Three new battery energy storage system (BESS) projects from the US that may not individually make headlines for their relative size, but nonetheless prove the value and flexibility of batteries for the grid.

In the first part of this interview with Swell Energy CEO Suleman Khan we heard about how Swell Energy has been working to ‘productise’ the virtual power plant proposition: making it attractive to utilities and to their end-customers and then wrapping that into a long-term agreement. This time out, we speak to Suleman about some of the finer details of the VPP proposition and where he thinks the market is heading.

As society moves away from centralised fossil fuel generators to increasing shares of distributed renewable energy resources, the idea that customers’ homes could become host to virtual power plants (VPPs), joining the dots between electricity supply and demand across the grid, has gradually gathered traction. Andy Colthorpe speaks with Suleman Khan CEO of Swell Energy, which has raised nearly half a billion dollars in financing for solar-plus-storage VPPs in 14,000 homes across California, New York and Hawaii.

Software is rapidly becoming recognised as key to the value proposition and bankability of energy storage, which in turn lies at the heart of the energy transition. Andy Colthorpe speaks to three providers of software aimed at the energy storage industry.

Energy-Storage.news was delighted to host a sponsored webinar with Honeywell Process Solutions on solving some of the biggest challenges and answering the most important questions facing energy storage today.

The editorial team brings you the top takeaways from this year’s Summit, spanning everything from finance and the growing appetite for investment in the market today, to the technologies and policies that could help the UK and other nations to meet urgent deadlines for decarbonisation.

Texas’ grid and the idiosyncrasies of its electricity planning system regime made global headlines in February following a harsh winter storm and subsequent blackouts that affected millions of people and businesses for almost an entire week. It may be a unique market with unique characteristics, but what wider role can batteries — and other energy storage technologies — play in assisting the grid to remain stable and prevent a situation like this from happening again?

What does the energy storage industry make of Biden’s commitment to ‘Build Back Better’ and to rejoin the Paris Agreement?

Energy-storage.news speaks with Ameresco executive VP and general manager, at its Federal Solutions division, Nicole Bulgarino, who tells us about why this type of project can play such a critical role in proving the case for smart energy solutions that include battery storage.

Bigger projects, increased synergy with renewable energy generation, better evolved business models and a forward-thinking market design have contributed to the success of battery storage in the UK, with neighbouring Ireland also showing strong signs of rapid growth.