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Pumped hydro storage (PHS) is the most mature and widely used technology for large-scale energy storage. Hydropower plants are in fact also employed for this aim. However, most hydraulic sites suitable for this purpose have been already exploited. Therefore, the use of abandoned mines represents an alternative solution to take advantage of the availability of underground volumes as hydro storages. This paper investigates the potential of PHS plants integrated within a power generation system that comprises both programmable (e.g., hydropower and nuclear power plants) and non-programmable (e.g., wind and solar power plants) energy systems. All systems are connected with the power grid. To this purpose, this paper develops a methodology aimed at identifying the optimal sizing of the PHS plant as well as the optimal operation of the whole power generation system at Country level, with the goal of minimizing the imported energy. The methodology is validated by using Sweden as the case study, to assess the energy and economic feasibility of PHS plants in 2050. Different future scenarios of electricity production, demand, and cost are analyzed. The analyses carried out in this paper demonstrate that PHS plants are highly recommended if the cost of imported energy is expected to increase. In such a scenario, PHS is mainly employed to meet domestic electricity demand.

The electrification of vehicles has become a critical means to achieve climate-neutral transportation. As more electric vehicles (EV) are adopted, an increasing number of lithiumion batteries will be utilized, inevitably experiencing capacity degradation over time. Retaining the value of these retired batteries through remanufacturing, reusing, and repurposing to create a second life holds significant environmental and economic benefits. However, many companies within the battery ecosystem struggle to capitalize on this opportunity due to a lack of business insight and suitable business models tailored to their operational contexts.

The ReCreate (Second Life Management of Electric Vehicle Batteries) research project was initiated to address these industrial needs through close collaboration with selected companies in the battery ecosystem. The project aims to define appropriate circular business models, methods, and processes to guide battery ecosystem actors in developing and implementing electric vehicle battery second life solutions, thereby advancing circularity around batteries and climate-neutral objectives. 

This handbook represents the culmination of three years of research within the ReCreate project. Its purpose is to present a simplified and practical overview of project outcomes across a series of key chapters. Comprising six chapters, the handbook will begin by discussing barriers and enablers, followed by circular business models and battery ecosystem management. It will then delve into design principles and performance monitoring guidelines, concluding with an integrated framework for second life and circular solutions for EV batteries. 

Each chapter briefly presents the main findings of the theme and concludes with discussion questions. The discussion questions include suggestions for relevant templates for workshops, and all templates are conveniently provided in the appendix for practical application. These templates serve as boundary objects, offering a starting point for internal and external cross-functional and cross-organizational dialogues within the electric vehicle battery ecosystem. They facilitate discussions and collaborations among various stakeholders, fostering alignment and synergy in developing circular business models for the second life of EV batteries.  

By facilitating reflection on current business strategies, needs, and pain points, the handbook aims to aid in the definition of future second life business strategies. We anticipate that this handbook will serve as a valuable resource for actors within the EV battery ecosystem, supporting their journey towards climate-neutral transportation. 

The electrification of vehicles has become a critical means to achieve climate-neutral transportation. As more electric vehicles (EV) are adopted, an increasing number of lithium-ion batteries will be utilized, inevitably experiencing capacity degradation over time. Retaining the value of these retired batteries through remanufacturing, reusing, and repurposing to create a second life holds significant environmental and economic benefits. However, many companies within the battery ecosystem struggle to capitalize on this opportunity due to a lack of business insight and suitable business models tailored to their operational contexts. The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated framework for designing and implementing second life for the EV batteries that could guide and navigate ecosystem actors towards circularity. This study employed an explorative qualitative inquiry approach, utilizing interviews and workshop methods, involving 15 companies in the EV battery ecosystem. Data collection involved 24 semi-structured interviews and 22 workshops. The framework includes four building blocks, including 1) barriers and enablers, 2) circular business models archetypes and design principles, 3) ecosystem management, and 4) battery performance monitoring. Further, the paper explains criteria influencing the selection of design and implementation of strategies for battery second life. This research contributes to the theory of circular business models and ecosystem management in general, with specific relevance to battery second life and circularity. 

