Apricum articles
Our view on the latest
developments in the
cleantech industry
Apricum articles
The valuable role of waste-to-energy in the energy transition
An interview with Apricum’s waste-to-energy expert Thomas Obermeier Apricum has recently expanded its industry focus to include the waste sector, offering services in wastewater treatment, waste-to-energy and waste management. Supporting Apricum in its expansion into...
Storage at 20 USD/MWh? Breaking down the low-cost solar-plus-storage PPAs in the USA
This article explores the competitiveness of energy storage and new market opportunities that are emerging via storage-plus-renewables projects by examining with some simple “reverse engineering” how recent low solar-plus-storage PPAs in the USA were achieved.
Towards a subsidy-free era for China’s solar PV market
The rise and fall of feed-in tariffs By the end of 2018, only seven years after the introduction of a national feed-in tariff (FIT) support scheme in 2012, China was home to one third of the world’s cumulative photovoltaic capacity, with ~173 GW of cumulative PV...
Gearing up for power on wheels: what will be the true impact of e-mobility on stationary energy storage? Part 3: Second-life batteries
EV batteries degrade over time, leading to storage capacity loss and range constraints – eventually rendering them unsuitable for further use in cars. However, they can still be suitable for less intensive or critical stationary storage applications, and can be repurposed in what is referred to as the “second life” of a battery.
Gearing up for power on wheels: what will be the true impact of e-mobility on stationary energy storage? Part 2: Battery buffered charging stations
Adding a battery to an electric vehicle charging station can help to “buffer” the power required from the grid, thus avoiding peaks and related grid constraints or costly charges. Consequently, additional demand for stationary storage is triggered – but what needs to be considered to successfully seize this new market opportunity?
Gearing up for power on wheels: what will be the true impact of e-mobility on stationary energy storage? Part 1: Vehicle-to-grid
The emergence of electric vehicles is not only shaking up the automotive industry. Through the increased electrification of the transport sector, a growing interlink to the power market is being established, leading to both new opportunities and challenges for stationary energy storage players.
Renewables 2.0 – Opportunities in renewables in a post-subsidy world
Substantial flows of investment into renewables has brought about significant reductions in the cost of delivered energy, while simultaneously increasing the penetration of renewables in most markets. These developments herald the rise of Renewables 2.0, a...
Renewables 2.0: Preparing for the new complexity of renewable energy in a post-subsidy world
As the deployment of renewable energy continues to expand around the world driven by various inputs such as capital allocation and investment, falling capital costs, competitive LCOE and various policy mechanisms, we are now moving towards a new era for renewable...
Dentists, clouds and virtual batteries – how residential energy storage providers can drive market uptake in Germany
The global residential storage market has been picking up momentum recently, with installation growth rates soaring in many geographies such as Australia, the USA — and particularly Germany, which clearly leads the pack. Some 35,000 systems came online in 2017 alone...