R&D Magazine has recognized Sandia National Laboratories researchers’ work in developing innovative battery testing with the annual R&D 100 Award.

As principle investigator of the Precision High Power Battery Tester, Dr. Summer Ferreira was presented with the R&D 100 Green Tech Special Recognition Award.

The PHPBT uses high-precision charge/discharge test measurements at up to 200A current to capture electrochemical measurements such as coulombic efficiency with greater accuracy than was previously possible at currents applicable to EV and stationary storage applications. The goal is to detect minute signs of battery degradation earlier than previous testing, providing insight into a battery’s long-term capabilities and enabling engineers to better select feasible technologies from those needing more development.

With support from the Dept. of Energy’s Office of Electricity (DOE OE) and ARPA-e, PHPBT research was done in conjunction with Arbin Instruments, Ford Motor Company, and Montana Tech. Arbin has since commercialized the PHPBT technology.

R&D Magazine presents the annual R&D 100 awards to honor the year’s 100-most innovative technologies as selected by an independent panel of more than 70 judges.

The NAATBatt International Board of Directors will present the 2016 NAATBatt Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service to Dr. Imre Gyuk, Energy Storage Program Manager of the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Office of Electricity (DOE OE) Delivery and Energy Reliability, and Prof. Detchko Pavlov at the NAATBatt 2016 Annual Meeting & Conference’s Gala Dinner March 2, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells at Palm Springs, California.

According to the NAATBatt’s announcement of the awards, Dr. Gyuk has been central to the advancing energy storage during the past 13 years. Under Dr. Gyuk’s leadership, the Electrical Energy Storage research program within the DOE’s Office of Electricity identified and funded dozens of new stationary energy storage technologies, several of which are used today in unsubsidized, commercial projects, producing significant benefits for the electricity grid and for electricity consumers. “Without Dr. Gyuk’s leadership and the seed funding of new technologies that he oversaw and directed, it is difficult to imagine that the energy storage market we know today would look anything like it does or, perhaps, would exist at all. Dr. Gyuk and his programs epitomize the essential role of government in supporting the transition of important, new technologies from the laboratory to commercial viability in the marketplace. Dr. Imre Gyuk is the winner of the NAATBatt 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award-Public Service.”

Also receiving a NAATBatt Lifetime Achievement Award will be Prof. Detchko Pavlov of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems, for his contributions to the processes in lead-acid battery manufacture and operation, and the oxygen cycle reactions in valve-regulated lead-acid batteries.

Read more about NAATBatt’s Industry Awards here.

The Oregon Dept. of Energy is partnering with the U.S. DOE Office of Electricity’s Energy Storage Program, and Sandia National Laboratories, to offer funds for an energy storage demonstration project in Oregon. Up to $250,000 in federal funds will be matched by up to $45,000 in state funds from ODOE and Oregon BEST.
The deadline for submitting proposals is Oct. 16, and the award is expected to be announced Nov. 2.
The demonstration aims to enable installation and continuous operation of an electrical energy storage system, or ESS, with a capacity of 500kW/500kWh or greater, connected to the transmission or distribution system. No preference is given to one energy storage technology over others; however, preference will be given to projects that demonstrate two or more of the following five high-interest applications, or “use cases:”

1. T&D upgrade deferral/management of peak demand
2. Service reliability/resiliency
3. Power quality/voltage support
4. Grid regulation
5. Renewable energy firming, ramp control, energy shift

Proposals are encouraged from utilities, energy storage technology vendors, energy service suppliers and electric customers including, but not limited to, municipalities, universities, and commercial and industrial businesses. Applicants that are not electric utilities must have a committed utility partner or include a letter of support from the interconnecting utility. A minimum cost share of 50 percent is required. ODOE prefers projects that can be interconnected to the electric transmission or distribution system within 18 months of the award and the project must operate for a minimum of one full year.
More information is available from ODOE at http://www.oregon.gov/energy/Pages/energy-storage.aspx#Energy_Storage_RFP_Updates.

Sandia National Laboratories has released a Request for Proposals for third-party testing of stationary energy storage applications. The deadline for application is April 3, 2015.
Manufacturers, integrators and consumers of stationary energy storage are encouraged to apply for third-party testing of storage solutions.
Sandia will determine the appropriate scale of the validation activity and the test plan to be followed, and will carry out in-house evaluation and public reporting of the results from such testing. The industrial partner will be expected to provide batteries for testing and to participate in project discussions and data review efforts.
Additional information is available at the Federal Business Opportunities website.