Achieving battery circularity is crucial for meeting the targets of net-zero emission vehicles by 2030 and enabling climate-neutral transportation by 2050. To facilitate this transition, firms operating in the electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem must reassess their value creation, capture, and delivery methods. Although EV battery second life presents a promising solution for circularity, many vehicle manufacturers and stakeholders in the battery ecosystem struggle to adapt their organizations internally and externally due to a lack of insights into suitable circular business models. The purpose of this study is to identify viable archetypes of circular business models for EV battery second life and examine their implications on company collaborations within the EV battery ecosystem. Three main archetypes of circular business models are identified (i.e., extending, sharing, and looping business models) and further divided into eight sub-archetypes. These models are elucidated in terms of key business model dimensions, including value proposition, value co-creation, value delivery, and value capture. The paper provides visual representations of the necessary interactions and collaborations among companies in the EV battery ecosystem to effectively implement the proposed business model archetypes. This research contributes to the theory of circular business models in general, with specific relevance to EV battery circularity.

This study adopts an ecosystem perspective to provide a detailed understanding of key challenges and enablers for implementing circular business models for electric vehicle battery second life. Although academia and practitioners believe electric vehicle (EV) batteries’ second life is a potential solution, the commercial implementations are still far away. A crucial step toward such implementations is to identify the key challenges and enablers of circular business models. The criticality of this step is even more evident when approaching second life business models from an ecosystem perspective, where multiple stakeholders are involved in the creation, capture, and delivery of value. This research conducts an explorative study with 15 companies in the EV battery ecosystem and identifies nine categories of key challenges and seven categories of key enablers. Based on priority dimensions (short/long term) and the responsible entity (firm/ecosystem related), the study proposes a guiding framework to address challenges and enablers. The study contributes to the circular business model innovation and ecosystems literature related to the EV battery second life.

Existing combined heat and power plants are seeking additional heat sinks to address challenges arising from the declining district heating demand and the increasing share of renewable energy in primary energy use in the coming decades. In the meantime, the world’s demand for sustainable fuel production keeps increasing due to the need to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. Fast pyrolysis, as a thermochemical conversion process based on widely available feedstocks such as lignocellulosic biomass, is promising to provide a long‐term supply of sustainable fuels, and could be integrated into existing combined heat and power plants due to the scalability and maturity of this method. This work focuses on techno‐economic analysis of integrating fast pyrolysis into existing combined heat and power plants for biofuel production. A process model of fast pyrolysis and bio‐oil upgrading is established in Aspen Plus to simulate the integration process. In this work, particular attention is given to the profitability analysis based on different final fuel products(crude pyrolysis oil and upgraded bio‐oil). Different hydrogen generation solutions (electrolysis, and gasification) for onsite bio‐oil upgrading are also examined. This study also performs an analysis of several economic indicators, such as payback period, net present value, and internal rate of return to provide insights for the future business model development for such systems. Sensitivity analysis is also carried out to further reveal the impacts of key variables in the economic evaluation process on the system’s profitability.

Existing combined heat and power plants usually operate on part-load conditions during low heating demand seasons. Similarly, there are boilers designated for winter use that remain inactive for much of the year. This brings a concern about the inefficiency of resource utilization. Retrofitting existing CHP plants (especially for those with spare boilers) for biofuel production could increase revenue and enhance resource efficiency. This study introduces a novel approach that combines biomass gasification and pyrolysis in a polygeneration process that is based on utilizing existing CHP facilities to produce biomethane, bio-oil, and hydrogen. In this work, a detailed analysis was undertaken of retrofitting an existing biomass combined heat and power plant for biofuel production. The biofuel production plant is designed to explore the polygeneration of hydrogen, biomethane, and bio-oil via the integration of gasification, pyrolysis, and renewable-powered electrolysis. An Aspen Plus model of the proposed biofuel production plant is established followed by a performance investigation of the biofuel production plant under various design conditions. An economic analysis is carried out to examine the profitability of the proposed polygeneration system. Results show that the proposed polygeneration system can achieve 40% carbon efficiency with a payback period of 9 years and an internal rate of return of 17.5%, without the integration of renewable hydrogen. When integrated with renewable-power electrolysis, the carbon efficiency could be significantly improved to approximately 90%; however, the high investment cost associated with the electrolyzer system makes this integration economically unfavorable.

