Energy Storage

by Debra Fiakas, CFA Greater energy density or the amount of energy stored is the mission of every battery developer.  The higher the energy density, the longer a battery can serve its owner.  Scientists have been adjusting circulating chemistry, cloaking electrodes in exotic metals, and otherwise tinkering with conventional battery designs.  Debate even spills over into the raw material supply chain as it has recently over the use of expensive and sometimes difficult to source cobalt as an additive to lithium ion battery designs.   Others are trying to tame silicon for use in battery anodes. Perhaps the most daring developers have abandoned conventional battery design...

Fuel cell stocks are publicly traded companies whose business involves fuel cells, devices for efficiently converting the energy in a fuel (often hydrogen) directly into electricity by chemical means, without combustion. Applications include road transport, large-scale energy storage and short-haul transport such as forklifts. This list was last updated on 5/6/2021 AFC Energy (AFC.L) Ballard Power Corporation (BLDP) Bloom Energy Corporation (BE) Cell Impact AB (CI-B.ST) Ceres Power Holdings PLC (CPWHF) Enova Systems (ENVS) - out of business since 2015. FuelCell Energy (FCEL) Impact Coatings AB (IMPC.ST) ITM Power (ITM.L, ITMPF) McPhy Energy SA (MCPHY: PA) myFC Holding AB (MYFC.ST) Neah Power Systems (NPWZ) Nikola Corporation (NKLA) Plug Power (PLUG) PowerCell Sweden AB (PCELL.ST, PCELF) Proton...

by Daryl Roberts A potentially paradigm-shifting technology has been under development at an R&D firm in NJ called Brilliant Light Power.   For people monitoring the situation, the question currently is about the status of commercialization.   It is not a publicly held firm, but is in mid-stages of private equity capitalization in the range of $100-120M. I recently read a book  titled "Randall Mills and the Search for Hydrino Energy", offering a detailed and compelling history of the development of this novel renewable energy technology, authored by an insider, an intern who stayed on to work there for several years (published in...

The recent post “Lithium Technology Dominates Large Energy Storage Projects” featured companies offering utility-scale lithium battery systems. Industry research firm Navigant estimates that lithium-ion technology accounts for almost 30% of non-pumped storage capacity developed since 2011.  This might be due in part to the dramatic decreases in cost for lithium ion batteries.  A study completed by Bloomberg New Energy Finance found that the ‘levelized’ cost of energy for lithium ion batteries has fallen by 76% to $187 per megawatt hour in the first quarter 2019 from $800/MWh in 2012. Is the story over for utility-scale storage?  Should investors look for lithium ion battery manufacturers and forget...

Battery stocks are publicly traded companies whose business involves the manufacture of batteries, battery components, or battery management systems used to store electricity through electrochemical means. This list was last updated on 3/21/2022. Advanced Battery Technologies Inc (ABAT) Albermarle Corp (ALB) Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (ASPN) Axion Power International (AXPW) BioSolar, Inc. (BSRC) BYD Company, Ltd. (BYDDY) China BAK Battery (CBAK) Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (300750.SZ) Eguana Technologies Inc. (EGT.V) Electrovaya, Inc. (EFL.TO) EnerSys (ENS) Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc. (EOSE) ESS Inc. (GWH) Fluence Energy, Inc. (FLNC) Flux Power Holdings, Inc (FLUX) Global X Lithium ETF (LIT) Highpower International (HPJ) Invinity Energy Systems (IES.L, IVVGF) Johnson Controls (JCI) Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY) Lithium Technology Corporation (LTHUQ) Livent Corporation (LTHM) mPhase Technologies (XDSL) Microvast Holdings,...

by Ishaan Goel The second article in this series on water electrolyzers focused on polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzers (PEMEs). PEMEs have increasingly captured the interest of industry over recent years, due to favorable technical characteristics. Despite this, the global electrolyzer market today is dominated by a much older model - alkaline electrolyzers (ALKEs). (For details of how both electrolyzers work, refer to the first article in the series). The graph above shows the investment costs ($/kW) of ALKEs and PEMEs as the technology has advanced over time. In other words, they show the initial capital cost for every 1 kW of...

By Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA The market for reliable back-up power in homes and businesses is booming. With more people working from home and increasing news coverage of power outages due to severe weather events and public safety power shutoffs in California (not to mention domestic terrorism), power reliability seems like it’s destined for a long term boom. New Competition A decade ago, if you wanted backup power, a generator was the only option.  Now, there are an increasing number of battery-based alternatives beginning to compete with generators to provide back-up power.  While most battery-based solutions are better than gas or propane generators...

By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA You don’t have to own mining companies to benefit from rising metals prices. This is a roundup of first quarter earnings notes shared with my Patreon supporters over the last week. Waste to energy operator Covanta and specialty metals recycler Umicore are both benefiting from skyrocketing metals prices. Just as renewable energy and energy efficiency stocks have long shown that investors don’t have to own fossil fuel companies to benefit from rising prices of fossil fuels, recyclers like Covanta and Umicore are showing that you don’t have to own environmentally damaging mining companies to benefit from rising...