EuroWire March 2020

Transatlantic cable

While California offers grants to encourage battery technology away from lithium The State of California is planning to boost the development and viability of new energy storage technologies. The state is offering up to $11mn in grants to support innovations with the potential to be more cost-effective than lithium-based batteries. The California Energy Commission (CEC) believes there is an urgent need for “cost-effective and high-performing energy storage solutions” if the state is to meet its 2045 target to become carbon-free. “The timing is right for supporting emerging technologies that can out-perform existing energy storage technologies,” said the CEC, adding, “Developing new and emerging technologies now, will enable them to be positioned for substantial upcoming market opportunities.” The declared aim of the state grants is to “fund the development and field testing of emerging energy storage technologies for the purpose of raising the technology readiness level and accelerating market penetration.” The $11mn funding pot is available only to customer-side-of- the-meter technology. The CEC’s solicitation document set out that “candidate technologies include advanced-chemistry batteries, flow batteries, flywheels, thermal storage systems, compressed air systems, and other non-lithium energy storage technologies that can provide an electricity-in/electricity- out capability, and represent an improvement over current technology capabilities and performance.” The cheapest form of non-lithium energy storage is thought to be liquid-air systems, but these are currently far too large to be suitable for customer-side applications.

Up to $9mn is to be set aside for these technologies, with an additional $2mn for the development and validation of customer-side green electrolytic hydrogen storage systems. Residential-grade hydrogen storage systems, complete with electrolysers and fuel cells, are already available to store excess energy, but take-up has been slow due to their high cost. The application deadline was early February, with an anticipated funding start date of 30 June.

Aerospace

Airbus reaps the reward as Boeing falls from manufacturer top spot

2019 saw Airbus become the world’s largest (by sales) aircraft manufacturer, taking top position away from Boeing for the first time since 2011. Airbus delivered 863 aircraft to 99 customers during 2019, in a reversal that had been forecast by industry analysts in the wake of Boeing’s ongoing 737 Max crisis. In announcing the result, Airbus confirmed it was an increase of 8 per cent over 2018 deliveries. Also in the announcement, Airbus detailed 1,131 new aircraft orders, 768 net orders and a backlog standing at 7,482 aircraft. With just 345 deliveries between January and November 2019, Boeing was 359 shipments behind its 2018 total for the same 11 months of the year, when the 737 Max was still being delivered. For the whole of 2018, Boeing had delivered 806 aircraft.

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March 2020