EDF signs PPAs for huge California solar-plus-storage project
Two community energy suppliers in California followed up an agreement to buy power from a large-scale solar-plus-storage farm with another, project developer EDF Renewables has announced.
Articles tagged with: Renewables Integration
Guest blog
Not only when the wind blows: How data centres can manage their energy, whatever the weather
Global shares of renewable energy are increasing, while at the same time data centres become an ever-more important part of our daily lives. Emiliano Cevenini of Vertiv looks at some ways in which renewable energy can combine with UPS and energy storage systems at data centres to offer new possibilities for energy and environmental controls.
Thai power authorities investigate smart grids for renewables integration in remote region
A smart grid pilot will be put into action in the Thai province of Mae Hong Son, to integrate and balance growing shares of renewable energy using battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Japanese sodium-sulfur and lithium batteries used in German grid demonstrator project
A ceremony was held yesterday in Niedersachsen, Germany, to welcome the start of operations at a ‘hybrid’ energy storage plant that will use a combination of sodium-sulfur and lithium-ion batteries to stabilise the grid.
California community groups sign PPAs for Canadian Solar’s 150MW / 180MWh PV-plus-storage project
Two community energy groups in California have partnered to buy the energy output of a 150MW solar farm with 180MWh of battery energy storage from Recurrent Energy, the US-based utility-scale solar project developer subsidiary of Canadian Solar.
Australian state of Victoria inaugurates first grid-scale project through energy storage initiative
A 30MW / 30MWh battery energy storage system has been inaugurated with a ceremony in Victoria, Australia, with one project partner describing the switching-on as “a real watershed moment in the continuing modernisation” of the state’s energy supply.
South Africa makes huge distributed energy storage commitment
South Africa’s state-owned utility Eskom has unveiled its Distributed Battery Storage Programme at an event this week, committing to solar-plus-storage and energy storage projects totalling 1400MWh.
Feature
Editor's blog
Is California Dreaming? Energy storage’s role in reaching 100% renewables
It’s likely a strong indication of the way the world is adopting renewable energy rapidly that just under a month ago, one of the best-established trade shows for solar in the US featured what seemed like almost as much space dedicated to national and international energy storage companies and technologies, as it did for solar.
Lithium batteries simply the cheaper choice for UK businesses’ energy needs
The UK’s government has shied away from supporting large volumes of solar and other distributed energy technologies through subsidies, but commercial and industrial energy storage and solar-plus-storage could be a huge market opportunity in Britain and abroad.
Grid trading, off-peak incentives to spark ‘huge growth’ for home batteries in Britain next year
The rise of grid trading and off-peak tariffs, rather than the closure of the feed-in tariff and potentially the export tariff, will see the domestic storage market experience “huge growth” over 2019 according to SolaX’s European product manager ahead of next week’s Solar & Storage Live conference and exhibition in England.
RES breaks ground on dispatchable PV project that shows a ‘Flexible Path’ for San Antonio
CPS Energy, a utility serving residents of San Antonio, Texas, has just broken ground on the first solar-plus-storage project it will own outright.
Rolls Royce invests in ‘autonomous energy supply’ with strategic stake in microgrid company Qinous
Luxury car brand Rolls Royce, yet to make significant strides towards electrification of its vehicles, has nonetheless made an investment in the clean and distributed energy sectors, acquiring a stake in a microgrid solutions developer.
Feature
Editor's blog
SPI/ESI hits California: energy storage policy, smart controls and backup at the show this week
It’s Solar Power International this week and bigger than ever is its co-located sister show Energy Storage International in Anaheim, California. Here are some of the reasons why we're excited to attend.
Scotland’s first utility-scale battery brought online to deliver sub-second balancing
Scotland’s first utility-scale battery storage facility has been officially opened today, having begun delivering sub-second balancing services to National Grid at the end of June under a bespoke agreement secured before the hotly contested Enhanced Frequency Response (EFR) auction of 2016.
Boost for storage as California rubber stamps zero carbon electricity target
California’s Governor Jerry Brown has passed the state’s 2045 zero-carbon electricity target into law, offering a major boost to the energy storage sector in the process.
