Feature
Editor's blog
What the heck is happening in Britain?
Despite policy uncertainty spanning years, and Brexit looming large, we still hear from the industry that the UK is a key market. Andy Colthorpe takes a closer look.
Articles tagged with: Europe
UK listed fund Gore Street clinches 160MW Ireland portfolio
One of the UK’s first stock exchange-listed energy storage funds has entered into agreements to acquire a 160MW portfolio of battery storage projects in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
BELECTRIC installs storage system for Audi using second-life batteries
The project has been built at the EUREF Campus, a high-tech, low carbon innovation cluster.
Feature
Editor's blog
In pictures: Intersolar Europe / ees Europe 2019
ICYMI: This year's Intersolar Europe was accompanied by the biggest energy storage show to take place at the Munich industry bonanza. For those of you that couldn't be there, or were perhaps too busy with meetings to take in the whole show, here are some pictorial highlights and some quick commentary.
Europe elections: Tech neutral approach, fair conditions among actions urged to boost storage uptake
Timed to coincide with this week’s EU elections, a set of 10 recommendations to “kick start” energy storage has been unveiled by European trade association EASE.
Feature
Smart future for renewables: ees Europe lands in Germany this week
Some of the products and companies we can look forward to seeing showcased this week at ees Europe, as Intersolar Europe's 'companion' show in Munich goes from strength to strength.
Tesvolt claims lead in race to build Europe’s first Gigafactory
The race to build Europe’s first lithium-ion energy storage system ‘Gigafactory’ could be won by Tesvolt, as the German manufacturer announced a “multimillion-euro investment” in production lines this week.
NEC installs Switzerland’s largest battery
The new NEC system installed east of Zürich will be used largely for frequency stabilisation.
Siemens’ Junelight launch: Not about making money from selling batteries
Sales of battery storage units to residential households in Germany are booming, but it’s the value of services the batteries can provide, rather than the hardware itself that offers a long-term economic opportunity, a Siemens representative has said.
Exclusive: Portugal to hold 50-100MW energy storage auction in 2020
Secretary of state João Galamba tells Energy-Storage.news of plans to boost dispatchable renewables as government works to drive a PV surge within a decade.
Feature
Editor's blog
Why UK solar’s export tariff ‘limbo’ is not a call to arms for battery storage
Britain’s feed-in tariff scheme will close in full to new applicants from 31 March 2019 and the end of the present scheme without an explicit next step laid out is troubling for many in the renewable energy industries and those that care about energy security and climate change.
Sonnen: Residential batteries ready to compete with fossil fuels and nuclear in Germany
Batteries in private households will be now able to perform the “same tasks as a conventional power plant”, across the whole of Germany, the CEO of Sonnen has said, following a ruling that opens up grid services markets to the company’s devices.
Nordic region’s largest battery will assist 44MW hydropower plant as it balances the grid
Finland-headquartered clean energy solutions provider Fortum is to deploy the largest battery so far in the Nordic region, a 6.2MWh system at a hydropower plant in Sweden.
Tidal power-plus-Tesla Powerpack provides ‘baseload’ power for the grid off Scotland’s coast
Nova, an Edinburgh-headquartered firm has claimed a world first in pairing Tesla batteries with its own tidal energy turbines in Scotland, supported by government funding.
Industrial pilot for megawatt-scale PV, lithium and flow battery storage completed in Belgium
‘Europe’s largest’ energy storage pilot project at an industrial site, combining 2MWp of rooftop solar with a total of 4.2MWh of energy storage across a lithium-ion battery system and two flow batteries has been inaugurated in Belgium.
End of Europe’s solar trade protection sends wrong signal for energy storage support, warns Total
The European Commission’s decision to end the minimum import price (MIP) on solar imports from China sends the wrong message about Europe’s future support of the battery storage industry, according to a key figure at French power giant, Total.
Wärtsilä/Greensmith energy storage optimises natural gas plant in Hungary
An energy storage system running on Greensmith’s GEMS software platform has been installed at a natural gas generation facility in Hungary, by Greensmith’s parent company Wärtsilä.
‘Smart Energy Islands’ gets underway on Scilly Isles with hopes to replicate the model elsewhere
Battery installations are underway at a European Regional Development Fund-backed project deploying low carbon infrastructure on the Isles of Scilly, in a model that it is hoped could be widely replicated elsewhere.
Feature
Interviews
Europe in focus: behind-the-meter market comes alive
In the second part of our interview with Valts Grintals, analyst at Delta-ee we discuss why behind-the-meter energy storage, including commercial and industrial (C&I) and residential installations, contributed so much to the market’s recent success.
Feature
Interviews
Europe in focus: What drove 2017’s record-breaking deployment figures?
After reporting last week on the findings from EMMES, the European Market Monitor on Energy Storage from Delta-ee and trade association EASE, which demonstrated a big rise in installations by MWh in 2017 across the continent, we delved further behind another record-breaking year with the report’s lead author, Valts Grintals of Delta-ee.
Feature
Guest blog
Like using a hammer to put on your shoes: energy leaders must learn how to use technology
The Internet of Energy is set to provide flexible, sustainable and affordable power for all. But we must not get complacent. Gianluca Mauro, Co-founder and CEO at AI Academy, argues that for this future to be realised, energy leaders need to develop a digital mindset.
Feature
Analysis
‘Silver bullets are for werewolf movies’: Being real about energy storage
Even among high level stakeholders, there are real gaps in education, knowledge and understanding of what energy storage is, and what it can do. We were privileged at last week’s Intersolar Europe/ees Europe shows in Munich, Germany, to be joined by four leading thinkers – and doers – in the energy storage industry, who helped us tackle this difficult question.
Feature
Guest blog
We can’t afford to wait: Energy storage incentives in Europe must be fit for purpose
Only large scale and intelligent energy storage can realistically solve the issue of variable renewable electricity generation. Patrick Clerens, Secretary General at the European Association for Storage of Energy and a member of the advisory board for Electrify Europe, argues that we can make it happen – but only if we get the incentives right.
Pumped hydro and batteries combine at Engie’s new Bavaria project
An inauguration event was held last week to unveil a new battery energy storage system combined with pumped hydro storage in Bavaria, Germany, after multi-national utility Engie completed work on the project.
GTM: Global energy storage market could reach 8.6GW / 21.6GWh by 2022
The US is expected to remain the world’s biggest market for energy storage until 2022, with China its closest rival, GTM Research has said.
EDF’s ‘ESP’ foresees US$10b investment for 10GW of energy storage
EDF has set its sights on becoming a European leader in energy storage after announcing plans to invest €8 billion (~£7 billion) in deploying 10GW of new projects by 2035.
Sector coupling is key to energy storage’s role in Germany’s Energiewende Phase 2
The former head of the German Green Party, Dr Simone Peter, has said that the Energiewende (‘Energy Transition’) is in its second phase, and now requires more ‘sector coupling’ between electricity, heat and transport sectors.
Finland’s smart islands will trial short and long term storage from Pöyry
Consultancy and engineering firm Pöyry has been chosen to operate energy storage systems as part of a ‘cleantech showcase’ project, creating smart energy systems upon a cluster of Finnish islands.
Alfen’s owner Infestos confirms Dutch Euronext IPO
Dutch energy storage system and related technologies provider Alfen has confirmed its IPO and listing on the Amsterdam Euronext stock exchange, first announced in December 2017, will go ahead.
EIB approves US$64.8 million loan to support Northvolt’s European battery project
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a loan request from Northvolt that will see the bank provide a financing facility of up to US$64.8 million to support Northvolt’s pilot demonstration facility.