8MW / 4MWh Alevo Energy Storage System For Lewes, Delaware
An 8MW / 4MWh energy storage system will be deployed by Alevo in Lewes, Delaware, in collaboration with the city of Lewes and the Lewes Board of Public Works. The battery system will be constructed at a location occupied by a retired generator that uses oil.
“The installation of the 8 MW battery will provide a significant tool to manage our capacity charges, our peak demands and transmission charges, and we anticipate it to be a boon for the citizens of Lewes,” said Theodore W. Becker, Mayor of Lewes.
The Alevo GridBanks system will allow the city to better manage its wind and solar power inputs as well. For example, the University of Delaware-Lewes has a 1.5–2.0 MW wind turbine that generates its own electricity. Alevo will also use the system to sell ancillary services in the PJM market.
The Lewes installation is the first commercial one of 2016, though Alevo expects more to follow in the same year. Lithium-ion batteries are used in combination with smart analytics for the storage and delivery of grid-scale electricity. The GridBanks containerized system is also expandable and has 50,000 or more recharge cycles, says Alevo.
“With support from Lewes BPW, Alevo has been able to bring this project to market quickly, which will not only increase the overall efficiency of the PJM grid, but also add significant value to our local partner and their customers,” explained Jeff Gates, Vice President, Alevo.
With global headquarters in Swizterland, Alevo also has a manufacturing facility in North Carolina and was founded in 2009. The North Carolina plant is newish and was expected to have somewhere between 300–500 employees. (Coincidentally, North Carolina is a solar power leader among US states.)
The state of Delaware has ranked highly in solar power installations, and Lewes has also done well in the adoption of this technology.
Image Credit: Alevo
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Hi Jake,
I have been seeing lots of writeups about what Alevo are doing but scant real data on the technology used o achieve the 40 – 50 k cycles. Do you have any info or know where it can be found?
Thanks,
Mike
Their website says ‘still retains functionality after 50k cycles’ which sounds great obviously, but doesn’t specify how much functionality remains at that stage. But this writeup sounds promising (will include the link in a follow-up reply as links seem to get my posts stuck in the mod queue):
“The active ingredients inside the batteries – which are recyclable
and do not require active cooling or a battery management unit – are LFP
(lithium ferrophosphate) and graphite. Alevo’s lithium cell also
contains an inorganic electrolyte that is completely non-flammable.
‘The electrolyte is incredibly robust, it can take up to a hundred
times current draw compared to any other electrolyte we looked at,’
Jostein Eikeland, chairman and CEO Alevo Group told The Engineer.
Furthermore, the focus on inorganic materials has given the batteries
two important properties, namely: thermodynamic stability that allows
the batteries to return to the same state following each charging cycle;
and an electrochemical loop to regulate overcharge and deep discharge
conditions, thereby completely minimising battery degradation.
‘For us, its really important to be inorganic – 100 per cent chemical
– because that takes us to the point where we have no calendric
ageing,’ said Eikeland. ‘You can also run more current through without
having any…internal runaway or things like that.’”
Eikeland added that the batteries are optimised to work between the 20oC and 39oC and that there is less than 1oC in temperature variation when run at 2C charge/discharge.
According to Alevo, tests have shown that their battery technology
has outlasted all standard industry performance measures, with battery
cells recording no signs of increase in internal resistance after more
than 30,000 cycles of over-charge followed by deep discharge.
And here is the link:
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/alevo-unveils-utility-scale-energy-storage-solution/
And further details:
“But Alevo thinks it has an edge since its lithium-iron-phosphate batteries are the first to use an inorganic electrolyte based on sulfur, preventing over-heating, expansion and eventual failure. Alevo claims that its special battery chemistry will enable them to last 43,000 cycles of full discharge, which is about 20 years. That is about four times as much as rival batteries, Sam Wilkinson, an energy storage analyst for IHS Technology, told Reuters. ”
http://www.aiche.org/chenected/2015/02/new-lithium-battery-poised-change-grid-storage
Thnanks,
Just saw this on another forum. I understand that it dosen’t fail at 40K cycles, but 65% capacity at 5000K cycles doesn’t seem hugely better than good quality LiFePO4 (inorganic electrolyte a parte).
Maybe the saftey is enough of a USP, but unless it can be overcharged to balance like Pb, then I’d still want BMS with HVC and LVC and the like (i would think)
See that makes me suspicious. “43,000 cycle 20 years.” But 43,000 cycles at one per day is 117 years. At 6 cycles per day is 20 years. The whole thing stinks.
Everything I have read about Alevo over the last 3 years raises alarm bells. “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” borrowing from Churchill. It would be wonderful to be wrong. I would really like a battery engineer to look inside those containers because I suspect they are just old A123 batteries being used as a demo. The sudden appearance of lithium batteries with 50,000 cycles…come on.