The energy storage market is poised for strong growth over the next decade and opportunities are likely to emerge for alternatives to lithium-ion that offer longer durations of storage, but three key challenges remain for those technologies.
Update 2 March 2021: A Trina Storage representative contacted Energy-Storage.news to highlight that while the company is building out production capacity for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells for stationary energy storage, the major focus of the newly-launched division is on providing full integrated battery energy storage system (BESS) solutions to the renewables and grid storage markets.
Fluence has struck a deal that could showcase new digital capabilities since it took over energy storage artificial intelligence and software provider Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) last year.
A debt financing deal closed by independent power producer (IPP) sPower for a 100MW / 400MWh battery storage project in California demonstrates that significant project finance investment can be achieved for large-scale battery facilities.
Updated 7 January 2020: Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) will supply lithium-ion batteries to energy storage system integrator FlexGen for two large-scale energy storage projects totalling 220MWh in Texas.
Vertically-integrated solar company Q CELLS has completed the acquisition of US-based Growing Energy Labs Inc (Geli) that was announced in August.
The battery storage optimisation and energy trading teams at EDF and Centrica Business Solutions - stalwarts of the UK’s Big Six of utility companies - have won 40MW of new deals to optimise large-scale battery storage systems.
US energy storage safety expert advisory Energy Storage Response Group (ESRG) was created through a meeting of minds from the battery industry and fire service. Andy Colthorpe speaks with ESRG principal Nick Warner and business manager Ryan Franks on what the industry needs to do to win the trust of firefighters, code officials and other stakeholders including banks and insurers.
UK stock exchange-listed energy storage investment fund Gore Street Energy Storage Fund has applied to triple its capacity in the Republic of Ireland, up to a total of 180MW.
The importance of software for the bankability of a project is growing, as the opportunities for energy storage around the United States continues to expand.
The fire unit at global multinational engineering firm Honeywell made its first move into lithium-ion safety in recognition of battery storage’s “huge potential” for decarbonisation and to help the world move “in a more energy efficient way”, the company has said.
PV Evolution Labs (PVEL), has introduced a Product Qualification Programme (PQP) for energy storage, which “identifies and validates battery-based energy storage solutions for specific applications”.
The 10 most popular blogs on Energy-Storage.news during 2019 offer a fairly strong indication of the overall topics leading industry thinking during the year - so without further ado, here they are:
The latest volume of PV Tech Power, Solar Media's quarterly technical journal for the downstream sector, is now available to download free of charge.
The rapid acceleration in energy storage deployment expected over the coming years will require innovation in the quality and safety standards underpinning new battery and associated technologies. VDE’s Jan Geder looks at the technical work underway to ensure the coming storage boom has firm bankability and insurability foundations.
KORE Lithium Technologies Inc (KORE Power), a US headquartered manufacturer of nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery racks for the utility-scale stationary energy storage market, has retained renewable energy investor CohnReznick Capital as its Investment Bank of Record.
A serious incident at an energy storage project that hospitalised four firefighters in Arizona is currently under investigation, with “investigative outcomes” from the utility in question, APS, set to inform the industry’s path forwards.
Pivot Power will collaborate with manufacturer and system integrator redT on what is claimed to be the world’s first grid-scale hybrid battery energy storage project to use a combination of lithium-ion and vanadium technologies.
Energy asset developer and owner Statera Energy has clinched a refinancing deal for its 50MW Pelham utility-scale battery storage plant in England, in a transaction which it says demonstrates both the maturity and “bankability” of the asset class.
It’s been predicted for some time that the redox flow energy storage space will, after some turmoil and rapid consolidation, find success in providing energy storage at durations of more than four hours. This past couple of weeks have been a tale of both turmoil and success.
Some of the “world’s biggest insurance companies” are investigating the advantages of pairing lithium batteries with ultracapacitors in energy storage systems, which can lower costs and extend battery lifetimes, the CEO of an ultracapacitor maker has said.
The CEO of Primus Power agrees that at present, lithium battery systems are more bankable than the flow battery energy storage systems of the type his company makes, but asserted that he believes this will change over time.
Vionx, National Grid and the US Department of Energy have teamed up to install a 3MWh flow battery-based energy storage system in Massachusetts.
Accreditation and certification house DNV GL has just published an updated version of GRIDSTOR, a best and recommended practice guide for stakeholders in the grid-connected energy storage sector.
Dr Matthias Vetter, head of department for electrical energy storage at the testing institute Fraunhofer ISE on educating investors, the prospects for 2nd life batteries and the impact of thermal management on project lifetimes.
Energy storage deployments in emerging markets could grow 40% annually over the next five years, from 2GW today to 80GW, but barriers include the lack of access to low-cost capital, a new report from the International Finance Corporation has found