Aluminium-Air Technology-Based Battery systems

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State-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. has entered into a joint venture with Israel-based battery technology startup Phinergy to develop aluminium-air technology-based battery systems for electric vehicles and stationary storage, as well as hydrogen storage solutions.

What are Aluminium-Air Batteries?

• Aluminium-air batteries utilise oxygen in the air which reacts with an aluminium hydroxide solution to oxidise the aluminium and produce electricity.
  • Aluminium air batteries produce electricity from the oxidation of aluminium.
  • They have high-energy density and do not require charging infrastructure, and are seen as a potential fuel source for long-haul electric transport.

Advantages

• Cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, thereby it will reduce the cost of electric vehicle usage and boost electric vehicle adoption in the country.
• Offer a much greater range of 400 km or more per battery compared to lithium-ion batteries which currently offer a range of 150-200 kilometres per full charge.
• It will provide a boost to India’s flagship ‘Make in India’ programme. At the same time, recycling of aluminium will help India in becoming ‘atma nirbhar’ for energy requirements.
• The aluminium plate in an aluminium-air battery is converted into aluminium trihydroxide over time and that aluminium can be reclaimed from aluminium trihydroxide or even traded directly for industrial uses.

Disadvantages

• •  Aluminium-air batteries cannot be recharged like lithium-ion batteries.
    • Therefore, large scale use of aluminium-air battery-based vehicles would require the wide availability of battery swapping stations.

Relevance

• Currently, India is largely dependent on imports of lithium-ion batteries from China for electric vehicles.
•             At present India imports 100% of its EV and other Lithium-ion based batteries from abroad.

Electric vehicles Progress in India

• The government as part of its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the impact of vehicular pollution wants to shift the conventional fuel-driven passenger vehicles into EVs by 2030.
• Some Indian companies have started manufacturing lithium-ion batteries in the country, metal-air battery solutions including aluminium-air batteries which could offer a viable alternative to lithium-ion batteries and boost the domestic manufacture of batteries to meet India’s growing demand for energy storage.
•  India is all set to position itself as one of the leading marketplaces for Electric Vehicles (EVs).
•  Favourable plans and policies have been developed by the government like National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme to drive the transition towards the EV ambition of India.
• The recently approved production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the automobile and battery manufacturing sectors could also enable the right ecosystem for indigenisation and value creation in the EV sector.

Source :IE