A new research centre ‘uniquely equipped’ to evaluate energy storage technologies has opened at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Washington, US.

Delays in product development, high commodity prices and investors pulling out were behind some of the most recent bankruptcies in the ESS battery technology space, which include Nilar, AMTE and Ambri.

Some long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies are already cost-competitive with lithium-ion (Li-ion) but will struggle to match the incumbent’s cost reduction potential.

Editor Andy Colthorpe speaks with Long Duration Energy Storage Council director of markets and technology Gabriel Murtagh.

EPRI, Southern Company and Storworks have completed testing of a concrete thermal energy storage pilot project at a gas plant in Alabama, US, claimed as the largest of its kind in the world.

Startup Photon Vault Inc proposal in response to a request for information (RFI) from Microsoft, Google and Nucor, while unsuccessful, offered what it claimed could be a first for California.

Saudi Arabian oil firm Aramco has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Rondo Energy, a thermal energy storage company, following an equity investment.

Hyme Energy has inaugurated a molten hydroxide salt energy storage project in Denmark, the first such deployment in the world, it claimed.

NGK Insulators will provide 72 containerised sodium-sulfur (NAS) battery storage units to a green hydrogen production plant in Germany.