Chilean authorities have received plans for an ambitious 600MW PV plant project which could be connected to a 300MW pumped hydro energy storage plant, from developer Valhalla Energy.

Energy storage and battery companies netted US$418 million in funding, while a further US$232 million changed hands in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of battery or storage companies during 2014, according to a new report from Mercom Capital.

The failure of a grid-connected storage system at a solar farm in Hawaii is part of the learning process the US island state is undergoing to integrate more PV using storage, according to analyst Dean Frankel at Lux Research.

A UK auction held to provide the nation with energy security, has failed to deliver the boost to energy storage that a top government minister had hinted would be the case, according to a number of commentators and industry figures.

The UK’s Renewable Energy Association (REA) has launched two new trade groups to represent the solar and storage industries respectively.

Two recent reports, one from credit rating and investment advisory agency Moody’s, the other from technology and tech market analysts Navigant Research, appear to show divergent views on the potential of distributed energy storage, including residential solar-plus-batteries.

Grid storage and distributed energy technologies overseen by the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) in the US will be accredited by technical advisory service DNV GL for the next four years.

A 1MWh battery developed by US manufacturer Aquion Energy and installed at a private estate in Hawaii will allow the area’s residents to meet almost all of their electricity demand with power generated from a connected solar array.

A US regional electricity transmission and distribution operator’s plan to install energy storage batteries could enable ‘benefit stacking’ as a way of overcoming “crippling challenges” faced by energy storage, according to one energy expert.

A new scheme to provide grid-balancing services directly from the batteries of electric vehicles (EVs) will be trialled by car maker BMW, in partnership with California utility company Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).