Shell expands role in VPP market with acquisition of German operator Next Kraftwerke
Shell Overseas Investments BV has acquired German virtual power plant (VPP) operator Next Kraftwerke, expanding its footprint in the space.
Articles tagged with: Distributed Generation
Home solar batteries in Hawaii to provide capacity, grid services through 80MW virtual power plant
Solar-plus-storage systems at customers’ homes in Hawaii will create a “comprehensive” virtual power plant (VPP) network on three Hawaiian islands of up to 6,000 individual systems.
California project to assess long-duration energy storage technologies awarded US$5m grant
A project which will combine and then assess four different types of non-lithium technologies for long-durations of energy storage has been awarded a grant by the California Energy Commission (CEC).
ROUND-UP: SimpliPhi certified, Stem Inc wins SGIP incentives, Enphase and Sunnova sales tie-up
A round-up of energy storage news in brief; this edition has a distributed, behind-the-meter flavour.
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Guest blog
Understanding interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs)
DERs interconnected with the grid position a utility to better manage peak demand, avoid transmission overloads and keep electricity flowing, but interconnection of battery, solar and other DERs is not without its challenges. Jason Allnutt from IEEE Standards Association discusses a standard that has become an "essential resource" for stakeholders.
Google says batteries are a ‘multi-talented’ option for data centres
Google is investing in battery energy storage to serve as a backup power solution at one of its data centres, in a project described as a first step in changing data centres “from climate change problems to critical components in carbon-free systems”.
Germany’s new draft renewable energy laws are ‘a slap in the face for prosumers’
Germany’s draft renewable energy laws, which the government is seeking to introduce next year, have been heavily criticised by energy storage systems association BVES.
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Guest blog
With solar, batteries and EVs on the rise in the US, why Open Automated Demand Response matters
Balancing the electricity supply system is not a simple task anywhere in the world, especially as more and more distributed energy resources come online. OpenADR can kick in, whenever the grid operator needs to reduce demand to keep the system stable. Aric Saunders of Electriq Power explains.
Fluence acquires energy storage software and AI pioneer Advanced Microgrid Solutions
Energy storage technology provider and system integrator Fluence has acquired Advanced Microgrid Solutions, the California company known for its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven optimisation software platform for energy storage and flexible generation assets.
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Analysis
Solving California’s energy puzzle: Vanadium, artificial intelligence and everything in-between
While redesigning California's energy system will take some time, in the past couple of weeks alone, Energy-Storage.news has become aware of numerous initiatives and projects, both publicly and privately-driven, that are seeking to modernise, add resilience to and lower the emissions of the California grid.
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Analysis
South Africa’s 2GW Risk Mitigation tender and what it means for energy storage, renewables and gas
South Africa’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy is conducting a fairly unique procurement programme for 2GW of energy capacity, to come from a "range of energy source technologies". Clean Horizon head of market analysis, Corentin Baschet, spoke to Andy Colthorpe about what the “almost technology agnostic” tender aims to do and the type of companies and projects likely to be successful in it.
Latest FERC ruling a ‘victory for grid reliability’
Distributed energy resources (DERs) will be able to participate in US wholesale energy markets following a “landmark” new ruling from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
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Analysis
What is Dynamic Containment and what does it mean for battery energy storage in the UK?
The dynamics of balancing electricity supply and demand on the grid have been deeply affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but it's certainly not the only reason why the UK's electricity system operator is introducing a new service called Dynamic Containment. What is it and why is the UK already replacing its firm frequency response (FFR) and other ancillary services?
SonnenBatteries, V2G and EV smart chargers feature in UK’s first ‘combined grid service’ offering
"Intelligent energy platform" company Kaluza is claiming a UK first as it provides one of the country's distribution network operators (DNOs) with flexibility from domestic batteries and transport solutions using one platform.
Staying on-grid: Domestic solar provider Sunrun sees big opportunity in networked services
Lynn Jurich, CEO at major US residential solar installation and leasing company Sunrun has spoken of the big opportunity for aggregated solar-plus-storage systems to provide grid services and in doing so help lower the cost of installations.
