in EV batteries - from China’s Ganfeng Lithium, one of the world’s top lithium producers.
In 2018, Tesla signed a deal to receive a fifth of China's largest lithium compounds producer, Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium’s production. Under the terms of the agreement, Tesla also designated its battery suppliers to buy lithium-hydroxide products from Ganfeng.
In 2019, Ganfeng Lithium finalised a $160 million investment deal to raise its stake in Argentina’s Cauchari-Olaroz lithium brine project to 50%. Ganfeng Lithium now partners with Canada’s Lithium Americas in a 50-50 joint venture that will develop and operate the project.
United Arab Emirates lead-acid battery maker Eternity Technologies has opened its first plant in the US to make batteries for the forklift market.
The plant in Sherman, Texas was opened in October to manufacture its full range of BCI 2 volt low maintenance and enhanced capacity batteries for the US, Mexican and Canadian markets.
Liquid metal battery firm Ambri is set to deploy its energy storage technology in a US data centre following an agreement with TerraScale.
The collaboration includes delivery of 250MWh Ambri system to TerraScale’s Energos Reno project in Nevada, which is planned to start next year.
Scientists at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the US have demonstrated a proof-of-principle electrochemical process for recycling lithium-ion batteries.
The room temperature process uses electricity, instead of heat, to power the reactions that leach cobalt, lithium, manganese and other materials from shredded lithium-ion batteries.
Vehicle OEM Volkswagen of America, a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, has begun building its first lithium-ion battery testing facility outside of Europe or Asia to ensure “better tuned” cells for the US electric vehicle market.
The $22 million Battery Engineering Lab at its Chattanooga Engineering and Planning Center in the US state of Tennessee will test and validate electric vehicle cells and battery packs for the North American market.
Eos Energy Storage has signed an agreement to provide more than 1GWh of zinc battery storage systems across three south-west states in the US during the next 24 months.
The $250 million deal with renewable energy developer Hecate Energy will see Eos design, build and deploy its zinc-based battery solutions in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.
Researchers from Columbia University's engineering department in the US have reported that alkali metal additives, such as potassium ions, can prevent dendritic growth in lithium-ion batteries.
The US arm of lead-acid battery maker Exide Technologies has been renamed Stryten Manufacturing following the completion of a $179 million buy out by an investment firm.
Stryten will operate seven manufacturing plants across the US to serve the ‘evolving needs of its customers and partners’ after Exide’s Americas business was bought via an auction process in July by Atlas Holdings.
US lithium-ion battery maker Ultralife Corporation has appointed Eric Lind as vice president of commercial operations and business development at its battery and energy group.
Lind will be charged with developing and launching new lithium-based battery products to commercial medical, security and defence, industrial and energy storage markets around the world.
Lind has previously worked for battery manufacturer Duracell, fossil fuel firm ConocoPhillips and lithium iron phosphate battery organisation Lithium Werks.
Lind said: “We see many cell and pack manufacturers chasing the electrification of the consumer automotive sector due to the sheer potential size. Markets such as industrial, medical, defence and robotics are often overlooked by these battery companies as secondary opportunities.
“However, we choose not to serve the automotive industry but rather to focus on these other wide and varied customer segments.”
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