Awaiting Public Project Summary

"Grandview Research has suggested that the global electric scooter market will be worth $38.57B by 2024\. In addition to the global consumer market there is a strong commercial market, from couriers to food delivery companies, many of whom have different requirements and different usage requirements. Few vehicles, even amongst the established petrol sector can cope with the demand of operating twelve hours a day for several years before being sold on to the secondary market. We are working with a company that leases 2,500 petrol powered food delivery vehicles that is looking to switch to electric but is struggling to find anything that can cope with the arduous shifts and 15,000 miles per year. Their requirements focus on vehicle robustness, improved efficiency, hot swappable batteries and rapid charging coupled with battery characterisation, rebuilding and recycling in preparation for selling the vehicle on to the secondary market. By offering a powerful removable battery pack that can be recharged quickly and come with a warranty for second user sales having been stripped, tested and rebuilt the benefits to the industry should be significant. By providing a capable vehicle coupled with a range of innovations to improve robustness and efficiency we can meet these requirements and save 2800 Kg CO2 a year just from this fleet alone. The opportunity to sell this battery pack and multiple pack charging capability and infrastructure to other companies could see considerable profit and significant emissions reductions. Given most of these vehicles are used predominantly around town the impact of these savings should have an even greater impact on improving air quality in these areas."

According to the World Bank, clean power minigrids are the least-cost electrification solution for 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the high upfront CAPEX cost of minigrid systems, uncertain customer demand, and restrictive financial ecosystem significantly impede sector growth and sustainability. Within this framework, batteries are a major obstacle and intervention pathway, as they account for up to 30% of a minigrid's cost (the single most expensive component) and need regular replacement. Challenging this "battery barrier" our project will field pilot Vittoria Technology's innovative, digital battery leasing platform (Storage-as-a-Service) and Aceleron's scalable 2nd life Li-ion batteries at three MeshPower minigrids in Rwanda / Uganda. This pilot will demonstrate the technical, financial, and social impact benefits of the scalable battery leasing model -- and sustainable commercial potential across the continent. Field studies confirm that reliable, affordable energy storage is critical to the long-term viability of off-grid renewable systems. Without affordability, customers cannot purchase electricity \> minigrid operators cannot fund battery maintenance \> power is not reliable \> customers defect from the minigrid and projects fail. In contrast, Vittoria Technology's scalable battery leasing with expandable storage products (like Aceleron 2nd life) enable a Virtuous Cycle supporting "right-sized" affordable battery banks, lower cost-reflective tariffs, higher energy use, greater community impact (e.g. via PUE, e-cooking), demand and revenue growth, and affordable "as needed" capacity expansion. Alongside MeshPower, this pilot will field test Vittoria Technology's low-overhead battery leasing tools (including prototype digital platform automating Battery sizing & lease terms, Credit risk assessment, Local vendor matching, Contract onboarding), legal and financial frameworks, and remote monitoring/control processes to deploy our first semi-commercial trial battery leases. Likewise, this pilot will test the field performance of Aceleron's scalable 2nd life batteries as capacity expansion "modules," adding them into the energy storage architecture of 3 minigrids through unique integration strategies we have assessed to allow combination of dissimilar battery products and age -- including 1st life Li-ion and legacy lead acid. Through expandable, modular battery technology and finance, our companies can enable affordable, sustainable minigrids that lower LCOE and increase adaptability to grow capacity alongside customer demand. Our innovative approach will 1) provide affordable advanced battery replacement / expansion for aging minigrids in sub-Saharan Africa (where 70% of minigrid batteries are short-lived lead acid, SEforALL/Bloomberg); and 2) support deployment of new minigrids that are lower-cost and scalable. Combined, these two avenues can catalyze growth and sustainability in the sector.

