STOCKHOLM – /via VPNW/ – Developing inexpensive renewable energy, such as wind and solar, is one step toward a future with net-zero carbon energy. Creating cost-effective, reliable and sustainable energy storage is another. In a new study, Arizona State University (ASU) has evaluated market opportunities in the U.S. for the Swedish cleantech company TEXEL Energy Storage. According to the report TEXEL offers a lower cost alternative to lithium-ion batteries for the American market.
In a new study, Arizona State University (ASU) evaluated U.S. market opportunities for TEXEL Energy Storage, a Swedish cleantech company. According to the report, TEXEL has an opportunity to provide a lower-cost, energy-storage alternative to lithium-ion batteries for several customer segments of the American market.
Research funded by TEXEL and conducted by ASU shows several opportunities for TEXEL’s thermal battery technology to provide sustainable and reliable power to the U.S. energy market. The study evaluated U.S. market competitiveness for a variety of customer types including residential, commercial, industrial, and wholesale energy markets.
The study shows that TEXEL’s technology could be successful in California and suggests the company pursue all customer segments of the California market for coupled storage and generation applications, where TEXEL’s technology, paired with solar photovoltaic (PV), costs at average of 8 cents per kWh (5 cents incl. thermal) compared to 14 cents per kWh for solar PV and lithium-ion for large commercial and industrial-scale applications.But it is not only in California that TEXEL can be cost-competitive. In New York, price differences between off-peak and on-peak energy rates are sufficiently great enough to create an opportunity for using TEXEL in residential and commercial markets when considering storage arbitrage – essentially charging batteries with low grid prices and discharging batteries to avoid higher, on-peak grid prices. For example, TEXEL can yield a delivered residential average electricity cost at 7 cents per kWh compared to lithium-ion at 14 cents per kWh.
Also, the report highlights an opportunity for the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) market with coupled storage and generation. A recent 4-hour lithium-ion storage plus solar PPA yielded a blended cost of $43 per MWh compared to a $26 per MWh cost that could be possible with a 4-hour TEXEL plus solar PPA.
“The ASU study shows that TEXEL has a great opportunity in the American market and that we have the right focus in targeting the California market. It also shows that our technology is a hugely competitive alternative to existing energy storage technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries. An economically viable and circular energy storage technology is needed to be able to create the change in future energy production and distribution and to reach future goals and legislation in states like California. TEXEL intends to manufacture the technology in the U.S.,” says Lars Jacobsson, founder, and CEO of Swedish cleantech company Texel Energy Storage.
TEXEL metal hydride thermochemical energy storage technology provides an emerging solution that can store energy and provide both electrical and thermal output. Furthermore, the TEXEL storage chemistry is made from environmentally benign chemicals which are stable for long durations and have expected life cycles of 40 years. These chemicals can be salvaged and recycled, which helps creates a circular market mechanism to reduce environmental impact compared to single-life batteries that have little to no recycling. In addition, the salvage value at the end of cycling life enhances project economics by recovering a portion of the capital investment.
“The transition to a low-carbon, sustainable energy system, and evolution to a zero-carbon future, will require ultra-low-cost storage manufactured from environmentally benign materials that are stable for long durations without degradation and energy loss and are recyclable and circular. TEXEL’s storage technology provides an emerging solution, which not only stores energy but can provide both electrical and thermal output,” says ASU Associate Professor Nathan Johnson, Director of the Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS) and primary investigator for the study.
The study’s findings also indicate opportunities for TEXEL to provide cost-competitive, sustainable, and reliable power to other regions of the world.
SOURCE TEXEL Energy Storage