February 28, 2019: A new industry body, the Consortium for Battery Innovation, was launched on February 25 as a revamp and reorganization of the existing Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium.

The CBI will continue ALABC’s work in pre-competitive research, but will expand the program to promote innovation in lead batteries — not just through cutting edge research but also highlighting the innovative new applications that utilize lead batteries.

Over the coming months it will be unveiling a string of events, projects and activities that will be held throughout the year.

Along with its new name, the consortium has a new logo and website (https://batteryinnovation.org). It has also appointed a new expert panel to provide technical input into the new research program, and is in the process of recruiting a new project manager, who will assist in managing the consortium’s key work programs.

The CBI will bring together leading research institutes, universities, lead battery companies, suppliers and lead producers in a collaborative approach. This will include updating members regularly on technological advances and developments and directly presenting to customers, such as car companies and end-users in energy storage markets, to expand on the benefits of lead battery technology.

 CBI has also been working with its members to develop a technical roadmap that has set ambitious goals and objectives for future research.

The roadmap is market driven and CBI hopes that it will ensure that lead batteries can meet the future technical requirements of customers such as car companies and energy storage end-users.

Examples of the goals set include improving both DCA for automotive applications and cycle life of energy storage applications by five times by 2022.

“CBI is committed to funding projects that make a tangible difference to lead battery performance,” the new director of CBI, Alistair Davidson, told BESB. “We have 20 proposals so far that we are looking at — and we now have a different way of working with them.

“The ALABC used to have a three-year time limit for new projects — now it’s a one-year rolling cycle. We’ll be looking at each one on an annual basis, to assess whether it’s likely to deliver on the market driven objectives set in the roadmap.

“We will have stage gates, and look at each one every six months. And we’ll also be keeping more in touch with our members about the projects we have.”

The CBI has diarized a series of events that will be rolled out this year, beginning next week with a workshop in Shanghai, China, which will be a special two-day workshop launching CBI to its Asian members.

“We will be giving updates to our Asian members about the on-going research projects, plans for future lead battery research, but also on developments in lead battery recycling technology,” said Davidson.

In April the CBI heads to Phoenix, US, where it will launch an interactive road map to promote all current projects that its members are working on. This is something that Davidson says CBI members have not traditionally done. “Members have exciting projects but there is an opportunity to promote them further. There are a large number of very exciting energy storage projects worldwide using lead batteries,” he said.

This will also include a database of existing lead battery grid projects around the world.

CBI is also developing a new online tool, which allows companies to input technical parameters and find out what the best battery for their requirement would be.

In June, the CBI will be part of the ILA’s lead conference that is held every two years. This will be in Madrid, Spain. It will also be meeting at the Asian Battery Conference in Bali in September, where the CBI will hold a general assembly and technical workshop.

Another key factor the CBI is aiming to address in the lead battery industry worldwide is standards, which can differ widely among enforcement bodies such as the IEC, Cenelec and SAE.

“There are global moves to develop standards for batteries in energy storage and we need to be a part of that to make sure that lead batteries are included, to make sure the benefits of all batteries are taken into account,” said Davidson.

“There are huge opportunities ahead given current demand for energy storage and the political challenges. It’s a big educational job, to demonstrate the value of advanced lead batteries, but that’s what we need to do.”