Old electric car batteries may help cut costs of storing power

Bloomberg

As major players jostle for market share in large-scale power storage, American Electric Power and Nissan Motor Co are testing new technology that re-uses old electric vehicle batteries to slash costs.
The pilot study in Ohio will road test technology that could lower system costs by about a half and extend the life of lithium-ion batteries by about a third, according to its Australian developer.
Costs of energy storage systems are falling globally on technology improvements, larger manufacturing volumes, increased competition between suppliers and as the sector adds more expertise, BloombergNEF said in an October report. That’s driving an expansion in investment in projects to store power, with as much as $5 billion worth of deals possible this year for systems paired with renewable energy, according to the forecaster.
American Electric’s Ohio study is using expired Nissan Leaf car batteries and is intended to test the innovations at scale after laboratory work in Australia and Japan.
Results so far appear promising, Ram Sastry, American Electric’s vice president, innovation and technology, said. “It’s in a facility that we own, but connected to the real grid.” he said.
The technology is developed by Melbourne-based Relectrify and uses old, or second-life, vehicle batteries and reduces the number of components needed, the company said in a statement. That can reduce costs for key parts of typical industrial or grid storage systems to about $150 per kilowatt hour, it said.
Companies like BMW AG and Toyota Motor Corp are already putting re-used cells to work in applications including renewable energy storage, electric vehicle charging, and to power street lights and homes.