Energy storage technologies are not the “silver bullet” they have sometimes been hyped as, but nonetheless have a crucial role to play in a decarbonised electricity system, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Global PV company Hanwha Q Cells and energy storage company Systems Sunlight have teamed up to construct a hybrid power system for telecommunications provider MTN Cyprus.

NEC Corporation has commissioned a 2MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system designed to ease the integration of renewable energy into the grid for Italian distribution system operator (DSO) Enel Distribuzione.

Fees being charged to interconnect residential storage systems to the grid in California are “arbitrary” and “punitive”, while some may even be illegal, according to US installer SolarCity.

Electrical storage has been much hyped as a key technology in the ongoing deployment of solar. But as Andy Colthorpe reports, with take-up of the technology so far only patchy, the coming year will be a crucial one for storage to prove its worth.

Japan has launched a subsidy programme to support the installation of lithium-ion battery-based stationary storage systems, offering to pay individuals and entities up to two-thirds of their purchase price.

Over two-thirds of German PV installers are now offering their customers energy storage options, while their British and Italian counterparts are beginning to follow suit, according to a new report from EuPD Research.

Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE institute is leading a research project into the development of solutions for a ‘super grid’ that would allow intercontinental transmission of power from renewable energy plants in Africa to Europe.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will host a workshop later this month aimed at kick-starting the production of a roadmap for the future deployment of energy storage.

The Rocky Mountain Institute has published a report which claims it could be possible, using PV coupled with storage, for portions of the USA to “defect” away from using grid networks entirely by 2030.