Aceleron has developed lithium batteries that employ compression technology in place of the traditionally used spot welding, this enables the batteries to be the world's most maintainable battery on the market. However with the innovation in the design comes some hesitation in the industry, Aceleron must now test and demonstrate the capabilities of the compression technology in the context of the performance of the battery packs. To do so NPL and ASTUTE have collaborated with Aceleron to propose a project that will use Finite Element Analysis (FEA) as well as world leading practical measurements of the battery performance in environmentally controlled conditions, to create build an understanding of the current design's performance and limitations and also a validated model to benefit future product development. The physical measurements performed by NPL will analyse the homogeneity of the pressure applied to all of the cells within a pack, how this may change in different environments and the affect this may have on the performance of the batteries. This analysis will be performed by experts in the electrochemistry field and guided in the battery design by Aceleron. The modelling aspect will be carried out by industry leading experts at the ASTUTE centre of excellence that have a wealth of talent, experience and tools capable of modelling the battery design and assessing the performance and impact of thermal fluctuations on the battery. The two aspects combined provide a powerful and valuable validated model of the battery that will provide lasting value to Aceleron and the UK economy as the SME grows.

In order for rural communities in the developing world to access productive uses like welding or flour milling, they require access to minigrid-scale power (typically \>10kwp). Yet minigrids are notoriously commercially unsustainable, due to the capital expenditure required, and difficulties in efficiently matching loads and supply throughout the day and week. One particular problem we have noticed in our work in rural development throughout East Africa is that very high power loads, like milling machines, are sometimes only used 1 or 2 days a week in mid-size communities, contributing precisely to that uneven load profile. To facilitate energy access and access to these productive uses in more small and mid-size communities in Africa, we are proposing to develop and test a mobile "minigrid" scale energy access solution. By installing 10kw of rapidly deployable solar power in a trailer, we would create a solution which could be driven to a different village each day, offering not only the high-power occasional services like flour milling or welding, but also a range of other productive uses like battery charging, printing and photocopying that might not usually be available in those communities. For mobility, the weight of the trailer will be critical, with the storage technology making the greatest contribution. Therefore we will be working with UK Li-Ion battery partner Aceleron for them to further develop their innovative 2nd-life batteries from small-scale units to much larger minigrid-scale storage, at the 15-20kWh level. These batteries are contructed by Aceleron in Kenya from local e-waste, for unrivalled environmental sustainability in a battery. The integrated battery/mobility solution will provide productive-level energy access to communities that would otherwise not be able to justify the cost/power of their own minigrid, while at the same time providing a reliably high load-factor for the equipment, allowing efficient utilisation and payback potential from the mobile minigrid operator. While community productive services providers are likely to be the most significant market for the innovation, we will also investigate other more niche uses for the same technology anywhere that requires rapid access to temporary power, for example to deploy it to disaster areas or refugee camps, or as a backup for equipment failure in permanent minigrids.

Our project will develop an innovative digital platform to size, finance, locally source, and lease advanced batteries (like li-ion variations and flow batteries) to sustain expandable minigrid systems, providing long-term, affordable energy access. Streamlining this battery expansion value chain can lower CAPEX and support commercial scalability for minigrids across Sierra Leone and the broader region. Our study will assess technical and financial feasibility at select Energicity sites in Sierra Leone while examining market dynamics across the country's wider minigrid sector. The project will investigate practical challenges of the expansion process by upgrading one trial site using Aceleron's 2nd life li-ion packs, testing a new Battery Management System (BMS) that allows considerable battery stacking (an uncommon feature among similar "drop-in" lead-acid replacements) that broadens minigrid expandability while reducing need for costly additional inverters. Clean power minigrids offer the least-cost electrification solution for roughly half of the 600 million people lacking energy access across sub-Saharan Africa (ESMAP 2019, BNEF 2020, AMDA 2020). Today, the region hosts roughly 2,000 minigrids with thousands more under active planning, and Sierra Leone, specifically, is home to over 100 systems (ESMAP 2019, BNEF 2020). One major benefit of a minigrid is expandable capacity, which allows it to scale from basic lighting up to productive-use loads like grain mills, electric cooking, and refrigeration. As successful energy incentive programs -- such as productive-use zones and appliance financing -- have shown, increasing use of certain power applications will improve local economies and strengthen the long-term viability of a minigrid (ESMAP 2019). However, for minigrids to achieve these benefits, phased capacity expansion is critical. Our project aims to support this key -- yet unaddressed -- need by innovating expandable battery solutions that enable low-cost minigrid capacity upgrades -- a critical requirement for long-term, sustainable systems. A majority of the region's existing minigrids currently rely on low-performance lead-acid batteries -- as will most new systems for years to come -- due to high upfront costs and limited access to more durable advanced technologies like li-ion variations and flow batteries (BNEF 2020). With short cycle life and low discharge capacity, lead-acid requires more maintenance and constrains power output. Additionally, the inherent chemistry of lead-acid prohibits expansion on aging battery banks. This severely complicates minigrid capacity growth -- a key factor for energy-based community development. Our project will address this problem to improve minigrid viability and scale across Sierra Leone and the broader region.

