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Liquid flow battery supplier Infinity Energy Systems has received funding for the 40MWh project. Image: Infinity Energy Systems



According to foreign media reports, the UK government has provided the first batch of funding for the development of long-term energy storage technology in the UK project "turbocharge", with a commitment of 6.7 million pounds (911 million US dollars).



The Department of Commerce, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a competitive financing opportunity worth £ 68 million in June 2021 through the National Net Zero Innovation Investment Portfolio (NZIP). Recently, Georgina Morris, the innovation project manager of BEIS, announced that a total of 24 long-term energy storage projects have received funding support plans.



The award is divided into two categories:



The projects selected for Group 1 are considered to be near commercial technology demonstration projects aimed at accelerating the process so that they can be deployed in the UK energy system.



The second group aims to accelerate the commercialization of innovative projects by building a complete system of "pioneering" prototypes.



The five award-winning projects in Group 1 are membrane free green hydrogen electrolysis cells, gravity energy storage, all vanadium flow batteries (VRFB), advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES), and bundled solutions for pressurized seawater and compressed air. The first group of projects will receive funding ranging from £ 471760 to £ 1 million per project.



The thermal storage technology meets the requirements, but no projects were selected in the first group. Among the 19 selected projects in the second group, there are six thermal storage technologies. BEIS stated that the second selected project must provide a feasibility study report for its proposed technology and contribute to knowledge sharing and industry capacity building.



The second group received funding support ranging from £ 79560 to £ 150000 for 6 thermal storage projects, 4 power to x category projects, and 9 energy storage projects.



Winners
Group 1





Group 2










After launching the competition last year, the Department of Commerce, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a three-month long-term energy storage solicitation campaign in July to evaluate how to best implement long-term energy storage technology on a large scale.



A recent report by Aurora Energy Research, an energy industry consulting firm, found that by 2035, the UK may need up to 24GW of energy storage systems with a duration of 4 hours or more to achieve a net zero energy system.



This will make it possible to integrate variable renewable energy generation and reduce household energy costs by £ 1.13 billion annually by 2035. It can also reduce the country's annual dependence on natural gas by 50 TWh and lead to a reduction of 10 million tons of CO2 emissions.



However, Aurora stated that high upfront costs, long delivery times, lack of revenue certainty, and a clear market lead to insufficient investment in long-term energy storage. Their report suggests that the government provide more policy support, financial support, and market reforms.



In the United States, the Department of Energy is hosting the Energy Storage Challenge, a policy driven effort aimed at reducing costs and accelerating the adoption of energy storage, including providing similar competitive financing opportunities for long-term energy storage technologies and projects. Its goal includes reducing long-term energy storage costs by 90% by 2030.



At the same time, the European Trade Association has recently called on the European Union (EU) to adopt a similar positive stance to support long-term energy storage, especially in the European Green Agreement package.



In the newly released "14th Five Year Plan" for the development of new energy storage in China, it is proposed to provide more support for breakthroughs in long-term energy storage technology, actively carry out the demonstration of the first (set) major technical equipment, and pilot demonstration of scientific and technological innovation (energy storage).



At present, mature long-term energy storage cannot meet the development needs of global clean energy. Countries around the world have begun to provide more policy and financial support for long-term energy storage research and development. The competition for long-term energy storage research and development is taking shape, and excellent technologies will stand out and gain a huge global market.



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The California government will invest $380 million in 2022 to support the development of long-term energy storage

The US Department of Energy has allocated $17.9 million to accelerate the development of liquid flow battery production technology