US utility firm PacifiCorp has launched its largest request for proposals for energy projects yet, seeking bids for more than 1.8GW of new solar and 600MW of battery energy storage.

UPDATED 14 July 2020: The European Union has agreed that energy storage will be vital in its clean energy economy of the future as Members of European Parliament (MEPs) voted overwhelmingly to adopt a strategy report putting energy storage and hydrogen at the heart of its agenda.

What has been described by the head of its federal regulator as the “single most important act” the US could take in smoothly transitioning to a “clean energy future” will become reality, with distributed energy storage set to join wholesale markets and compete to provide services on a “level playing field” with fossil fuel resources.

This week’s roundup comes once again from the pages of our UK sister sites, where there’s been plenty of action.

The European Union (EU) has just published its Strategy for Energy System Integration, including pledges to support renewables and energy storage as the continent targets carbon neutrality by 2050.

The company behind what looks set to be Norway’s first gigawatt-scale manufacturing facility for lithium-ion battery cells has secured pre-construction financing of NOK130 million (US$13.85 million) which it said will “enable rapid development” of the plant.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) announced today that five minute settlement windows for spot prices in the National Electricity Market (NEM) will be implemented from 21 October 2021.

Zinc-based battery energy storage manufacturer Eos Energy Storage has signed an agreement with an EPC partner to deploy systems based on its devices at rural microgrids, beginning with projects in Nigeria.

A subcommittee of the US House Committee on Appropriations has approved more than a billion dollars in support for developing energy storage deployment, research and manufacturing in a funding bill for the 2021 Fiscal Year.

Batteries can offer a cost-effective option for upward and downward reserve to the UK grid, a project run by AI and automation tech firm Arenko with transmission network operator National Grid ESO has found.