Dr. Summer Ferreira, principal investigator of Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy Storage Analysis Laboratory (ESAL), will speak at the Grid-Scale Energy Storage and Lithium Battery Safety tracks of the Knowledge Foundation’s Next Generation Batteries 2015 Conference, April 21-22 in San Diego, CA.

In her talk titled “Viability of Employing Storage Device for Multiple Uses Simultaneously,” Dr. Ferreira will discuss the results of lithium-ion batteries tested under stacked cycling profiles.

The conference’s “Lithium Battery Safety” track presents innovations and technologies that improve safety, reliability, and degradation management of lithium batteries.

The Dept. of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Energy Storage Program has announced their release of the Energy Storage Safety Strategic Plan (PDF, 685 kb) to standardize the validation of the safety of grid-scale electrical energy storage projects.

The Strategic Plan addresses the key area of validated energy storage safety, spanning grid-scale, utility, communal, and residential deployments for the increasing array of energy storage technologies. It highlights the key areas of validation techniques, incident preparedness, and safety documentation, and recommends near- and long-term actions to address these needs.

Dr. Imre Gyuk, director of DOE OE and Energy Reliability Energy Storage Program, says, “We want energy storage to reach full acceptance as a component of the electric grid. For this to happen, a number of things must occur: technical feasibility of our technologies, competitive costs and established value, a regulatory framework, and safety. If we don’t have validated safety, we don’t have a product.”

Sandia National Laboratories has begun characterizing the capacity, power, safety and reliability of TransPower’s GridSaver, a 1 megawatt, lithium-ion grid energy storage system, at Sandia’s Energy Storage Test Pad.

Project lead David Rosewater said, “Independent evaluations provide valuable feedback for industry efforts to standardize metrics for characterizing and reporting reliability, safety and performance. Companies need the standards to develop large procurement goals for grid energy storage because they must be able to compare performance and cost.”

Sandia’s Energy Storage Test Pad and Energy Storage Analysis Laboratory test facilities validate manufacturers’ specifications of energy storage devices through characterization and application-specific cycle testing. They also can help users evaluate system parameters, including storage device efficiency, performance to specifications, reliability and balance of plant operation.

A Sandia News Release provides more information on the TransPower GridSaver characterization testing.

The National Alliance for Advanced Technology Batteries (NAATBatt) will jointly host a webinar 1-2:30 p.m. (CDT) Wednesday, July 16, with the U.S. Dept. of Energy – Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability entitled “DOE Loan Guarantees for Storage Projects: The Essential Details.”

Douglas Schultz, director of Loan Guarantee Origination for the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, will explain the details of the new Section 1703 loan guarantee program. Mr. Schultz will answer questions posed by three experts in government-supported project finance: Alexander Drake of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Kenneth Hansen of Chadbourne & Parke and David Kirkpatrick of Marathon Capital.

The webinar is free, but registration is required at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5534765971767783426. After registering, a confirmation e-mail will be sent containing information about joining the webinar.

The webinar will be co-hosted by James Greenberger, executive director of NAATBatt, and Dr. Imre Gyuk of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability.

Draft Storage/Stationa

A draft listing of Storage/Stationary Batteries Standards is now available for download from the Publications page of this website. The list is courtesy of Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL).

In addition to summarizing the scope of each standard, the listing identifies whether the standards pertain to Safety, Performance or other purpose, as well as providing some cross-referencing to related standards.

Sandia National Laboratories researcher Stan Atcitty recently coauthored a chapter titled “Battery Energy Storage System” in Power Electronics for Renewable and Distributed Energy Systems, a volume published last July by Springer-Verlag London. This chapter discusses the various technical components of battery energy storage systems for utility-scale energy storage and how these technical components are interrelated. Atcitty’s coauthors were Jason Neely, David Ingersoll, Abbas Akhil, and Karen Waldrip.

Atcitty, S., Neely, J., Ingersoll, D., Akhil, A., Waldrip, K. (2013). Battery Energy Storage System. In: Chakraborty, S., Simões, M., Kramer, W. (eds) Power Electronics for Renewable and Distributed Energy Systems. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5104-3_9.