The need for a resilient, agile and reliable energy storage is critical for the growth of the economy and its decarbonisation of infrastructure. Developed and developing countries both have their own challenges to address; while the cost of battery packs are significant for developed countries, reliable energy access is what developing countries require to flourish. Successful deployment of off-grid solutions that don't rely on the national grid(unreliable and limited) is one of the main identified solutions to overcome this problem. Having said that, off-grid solutions are highly dependent on batteries which currently come with severe limitations: they are non-affordable, environmentally unfriendly and unreliable under harsh climatic conditions & hot temperature. The outcome of this project will a 8KWh,48V battery pack and three 1.8KWh,12V modular, upgradable and portable battery modules/packs which will be tailored to Mozambican market needs and its high renewable energy source(specifically irradiance) opportunities. NexGen aims to improve accessibility in remote locations, reduce CO2 emission by 20%, reduce battery pack costs by 30% and reduce cost of ownership by 20% by taking advantage of its reusable and recyclable battery pack design.

The decarbonisation of the transport sector in the UK, will see the migration from solely internal combustion powered vehicles to electric or hybrid vehicles only, as early as 2030\. This will result in the exponential growth of spent Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries stockpiled, as they must be replaced every 7-10 years. After this period, the EV batteries may still hold as much as 80% of their capacity, which often can be used in other applications. Our consortium is developing a fast automated process, **Batt2TheFuture** to enable fast sorting of battery cells to rebuild high quality and consistent second-generation battery packs. **Batt2TheFuture** is an automated process that uses disruptive ultrasound technology, machine vision and AI algorithms to inspect and grade spent battery cells. The process inspects each cell from a battery pack/module and then grades them according to their respective State of Health (SoH) and State of Charge (SoC). The technology combination enables in-depth inspection, increased speed of cell assessment and processing capacity scalability -- these have been missing in current spent battery inspection solutions on the market. Based on the results of the assessment, the cells are sorted and refurbished in preparation for their second-life . The repurposed battery packs are then deployed to applications whose power requirements align with their SoH and SoC values. This will extend the life cycle of the spent EV batteries, thereby drastically reducing battery waste and the lifetime cost of the battery. Therefore, **Batt2TheFuture** will facilitate the utilisation of the full value of spent EV batteries as well as contributing towards ensuring that the decarbonisation of the transport sector will not just be a transfer of carbon emissions from the vehicles themselves to battery raw material extraction.

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Awaiting Public Project Summary

The Ethiopian Minigrid Extension and Energy Storage (EMEES) project will further develop an innovative biomass conversion technology (PyroPower) which received Energy Catalyst funding (grant 105268). The project is effectively a Feasibility Study which will assess the viability of setting up an in-country demonstration plant in Ethiopia. The project defines 3 distinct market opportunities as outputs of the technology, which address energy storage opportunities which will benefit urban and rural communities in Ethiopia. The market opportunities are: 1) direct provision and extension of electricity through biomass-powered minigrids and rechargeable lithium battery storage options; 2) provision of an upgraded bio-oil/biodiesel fuel blend which will replace fossil-derived fuels in internal combustion engines; and 3) a smokeless biochar which can be briquetted or pelletised for use in local markets, as a replacement for traditional firewood and charcoal for cleaner cooking options, or exported as a foreign exchange-earning commodity.