Lithium-ion battery storage has emerged as a promising solution for various energy systems. However, complex degradation behavior, relatively short lifetime, high capital, and operational costs, and electricity market volatility are critical factors that challenge its practical viability. Thus, to ensure sustained profitability of Lithium-ion batteries in real-life applications, a smart and optimal management strategy considering key influencing factors is imperative for achieving efficient battery utilization. This study proposes two day-ahead battery-behavior-aware operation scheduling strategies to maximize profitability and longevity in residential grid-connected applications with dynamic electricity pricing. Each scenario employs unique approaches to make optimal decisions for optimal battery utilization. The first scenario optimizes short-term profitability by prioritizing revenue gains under three charge/discharge rates (high, moderate, low), considering daily charge and discharge timings as decision variables. Conversely, the second scenario proposes a smart strategy capable of making intelligent decisions on a wide range of variables to simultaneously maximize revenue and minimize degradation costs, ensuring short-term and long-term profitability. Decision variables include the cycle frequency for each specific day, timings as well as durations for charging and discharging per cycle. To ensure effective long-term assessment, both scenarios accurately estimate battery performance, calendric and cyclic capacity degradations, remaining-useful-lifetime, and internal states under real operational conditions until battery reaches its end-of-life criteria. The scenarios are assessed economically using various indicators. Furthermore, the impact of battery price and size on optimization outcomes are examined. The key findings indicate that, among the first set of scenarios, the strategy with low charge/discharge rate extends the battery lifetime most efficiently, estimated at 14.8 years. However, it proved to be the least profitable, resulting in negative profit of −3€/kWh/yr. On the other hand, strategies with high and moderate charge/discharge rates resulted in positive profit of 8.3 €/kWh/year and 9.2 €/kWh/year, despite having shorter battery lifetimes, estimated at 10.1 years and 13.6 years, respectively. Furthermore, from a payback perspective, the strategy with fast charge/discharge capability led to 1.5 years shorter payback period than that of the moderate rate strategy. The findings highlight that the first set of scenarios limits the strategy's flexibility in achieving both sustainability and profitability. In contrast, the second scenario achieves impressive profit (18 €/kWh/yr), shortest payback period (7.5 year), a commendable lifespan (12.5 years), contrasting revenue-focused scenarios, emphasizing the importance of striking optimal balance between revenue gain and degradation costs for charging/discharging actions, ensuring sustained profitability. The findings offer valuable insights for decision-makers, enabling informed strategic choices and effective solutions.

The transition towards sustainable electrification, particularly in the context of electric vehicles (EVs), necessitates a comprehensive understanding and effective management of battery circularity. With a plethora of EV models and battery variants, navigating the complexities of circularity becomes increasingly challenging. Furthermore, efficient fleet management emphasizes the necessity for robust data collection and analysis across diverse EVs to optimize battery value throughout its lifecycle. Advanced digital technologies play a crucial role in bridging informational gaps and enabling real-time connectivity, intelligence, and analytical capabilities for batteries. However, despite the potential benefits, the integration of circularity and digital technologies in the battery sector remains largely unexplored. Both circularity and digital technologies in the battery domain are still emerging, lacking conceptualization on their integration. To tackle these challenges, this paper advocates for the concept of smart battery circularity, which amalgamates advanced digital technologies with circular economy principles. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the conceptualization of smart battery circularity and elucidate the key knowledge areas necessary to facilitate it. The study identifies three critical knowledge areas essential for enabling smart battery circularity: digitally enabled circular business models, digital twin platforms for circular battery services, and smart battery performance monitoring. The sub-areas within each key knowledge area are also outlined. By delineating these knowledge areas, the study proposes an integrative framework, showcasing how these areas contribute to smart battery circularity both individually and collectively. The study offers insights to accelerate the development of initiatives aimed at establishing a sustainable and circular battery ecosystem, thereby advancing global efforts towards climate-neutral electrification. 

In this paper, balancing electricity production using renewable energy such as wind power, PV cells, hydropower, and CHP (combined heat and power) with biomass is carried out in relation to electricity consumption in primarily one major region in Sweden, SE-3, which contains 75% of the country's population. The time perspective is hours and days. Statistics with respect to power production and consumption are analyzed and used as input for power-balance calculations. How long periods are with low or high production, as well as the energy for charge and discharge that is needed to maintain a generally constant power production, is analyzed. One conclusion is that if the difference in production were to be completely covered with battery capacity it would be expensive, but if a large part of the difference were met by a shifting load it would be possible to cover the rest with battery storage in an economical way. To enhance the economy with battery storage, second-life batteries are proposed to reduce the capital cost in particular. Batteries are compared to hydrogen as an energy carrier. The efficiency of a battery system is higher than that of hydrogen plus fuel cells, but in general much fewer precious materials are needed with an H-2/fuel-cell system than with batteries. The paper discusses how to make the energy system more robust and resilient.