How do electric grids that were state-of-the-art in the 19th Century remain stable and resilient through 21st Century climate disasters and other problems? They don’t, says Catherine Von Burg, CEO and co-founder of distributed battery energy storage company SimpliPhi Power – but giving people the power to be independent can be a solution fit for the future.
Wärtsilä’s GEMS energy management system platform has grown alongside the energy storage sector for more than a decade. We caught up with Andrew Tang, vice president of Energy Storage and Optimisation at Wärtsilä Energy to learn about the importance of software for the uptake of energy storage.
This year’s Winter Storm Uri caused havoc in Texas, particularly in the energy sector, where extreme weather and a resultant set of generation problems and transmission grid issues led to loss of power and even loss of life across the US state. Ricardo F. Rodriguez, a senior consultant from analysis and research group Guidehouse looks at another aspect of the situation: the impact on the state’s telecommunications infrastructure and how battery energy storage could provide a greater degree of certainty and resilience to this vital network.
The repercussions of Texas’ Winter Storm events in February, may be felt for years. Scott Burger, Annie Baldwin, Jason Houck and Marco Ferrara at long-duration energy storage start-up Form Energy discuss how in-depth system modelling of current and future grids offers some early takeaways which might help prevent the next crisis and how multi-day energy storage could play a leading role.
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?
The sudden and rapid use of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) to launch privately-held companies into publicly-listed entities is a minor phenomenon of our time and some players in clean energy industries including energy storage, have been quick to join the wave. It can work out really well, but it can also all end in tears: so choose wisely, says Charles Lesser, partner at Apricum – The Cleantech Advisory.
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.
