NTPC Ltd has planned to set up a CO2 battery energy storage project in collaboration with Triveni Turbine Ltd and Energy Dome, Italy. The project will be undertaken by NETRA – the R&D wing of NTPC Ltd.
In a release, NTPC said that the CO2 Battery with an ‘Energy Capacity’ of 160 MWHr shall be setup at NTPC Kudgi in Karnataka. This project forms part of NTPC’s broader strategy to diversify its energy portfolio and increase renewable power generation within its total capacity. Additionally, the CO2 Battery aligns with the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives.
Unlike BESS, which is based on electrochemistry, CO2 Battery is based specialized electro-mechanical turbomachinery. It operates on ‘Closed Brayton Thermodynamic Cycle’ with anhydrous CO2 as the process fluid. Electricity is ‘charged’ and ‘discharged’ by manipulating ‘physical parameters’ of CO2 from vapor to liquid stage and vice-a-versa.
LDES: A topography-agnostic technology
Commenting on the development, Gurdeep Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, NTPC, said “This is a landmark development in the domain of ‘Long Duration Energy Storage’ (LDES). NTPC is proud to be in the technology forefront and setup the ‘CO2 Battery’ at Kudgi station. With several advantages like very long lifetime (>25 year), no need of critical minerals like lithium or cobalt, topography agnostic, minimal performance degradation — unlike BESS where intricate electrochemistry is involved, very high depth of discharge (100 per cent) — successful demonstration of this technology shall open new vistas in the field of ‘Electrical Energy Storage’.
Advancing decarbonization goals
Claudio Spadacini, Founder & CEO, Energy Dome further added that the CO2 Battery will further advance NTPC’s decarbonization goals and round-the-clock (RTC) power delivery while strengthening India’s local supply chain through domestic sourcing.
Also read:NTPC to further green energy technologies in Odisha
Featured photograph (source: energydome.com) is purely for representation purpose