A planned energy storage system backed with a diesel generator could remove the need to build an expensive undersea cable to serve the island of Nantucket, off the coast of Massachusetts in the US.
The US national Energy Storage Association (ESA) has advocated that the nation should aim to deploy 35GW of energy storage by 2025, claiming it could result in US$4bn of network cost savings and generate 167,000 jobs.
German renewables firm BayWa r.e. has commissioned a combined PV and battery system in Zambia’s Chisamba province, to supply irrigation for aquacultural farming.
A representative of National Grid, the UK’s transmission system operator (TSO), has said that energy storage will be “integral” to the network’s flexibility strategy – while urging developers not to rely solely on early frequency regulation contracts.
While decreases in costs continue to make energy storage more and more competitive, financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard has highlighted just how variable project economics can be, citing examples of US projects with 9%, 11% and 21% IRR (internal rate of return).
A project demonstrating the integration of energy storage onto grid networks in Hubei, China, will see the first phase of a 10MW / 40MWh project built by Pu Neng, a vanadium flow battery manufacturer.
Siemens has continued to bolster its UK presence with a new partnership with Grid Battery Storage Limited (GBSL) which will see a 22MW portfolio of four projects built and an ‘energy storage as a service’ offering launched.
German renewables funder Capital Stage is lining up its first battery storage move, but stressed it could be some time before business models are mature enough.
Tesla has reported a significant year-on-year increase in business for its stationary energy storage systems, but more attention has been focused on delays in Model 3 deliveries and a decline in solar installs.
