A roundup of the biggest projects, financing and offtake deals in the energy storage sector that we have reported on this year.
It’s been a positive year for energy storage in 2023, with new markets opening up and supply chain bottlenecks and price spikes for battery energy storage systems (BESS) easing, though challenges remain.
Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual
Or continue reading this article for free
In this piece we bring you the largest projects and deals in the market that Energy-Storage.news has reported on, following our well-received piece looking at 2022.
Readers may note that the headline figures in last year’s selection were all the same size or larger than these, though little if any significance can be drawn from this.
By their nature these are select projects and deals, and some announcements can be more representative of the hype around a sector than its reality. The reality is that energy storage deployments globally this year are set to be more than twice last year, according to recent data from BloombergNEF.
Click the sub-headings to go the article.
Biggest lithium-ion BESS project commissioned: 1.4GWh expansion of Vistra’s Moss Landing BESS
Just as last year, the largest BESS to have come online this year was in California.
Utility and independent power producer (IPP) Vistra announced in August that the third phase of its Moss Landing BESS was now live, adding 350MW/1,400MWh of capacity to the project bringing it to 750MW/3,000MWh in total.
It is actually the same size as last year’s largest too, the 350MW/1,400MWh Crimson BESS, which was brought online by the developer and IPP arm of PV module and BESS firm Canadian Solar.
A three-site, 2.1GWh project in California from Ameresco was also set for completion before the end of the year but has not been announced.
Biggest lithium-ion BESS project revealed: Grenergy’s 4.1GWh BESS in Chile
In November, Spain-based developer and IPP Grenergy claimed it would be building the ‘largest BESS in the world’ in Chile.
Detailing its US$2.6 billion investment plans for 2023-2026, the company said that construction had already begun on the Oasis de Atacama battery storage project in the northern Atacama desert region.
Biggest non-lithium/non-PHES project commissioned: Kyoto’s 18MWh Heatcube in Denmark
Thos year saw thermal energy storage technology company Kyoto Group commission a 4MW/18MWh project in Denmark using its Heatcube technology.
It uses electricity to store thermal energy by heating molten salt to 415°C and then creating steam.
Since we reported on the start of testing in August, Kyoto has announced that the project has been handed over to the owner and qualified for providing flexibility services to the Danish electricity market in the DK1 grid area.
Biggest non-lithium BESS commissioned: Invinity’s 8.4MWh vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) in Canada
Vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) technology firm Invinity announced in September that an 8.4MWh BESS using its tech was online at a solar-plus-storage project in Canada.
It is Invinity’s largest project online and the largest non-lithium BESS to have come online this year that Energy-Storage.news is aware of.
Biggest financing package for energy storage: Plus Power’s US$1.8 billion for five US projects
In October, US BESS developer and operator Plus Power completed a US$1.8 billion financing package for five projects in Arizona and Texas.
The financing included construction loans, term loans and tax equity financing for the projects which totalled 1.04GW/2.76GWh of BESS capacity.
Plus Power CEO Brandon O’Keefe discussed the announcement and the projects with Energy-Storage.news in more detail a fortnight later.
Biggest offtake agreement between cell supplier and system integrator: three separate 10GWh announcements
This year has seen three separate offtake announcements between battery suppliers and system integrators, the largest we have reported on.
In June, Powin Energy signed a 10GWh supply deal with China-based battery manufacturer EVE Energy.
Then in September, French gigafactory firm Verkor and European-based system integrator Nidec revealed a 10GWh BESS partnership. It is notable as most of Verkor’s capacity will go to French automotive group Renault.
Two months later, software-focused system integrator FlexGen and BESS-focused cell manufacturer Hithium announced a 25GWh two-way agreement for battery supply and EMS, of which 10GWh will be batteries being sold by Hithium to FlexGen.
That deal may be slightly different to the two others, as FlexGen does not have its own containerised solution so will be buying full BESS to put together for projects.
Note that last year’s biggest announced deal in this category may very well need re-visiting. Powin and Norway-based gigafactory firm announced a 28.5GWh lithium-ion cell supply deal for 2024-2030, but Freyr has since paused work on all its European gigafactory projects because of the Inflation Reduction Act making European cell manufacturing uncompetitive.
Freyr CEO Birger Steen discussed this with Energy-Storage.news at the time (Premium access).
Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 9th annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 20-21 February 2024. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.