UK local authority’s 30MW project will participate in all available flexibility markets
The UKs largest council-owned battery storage site, the 30MW Fideoak Mill site, is now fully operational and able to participate in delivering multiple revenue-generating services.
Subsidy-free ‘landmark’ UK solar-plus-storage site Clayhill changes hands
Anesco, the developer of a subsidy-free solar farm in England which has onsite battery energy storage, has sold the plant on to hybrid solar solutions company GRIDSERVE.
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Analysis
VIDEO: ‘Beyond Lithium’ case studies and Q&A with tech providers
There's a race to develop new technologies - and adapt existing ones - that can either be complementary to lithium batteries, or even compete with them. Representatives from three technology providers offer up some case studies, data, insights and opinions on where they think the market could go.
California utility PG&E breaks ground on 730MWh Moss Landing battery project
California investor-owned utility (IOU) Pacific Gas & Electric has begun work constructing a 182.5MW / 730MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project at a substation in California.
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Analysis
VIDEO: Making a business case for long duration energy storage, with Dr Imre Gyuk, DoE
Long duration energy storage is “essential” to help accelerate renewable deployment, according to the US Department of Energy’s Dr Imre Gyuk, who moderates this panel discussion with Matt Harper from flow battery provider Invinity Energy Systems and Russ Weed from gravity energy storage company ARES.
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Interviews
Kiwi Power: Now’s the time to take ‘decarbonisation-enabling’ VPP platform into North America
Bringing a proven, flexible, virtual power plant (VPP) platform into North America is a step towards “unleashing the potential” of distributed energy, the chief commercial officer of UK-headquartered solutions provider Kiwi Power says.
FERC Order 841: US about to take ‘most important’ step towards clean energy future
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.
SimpliPhi solar-storage VPP helps Louisiana with tentative grid-modernisation steps and backup
A project demonstrating aggregated solar-plus-storage in Louisiana involving energy storage company SimpliPhi Power, technology partner Heila and local utility SWEPCO has started off small, but is “expected to transition into a larger network of distributed systems, soon”.
UK industry says more energy storage is needed, as COVID-19 offers glimpse of low carbon future
Industry voices in the UK have said that electricity market activity during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that the network will become prohibitively expensive and possibly unmanageable without the further rapid deployment of energy storage.
Hawaiian Electric’s tender winners announce another 1,075MWh of battery plans
Another three developers with more than a gigawatt-hour of wins in Hawaiian Electric’s (HECO’s) massive solar-plus-storage and standalone energy storage tenders have gone public with size and location details of their proposed projects.
‘Feasible community-scale decarbonisation’: LA neighbourhood gets blockchain-backed energy solution
With the award of funding from the California Energy Commission, advanced energy hardware and software including solar-plus-storage, blockchain and EV charging stations will help demonstrate the feasibility of decarbonising a disadvantaged community in Los Angeles.
Alberta Utilities Commission approves solar-plus-storage project as ‘in the public interest’
A solar and battery storage project combining 13.5MW of solar PV generation with 8MW / 8MWh of batteries in rural Alberta, Canada, has been approved by the local provincial regulator, the Alberta Utilities Commission.
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Analysis
Safety and efficiency first in solar-plus-storage
Ensuring battery systems used in conjunction with solar perform safely and optimally is essential in the continued roll-out of storage technology. Robert Puto and Gerhard Klein of TÜV SÜD examine independent technical assessments that must be undertaken before a storage system is built.
US regulator FERC to hold technical conference on ‘hybrid resources’ in July
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), is planning to host a technical conference on ‘hybrid resources’ - energy storage paired with generation - in July this year.
Australian states’ solar-plus-storage plans set example that ‘all of country should follow’
Australian state governments of Western Australia and the Northern Territory have budgeted for measures to support renewables in the past few days, primarily through supporting batteries at large-scale, residential and community level.