Two grid-scale battery energy storage projects, one just completed in Texas and one just announced in California, give an indication of the growing market opportunities in the US’ regional grid operators’ service areas.
There are 1.3GW of read-to-build battery storage projects in the UK, with the majority between 30MW and 49.9MW power output per project, according to new analysis from Solar Media Market Research.
The cost of battery energy storage has continued on its trajectory downwards and now stands at US$150 per megawatt-hour for battery storage with four hours’ discharge duration, making it more and more competitive with fossil fuels. Andy Colthorpe spoke to Tifenn Brandily, lead author of BloombergNEF’s latest LCOE report.
Accelerator selected the maker of an organic flow battery among a group of “startups with the potential to dramatically alter the future global energy landscape”.
Fluence has been able to keep working on “all but two or three” of 73 utility-scale battery projects, with battery energy storage increasingly considered an essential part of grid infrastructure in many parts of the world.
In light of Virginia’s goal to go 100% renewable and clean energy by 2050, utility Dominion Energy has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for 1,000MW of onshore wind and solar and up to 250MW of energy storage as well as laying out longer-term plans.
Contracts have been awarded to 770MW of battery energy storage project proposals by Southern California Edison (SCE), one of the US state of California’s three major investor-owned utilities (IOUs).
Australia’s government-owned green bank, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), has pledged AU$300 million (US$192 million) of existing funding towards “building investor confidence in renewable hydrogen”.
Vanadium redox flow batteries are almost as reliable as diesel generators in providing resiliency, but won’t be competitive against lithium-ion unless cost reductions can be achieved with the scaling up of manufacturing and deployment.
Moving from today’s gas stations to their electrified equivalent can present a challenge so “dramatic” that in some cases, microgrids may be the only viable solution, a representative of Schneider Electric has said.
