Building battery storage systems to meet changing market requirements
Battery system integrators must navigate a broad array of technologies and varying market drivers when putting systems together. Andy Colthorpe speaks to Powin Energy and Sungrow about the engineering challenges involved in building lithium-ion battery storage.
Rely on FFR revenues alone and miss out big on revenues, UK asset owners warned
UK aggregator Kiwi Power is launching a ‘co-optimisation’ offering as it warns that relying on fast frequency response (FFR) could risk half of potential revenues.
Varta receives €300m funding to pilot large format Li-ion cells
Germany-headquartered battery manufacturer Varta will receive €300 million (US$338 million) of government funding to develop large format lithium-ion cells, which has been deemed a project of potentially strategic interest for Europe.
Energy storage ‘vital for carbon neutral Europe and Germany’s Green Deal’
Calls have been made across Europe for recognition and support for the vital role that energy storage can play in decarbonisation, reducing air pollution and contributing to a ‘green recovery’, both through legislation and industry sector activity.
Utility Portland General Electric launches 4MW virtual power plant pilot in Oregon
More than 500 residential energy storage batteries will be aggregated into a virtual power plant (VPP) by US utility Portland General Electric (PGE), with some participating households offered US$5,000 rebates on battery system purchases as well as money off their monthly electricity bills.
Digitising the solar revolution
Our ability to generate renewable energy is scaling up fast, and solutions to integrate that energy will rely on technologies like blockchain to help keep new solutions on track. Power Ledger’s executive chairman and co-founder, Dr Jemma Green, looks at the role blockchain plays within her company’s platform to integrate and automate solar energy trading and balancing.
With UL9540A safety certification, Powin Energy claims new pathways can open up
Powin Energy VP Danny Lu has said that attaining what is considered the highest standard in safety means that projects using the company’s Stack 225 battery storage system products can be executed faster and pack more capacity onto a single site.
Batteries replace diesel for jumpstarting Indiana natural gas plants
FlexGen, an energy storage system integrator that counts GE and Caterpillar among its backers, said this week that a lithium-ion battery storage system it was supplied was used by an Indiana utility to black start a 77MW natural gas plant.
Mitsubishi, Japanese telecoms co NTT step up focus on renewables, storage, EVs and energy management
Mitsubishi Corporation said today that it is partnering with major Japanese telecoms provider NTT to “study cooperation” in renewables, energy management using electric vehicles and battery energy storage, while according to reports, NTT is investing around US$1 billion a year in renewable energy up to 2030.
1.4GW of energy storage included in Tucson Electric Power’s coal retirement IRP
Arizona utility Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has set out plans to provide 70% of its power from solar and wind by 2035, backed up with investment in new energy storage capacity.
EDF, Green Investment Group and Gore Street behind hundreds more megawatts of UK storage
French utility EDF is launching a major solar-plus-battery storage hybrid initiative in England and Wales as part of plans to double its installed renewable base.
Siemens Energy to develop thermal energy storage with startup EnergyNest
Siemens Energy has formed a partnership aimed at sustainably decarbonising the industrial sector with Norway-headquartered thermal energy storage company EnergyNest.
ROUNDUP: US$1.5m for geothermal lithium, Eos’ public listing, C&I thermal storage using aluminium
News in brief from around the world in energy storage.
Think zinc: Another metal that can transform the energy storage sector
When most people think of the metals that power today’s energy storage systems, vanadium and lithium are at front of mind. Ron MacDonald, president and CEO of Zinc8, argues the case for another metal playing an important role.
Fluence ‘reveals’ 500+MW contracted portfolio in unnamed Southeast Asia territory
Fluence has announced that it has been contracted to deliver a large tranche of projects in Southeast Asia, but has agreed with its customer not to reveal yet which country they will be located in.
Sunrun picks AutoGrid software platform to optimise aggregated fleets of solar-plus-batteries
Sunrun has made a further expansion in providing grid services by choosing AutoGrid’s software to help manage its fleets of aggregated home solar and battery systems.