Grid Battery Storage : Gopukumarji Vindicated

 

Context :

Govt exploring VGF, grid-scale PLI scheme for battery storage: Power Minister

 

( Business Line  /  26 Sept 2022 )

Extract :

Ø  The government is working on voluntary gap funding (VGF) for battery storage projects, as well as floating a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for grid-scale storage, said Power Minister RK Singh.

Ø  Question :  What battery technologies are you exploring ?

Ø  Shri Singh said :

 

“ There are two. One technology being developed is Sodium-ion, which is supposed to be more amenable to use for grid-scale storage

Another chemistry developed in US is again suited for grid-scale battery storage

This technology is being used by China. I have asked officials to explore this because when they can offer a license to a Chinese company, then they can also offer this to us.

If we do not do this, then we will lag in energy transition “

    ===================================================

My Take :

{ A }………… Sodium-ion Battery          

 

Ø  Congratulations , Shri GopuKumarji………………………….. [ 30 Jan 2019 ]

 

Extract :

Dear Shri GopuKumarji,

Just came across the following news report in today’s Business Line :

Govt-owned electrochemical lab cracks sodium-ion cell tech  

 

It reads :

 

CECRI…..will be ready to license technology for the mass production of Sodium

Ion cells, if things go as planned .

 

The production could be a  big pep to Electric mobility because sodium-

ion batteries cost a tenth of the conventional lithium ion batteries

 

 

Sodium, available in abundance in sea water, has long been a preferred option,

but the metal is also tricky to handle due to its reactive nature.

 

 

The difficulty has not deterred scientists at CECRI from trying, who have already

developed the technology for making lithium-ion cells and have offered to it to the

industry.

 

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Congratulations to your entire team on this “ game changing “ breakthrough – especially considering that ,

 

#  India has no deposits of Lithium and must spend heavily to import it from

    Bolivia-China etc

 

#  Extracting Sodium from our abundant supply of sea water is not an issue

 

 

 

I take the liberty to endorse this email to our :

 

 

Cabinet Ministers

 

NITI  aayog

 

Members of PM’s Economic Advisory Council

 

Members of PM’s Scientific , Technology and Innovation Council

 

Trade Associations ……..etc

 

 

I urge the Central Government to take the following steps URGENTLY :

 

 

#   Without waiting for the next Republic Day , announce award of Bharat Ratna

      to CECRI team

 

 

#   Authorize CECRI to transfer this technology , FREE of any cost , to companies

     ( Foreign or Indian ) which set up manufacturing  plants ( under a SPV ,

      exclusively for this purpose  ) in India . 

 

     These licensees shall be prohibited from transferring this technology to any

     other Company anywhere

 

     

 

          

#   No GST on Sodium-ion cells produced by these licensees , nor payment of any

      Corporate Income Tax for 10 Years for these Licensees

 

     

 

 

      

     If for any reason , it is not possible to exempt the entire income from

     Corporate Income tax , then , at least the income derived from exports of

     sodium-ion cells , should be exempted

 

 

     

 

 

 

{ B }    …..  Iron-Air Battery

Ø  Grid Storage Battery : 4 Years – and counting !........... [ 17 April 2022 ]

 

Extract :

 Dear Shri R K Singhji

 ( Minister – MNRE ) :

 Above cost estimates are extrapolated from TESLA’s 4 year old installation in

 Australia .

 In normal course, after a passage of 4 years, one would expect the costs to come

 down

However given 500 % increase in Lithium prices, the GRID SCALE BATTERY

STORAGE costs must have gone up drastically. 

Viability Gap Funding seems out of the question

In view of this, I urge you to consider the following alternatives :

[ A ]  ……….Iron-Air Batteries being manufactured by FORM ENERGY  

[ B ]……….Conductive Polymer Technology Batteries being manufactured

                 by PolyJoule

================================================

 From  FORM ENERGY  website :

Each individual battery is about the size of a washing machine.

These battery modules are grouped together in modular megawatt-scale power

blocks, which comprise thousands of battery modules in an environmentally

protected enclosure.

Depending on the system size, tens to hundreds of these power blocks will be

connected to the electricity grid.

For scale, in its least dense configuration, a one megawatt system requires

about an acre of land. Higher density configurations can achieve >3MW/acre.

Our battery systems can be sited anywhere, even in urban areas, to meet utility-

scale energy needs.

GRID MODELING TOOLKIT  

https://www.energy-storage.news/long-duration-and-multi-day-storage-tech-allow-california-to-put-surplus-renewable-energy-to-good-use/

 

Dear Shri  R K Singhji ,

 

I presume NDA government must have reasonable compulsions for not awarding

BHARAT RATNA to the CECRI team responsible for this break-through tech of

Sodium-ion Battery ( as suggested in my email )

But, it would vastly boost the morale and motivation of our scientists, if you

acknowledge their contribution in some public forum

With regard,

Hemen Parekh

hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 26 Sept 2022

 

 

RELATED READINGS :

US-funded breakthrough battery tech just simply handed over to China   ……….. [ 04 Aug 2022 ]

Extract :

A vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) design created at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has wound up in the hands of a Chinese company, which has since gone on to become the largest manufacturer of VRFBs in the world.

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Extract :

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The Chinese company didn't steal this technology. It was given to them — by the U.S. Department of Energy. 

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