Commercial and large-scale storage projects to be recognised by Solar Media’s annual awards in

May 31, 2016
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

S&C Electric, among partners working on a much-feted microgrid in Texas for transmission and distribution utility Oncor, was also one of the companies behind the UK’s Smarter Network Storage ‘Big Battery’ trial project. Image: S&C Electric.
The Solar Power Portal Awards, an annual celebration of the PV industry from Energy-Storage.News’ UK-based publisher, Solar Media, will include commercial and large-scale energy storage as a category for the first time this October.

The awards event returns for its fourth successive year and will be co-located with the inaugural Clean Energy Awards, established to celebrate the successes of the wider clean technology space.

This year’s ceremony, sponsored by major vertically integrated Chinese solar company Trina Solar, will be hosted by British stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr.

Nominations deadline is 30 June.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Large-scale storage project

Entries will not be restricted to completed projects, in order to keep the field as wide as possible in this still-emerging industry. There has been much discussion of the potential for all scales of storage in the UK over the past couple of years, not least from the Solar Media-backed Energy Storage Alliance. Much of this seems to be coming to fruition now, with numerous demonstration projects deployed. A tender for some 200MW of grid-balancing enhanced frequency response (EFR) services is imminent this summer and additionally, sole UK grid operator National Grid has just contracted Renewable Energy Systems (RES) to build a 20MW project for dynamic frequency response.

While there are still questions of where storage fits in to the bigger picture in terms of regulation and legislation, when the government and regulator has pledged to answer during this year, meaning that a market-based approach is still in its earliest stages, demonstrations like the 6MW/10MWh Smarter Network Storage trial in the east of England and pioneering projects such as AES’ 10MW array in Kilroot, Northern Ireland, are certainly establishing an early benchmark to live up to.

Enter now

Do you have a project that you want to shout about? Enter your project now for the 2016 Solar Power Portal Awards.

Click where prompted to nominate
Create a profile by clicking ‘Login’ in the navigation bar, and inputting all the required information. Once logged in, you will be able to see information on all this year’s categories and judging criteria
Log in to your online account and under the submissions tab, click “add new”
Select your required category from the drop down box, and go through the process by following the simple steps
You can add the names of associated applicants and save a submission to be continued later. Once complete, click “save and submit”.

The Awards dinner will be held on Wednesday 5th October 2016 at the Hilton Metropole NEC. Tickets can be booked by contacting Stuart Bradshaw.

13 October 2026
London, UK
Now in its second edition, the Summit provides a dedicated platform for UK & Ireland’s BESS community to share practical insights on performance, degradation, safety, market design and optimisation strategies. As storage deployment accelerates towards 2030 targets, attendees gain the tools needed to enhance returns and operate resilient, efficient assets.

Read Next

February 20, 2026
A flurry of BESS project news from big-name players in Western Europe in the run-up to the Energy Storage Summit next week, with Neoen, Statkraft, Zenobē and Infranode moving projects forward in Germany, Ireland, the UK and Denmark. Highlights include a 15-year toll between Drax and Zenobē, and multiple 4-hour duration systems.
February 16, 2026
The UK just saw its biggest year of grid-scale battery storage deployments, but planning barriers “threaten to stall momentum,” according to one expert.
February 11, 2026
Netherlands-based iron-air long-duration energy storage (LDES) startup Ore Energy has completed a grid-connected pilot of its 100-hour iron-air LDES system at EDF Lab les Renardières in France.
Premium
February 11, 2026
Owner-operator Fidra Energy came out of virtually nowhere to be building one of Europe’s largest BESS in the UK, the 1.4GW/3.1GWh Thorpe Marsh project. We catch up with CEO Chris Elder, about its strategy and projects but also broader BESS and clean energy financing trends.
February 10, 2026
Energy infrastructure platform Revera Energy has completed an expanded US$150 million credit facility to accelerate development and construction of its battery storage, solar, and green hydrogen project pipeline across Australia and the UK.