Towards commercializing the “made in Sri Lanka” Lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Energy plays a crucial role in the human civilization. Today, the whole world is facing an energy crisis with the rising energy demand, fluctuating prices, supply constraints, and environmental concerns. While renewable energy resources can alleviate some of the global energy security challenges, their intermittency and non-dispatchability can cause problems. Therefore, robust energy storage systems (ESSs) are also important in the sustainable energy transition. Among the many ESS technologies, battery energy storage system (BESS) is one of the most popular methods, as they can be easily adapted to distributed applications and quickly deployed. The Lithium-ion battery (LIB) has significant benefits over other batteries. They have a longer life cycle, higher energy density, faster charge and discharge cycles, quick manufacturing and deploying processes, and lower maintenance requirements. LIB technology is one of the best candidates for a BESS, and its market share and R&D efforts are growing fast [1], [2]. Over the last 30 years, the LIB has come a long way with various improvements to make it more compact and safe while simultaneously enhancing the energy density and cycle life.