Battery storage to compete for up to 140MW in Ireland’s first DS3 auction
Up to 140MW of capacity will be procured under the first ever tender for Ireland’s new frequency response and balancing programme, with projects to go live by September 2021.
Ireland to process 373MW of energy storage under new connections procedure
Over 370MW of energy storage projects, along with 1.25GW of solar, have been successfully moved into the ‘first batch’ of projects to be processed under a new connections procedure, brought in to tackle the surging levels of smaller projects aiming to connect.
RES to put down grid-scale PV-plus-storage marker in ERCOT territory
Known historically for its oil and in the present day for deploying large amounts of wind energy and latterly for deploying batteries at wind farms, the US state of Texas is less well known for solar-plus-storage projects.
Projects under construction in first half of 2018 almost equal China’s total capacity so far
Energy storage projects were under construction across four provinces of China, amounting to 340.5MW of new capacity during the first half of this year in the country, according to the China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA).
P2P household energy trading, C&I storage for brewing beer: Hawaii keeps on going
Following news yesterday of the first grid-scale solar-plus-storage system on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, two more modestly-sized projects show the potential diversity of applications for energy storage in the US state.
Not-for-profit utilities in US pick ‘cost-effective’ grid-scale battery storage
Minnesota electric cooperative Connexus Energy has confirmed recent press reports that it is building 15MW / 30MWh of battery energy storage, while another not-for-profit, Vermont Electric Cooperative, will build a 1.9MW / 5.3MWh system in its service area.
Feature
Editor's blog
Taking smart to the edges of the world - Part 2
Islands around the world provide ideal conditions for trialling new approaches to energy provision. David Pratt reports on how cutting-edge renewable energy, storage and smart grid technologies are being rolled out to geographically isolated communities. Part 2 of this feature article continues with a look at how some of these projects could provide real-time lessons for the global clean energy transition.
Feature
Dentists, clouds and virtual batteries: how to drive Germany’s home storage market forwards
What has driven the recent boom in Germany's household energy storage installation figures? What value do customers expect when adding a storage system to their homes? And more importantly, what are energy storage providers doing to sustain and accelerate growth, which can eventually unlock a true mass market? Florian Mayr of Apricum takes a closer look.
Humble Orkney trial could pave way for ‘no-money-down’ UK battery storage
UK renewable electricity supplier Solo Energy is set to launch a ‘free battery’ business model to UK homeowners after a successful pilot on the remote Scottish islands of Orkney.
Navigant: Energy storage PCS becoming a ‘crowded market’
The market for power conversion systems (PCS) used in energy storage is becoming “increasingly crowded” with competitors, while the diverse field of players will contribute to “rapid technological innovations and price reductions”, Navigant Research has said.
Feature
Interviews
RedT shows off vanadium stack with augmented reality app
As an interactive way to introduce its third generation of stacks, vanadium redox flow storage maker RedT debuted its augmented reality app at Intersolar Europe/ees Europe this year.
NEC ES, NGK deploy storage in new territories in Brazil and Middle East
Lithium and sodium sulfur batteries will be used for the first time in new territories, after NEC ES and NGK inked deals to deliver projects to an island archipelago in Brazil and in Dubai respectively.
Home storage sales rocket as Australia moves towards standardisation
Australia’s energy and environment minister has hailed the country’s accelerating residential energy storage sales as a report has emerged from Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel which says the “financial equation is straightforward” for adding batteries to home PV systems.
Tesla mega-battery reports are wide of mark, say developers of 350MW+ UK solar farm
Cleve Hill Solar Park, the joint venture (JV) of Hive Energy and Wirsol intending to develop a 350MW+ solar farm on the Kent coast of England, has yet to make any decisions regarding the battery storage element of its plans, contrary to media reports.
Feature
Interviews
Trojan Battery: In praise of lead acid for solar-plus-storage
Despite the growing interest and deployment figures for lithium-ion batteries for stationary energy storage, its ‘predecessor’ lead acid still has a strong role to play in enabling more and more people to go solar, a representative of Trojan Battery has argued.