Key facts
- The UAE is constructing the world's largest battery scheme, integrating 5.2GW of solar power with 19GWh of storage.
- Highview Power's Carrington project will store energy as liquid air at -196C, with a planned output of 50MW for six hours.
- The Crescent Dunes solar project in Nevada stores thermal energy in molten salt heated to 560C.
- Finland's Polar Night Energy 'sand battery' uses 2,000 tonnes of soapstone to store heat energy for a town's heating network.
- Japanese researchers are developing wearable patches that convert lactate in human sweat into electricity.
The global push for renewable energy is driving innovation in energy storage beyond traditional lithium-ion batteries. In the United Arab Emirates, a massive project is combining solar power with 19GWh of battery storage to power half a million homes overnight. Meanwhile, researchers are developing micro-batteries for tracking devices.
Alternative battery technologies are emerging to address concerns about critical mineral scarcity and the environmental impact of lithium-ion batteries. Many of these new types offer indefinite charge/discharge cycles and easier recyclability.
In the UK, Highview Power is constructing a 'liquid air' cryobattery in Trafford that stores renewable energy by cooling air to -196C. This stored liquid air is later expanded into gas to drive a turbine, generating electricity. The Carrington project is expected to deliver 300MWh of storage and 50MW of output for six hours.
In Nevada, the Crescent Dunes solar project utilizes molten salt storage, heating a reservoir of potassium and sodium nitrate to 560C to store thermal energy for up to 10 hours, which is then converted to electricity. Denmark has also implemented a large-scale molten salt battery project, heating salts to approximately 600C to store clean electricity for up to two weeks for industrial processes.
Finland's 'sand battery' in Pornainen uses 2,000 tonnes of crushed soapstone to store heat energy, capable of covering a significant portion of the town's heating demands in summer and winter, aiming to eliminate oil use for local heating.
Researchers at Japan's Tokyo University of Science are exploring the use of human sweat to power wearable technologies. They have developed a thin patch with an enzymatic biofuel cell that converts lactate in sweat into electricity, offering a continuous power source for sensors without bulky batteries.