Batteries

A proposed $470 million vanadium mine in North West Queensland has this week been declared a prescribed project. The project will include facilities for processing the vanadium for use in batteries, chemical applications and in high-strength steel production. “The proponent will mine and process vanadium for use in the growth market of vanadium batteries and … Continue reading Queensland to streamline approvals for vanadium mine →

A total of $3 million in Australian Research Council (ARC) funding is going towards a research hub for developing cheaper and more effective energy storage for Australians, including towards storage technology manufacturing. “The research conducted at this hub will drive more secure, sustainable and economically efficient energy usage through the use of more effective storage … Continue reading UNSW receives $3 million towards energy storage research →

Researchers at Swinburne University are using “atomaterials” to create new functionalities, which they believe will change everyday products. “Atomaterials” is a term coined by Professor Baohua Jia, a nanotechnology expert and director of Swinburne’s new Centre for Translational Atomaterials. “It’s a synthesised word from ‘atomic materials’ which are the next generation of nanomaterials,” Professor Jia said. Nanomaterials enable small, fast and powerful … Continue reading Swinburne scientists investigating potential of “atomaterials” →

An Australian company, VSPC, has partnered with a Chinese firm to commercialise a Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) cathode product. The MoU between VSPC and Beijing Saideli Technology Incorporated Company (SDL) covers the low capital establishment of a supply chain for the cathode material in China, in addition to collaboration for a study into the feasibility … Continue reading Australian-Chinese partnership to commercialise lithium battery technology →

Researchers at Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials have found a way to overcome the flammability of lithium-ion batteries. Replacing the volatile liquid electrolyte with a solid polymer material would enable items powered by such batteries, including mobile phones, computers, and vehicles, to no longer be a fire risk. Researchers Fangfang Chen and Xiaoen Wang … Continue reading Researchers develop non-flammable lithium ion batteries →

The potential to extract lithium, manufacture products such as batteries, and recycle them at the end of their life, all in Australia, has taken a step forward with Lithium Australia announcing a 73.7 per cent interest in Envirostream, an almost 50 point increase. Lithium Australia invests in extraction processes for lithium, supplying the battery industry. … Continue reading Investment to create circular economy in lithium battery manufacturing →

Multinational battery manufacturer Alpha-ESS has increased its production in South Australia, with the aim to double its production by 2020. At its assembly site in Lonsdale, the China-headquartered company will produce 500 battery systems per month for the rest of 2019, with production to hit 1000 systems a month next year. “As one of the … Continue reading SA steps up battery manufacture →

A discovery of new electrolytes and capacitors for use in advanced electronics such as electric cars and mobile phones has been found in an unlikely location, laxatives. Co-conducted by researchers from the University of Western Australia (UWA), the project looked at the molecular structure of laxatives to create an oil and soluble substance. “The oily … Continue reading Source for electric batteries found in common medication →

A program to find applications for a new type of battery material has received $3 million in funding from the federal government’s Cooperative Research Centre Projects (CRC-P) program. The project aims to find and test a new type of material for high performance batteries. Currently, these types of batteries require costly and difficult to source … Continue reading High-performance batteries to be made from new materials →

Rechargeable aluminium-ion batteries are a step closer to becoming a reality after a UNSW Sydney researcher found a way to make the science behind the technology work. In a study completed at Northwestern University in Illinois and published in Nature Energy, Dr Dong Jun Kim of UNSW’s School of Chemistry – led a team of … Continue reading Aluminium-ion batteries inch closer to reality →

Canadian energy storage company, Eguana Technologies, has announced it will produce its home battery systems in South Australia, following approval of its application to the state’s Home Battery Scheme and the CEFC’s home battery financing, which provide access to $100 million in subsidies and low interest loans for residential battery storage. Eguana Technologies will invest … Continue reading Canada’s Eguana Technologies to produce battery systems in SA →

German energy storage company Sonnen will use the old Adelaide GM Holden factory to manufacture lithium-ion batteries, with the new production facility expected to be up and running within two months. The site at Elizabeth will become Sonnen’s central shipping facility for Australia and the Asia and South Pacific region. The announcement comes after the South Australian … Continue reading Sonnen to manufacture batteries in Adelaide →

The Federal government has announced $7.5 million in funding for two new research hubs that will focus on different aspects of advancing Australia’s energy storage sector. Deakin University will receive $4.4 million to set up an Australian Research Council Training Centre for Future Energy Storage Technologies – which will ensure the next generation of energy … Continue reading Federal government supports two new energy storage research hubs →

As the demand for energy storage systems and batteries grows, so too does the amount of lithium-ion battery waste. Australia alone produces about 3,300 tonnes of lithium-ion battery waste annually, of which only about 2 per cent is recycled. The statistics is part of a new report by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), titled ‘Lithium battery … Continue reading CSIRO: Australia could lead lithium-ion battery recycling →

Australian clean energy provider Protean Energy has announced that it has utilised a $120,000 grant funding from the Korean government for the development and testing of the V-KOR range of vanadium redox flow batteries in Australia, in conjunction with its Korean affiliate KORID Energy. The grant has been issued by the Korean Institute of Energy … Continue reading Protean Energy to test V-KOR batteries in Western Australia →

Australian battery company Redflow has simplified using its batteries in large energy storage systems by integrating plug-and-play technology into its Large Scale Battery reference platform. Implemented in an LSB installed at Simon Hackett’s Base64 property in Adelaide, the new design incorporates six 12kW Victron Quattro 48/15000 battery inverter/chargers with 45 Redflow ZBM2 batteries. By implementing this improved design, the Base64 … Continue reading Redflow simplifies Large Scale Battery design →

Australian battery company Redflow Limited has successfully started manufacturing core components for its zinc-bromine flow batteries at its new production facility in Thailand. Recently, Redflow began producing electrode inserts made of HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) plastic on the production line at the factory in the Hemaraj industrial estate, south-east of Bangkok. The electrode inserts – produced … Continue reading Redflow starts manufacturing of first battery components at Thai factory →

Australian battery company Redflow Limited has started installing battery production equipment at its new factory in Thailand, putting it on track to commence initial operation by the end of this year. Through its Thai subsidiary, Redflow has signed a three-year lease on the 1500 sqm building at the Hemaraj Chonburi Industrial Estate, part of the … Continue reading Redflow starts installing battery line in Thai factory →

Australian battery company Redflow has unveiled an investment package that will raise $14.5 million to target sustainable delivery of its zinc-bromine flow batteries to high demand areas such as telecommunications. The company’s capital-raising follows its May announcement of decisions from a strategic review including: Prioritising sales to supply proven demand areas including mature telecommunications/industrial/commercial, remote/off-grid power … Continue reading Redflow cashes up to target battery demand areas →

Ultra-thin, flexible screen-printed batteries for cheap portable devices and intermittent renewable energy are closer to reality, due to a joint UNSW-University of Queensland project to further develop technology by battery energy storage firm Printed Energy and bring it to market. Backed by the energy innovator and philanthropist Trevor St Baker, founder of ERM Power and … Continue reading Next generation of manufacturing in screen-printed batteries →