"The growth in the electrification of transport, including electric vehicles (EVs), has been driven by lithium-ion batteries. However, to make the next-generation of vehicles cheaper and more efficient, we need to be able to monitor, diagnose and respond to batteries in real-time. This project aims to combine new types of sensors to feed data into a battery management system (BMS) that will be able to react to the changing state of battery health and charge and improve operational safety. This could lead to an increase in battery life of up to 60%. Crucially, we will look at producing sensors that are robust, sensitive and significantly cheaper than those commercially available. Our goal is that the sensors will be deployed into battery modules at low cost and adopted by industry. Eventually, they may become a requirement for new car certification and help to improve consumer safety, confidence and uptake of EVs. To verify the feasibility of our approach, our consortium covers a range of commercial and academic expertise that will build sensors into a prototype battery pack."

"Project VALUABLE's key objectives are to develop commercially viable metrology and test processes as well as new supply chain concepts for recycling, reuse and remanufacturing of automotive lithium-ion batteries to create a complete End-of-Life (EoL) supply chain network within the UK. The consortium's vision is to 1) increase the value-add of the battery supply chain in the UK, 2) decrease the environmental impact, and 3) optimise future battery design for EoL. By bringing together many disparate parts of many sectors, the project will provide an efficient and effective route to providing second life battery applications, whilst reducing the packs / cells being fed into the waste streams. The project will investigate key areas that are providing difficulties in dealing with automotive batteries at their EoL: 1) the lack of reliable and cost-effective test methods, 2) the lack of remanufacturing/recycling and reuse processes, 3) the lack of effective value chains, and 4) lack of design considerations for EoL in battery design. To implement efficient processes, the project will investigate and develop advanced 'machine vision' capabilities, to determine which packs have second life potential and at what level and which are for recycling. This development of advanced testing capability in the EoL processing line, will enable the consortium to explore significant value chain applications for end-of-life batteries, ranging from remanufacturing to go back into the same vehicle model, to use in lower demand mobility applications, through to use as energy storage mediums for the energy market. The test results will also aid future first life battery pack design, providing OEMs and battery producers with routes to both realise additional value from future applications for used batteries and to move towards 95% recyclability. In conjunction with the development of new designs and processes, the project team will also explore the growing legal and regulatory issues surrounding the battery producer responsibility / waste classifications in the UK and Europe. In addition, not only will the battery cells be assessed, but the charge controllers, outer jackets, and other components. Reuse of these products contributes to the recycling targets, but also supports improved material recovery routes through better material separation. The project brings together partners across the supply chain, developing new EoL testing techniques, and in creating a UK-based EoL supply chain. The project is not only supported by the supply chain but also an industry-wide OEM support represented in a guiding advisory group."

The Clean+Cool Mission to Silicon Valley raised several key improvements which could be made to ACE investor pitch as well as the need to follow up with some of key potential investors. This project will help ACE to address the key feedback received from the US investors, including better understanding the market requirements, proving the performance of second life batteries in key applications, improving investor materials, better crafting of the story and follow on meetings with the US Investors.

Each year in the European Union 9 Million Tonnes of End of Life (EoL) automotive waste is created. The introduction of EVs into the waste stream will have a significant impact on this by introducing large volumes of EoL battery packs. The current method of disposal of automotive batteries is to break them down to a material level, a process that is wasteful and energy intensive. This project, involving Aceleron, Blue Vine Consultants and Alp Technologies will demonstrate that these EoL automotive batteries can be safely disassembled, tested and rebuilt into ES devices. These devices can be used in the developing regions to store electricity at low cost. Often in developing regions electricity is unreliable, or solar power is used, meaning at night no power is available. The ES device developed in this project will improve the lives of people who do not have regular access to electricity. In this project the battery packs will be demonstrated by Alp Technologies.