With the continuing threat of wildfires in California, the state’s regulator has approved a plan to deploy distributed microgrids proposed by investor-owned utility (IOU) Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).
QCELLS has invested AU$5 million (US$3.45 million) in SwitchDin, an Australian distributed energy resources (DERs) software company that offers capabilities including virtual power plant aggregation and microgrid-forming.
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.
Microgrids can offer a resilient and secure alternative for both rural and city communities. Molly Lempriere looks at some of the microgrids around the world that are transforming the way neighbourhoods produce and consume electricity.
Mini-grids offer a quick route to electrification in parts of the world where grid extensions are unfeasible. Baptiste Possémé looks at the some of the technological and regulatory trends influencing the deployment of mini-grids in Africa and Asia.
Government representatives from the Kingdom of Jordan in the Middle East have confirmed that tendering for a 30MW / 60MWh energy storage system has been cancelled.
Powin Energy has launched a set of three battery storage system products using CATL’s large form factor lithium-ion cells, including a system solution capable of 4+ hour duration and backed by a 20-year warranty.
SimpliPhi Power closed down its manufacturing operations briefly due to the COVID-19 pandemic last week before reopening this week, having made adjustments to try and ensure the safety of workers.
Microgrid and energy storage project technology provider ENGIE EPS has said it cannot commit to a 2020 earnings target, although 2019 revenues showed a 29% increase on the previous year.
Large wind turbines have blades that need to be angled correctly to capture the optimum generation opportunity, and ultracapacitor maker Skeleton Technologies believes it has developed the answer.
News in brief from around the world in energy storage.
HOMER Energy announced that it has been bought by global safety certification company UL, following the completion of the aquisition on 16 December.
Power shut-offs affecting millions in California, enacted by utilities Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison to prevent wildfires and their spreading, are a “draconian” measure and don’t address the real problems, SimpliPhi Power CEO Catherine Von Burg has said.
Concerns around financing ran throughout the Climate Investment (CIF) Funds Energy Storage in Emerging Markets: The Next Frontier event.
Engie has been hired by Guam’s state electricity utility to build two solar-plus-storage plants with a combined capacity of 50MWp/300MWh on the Micronesian island.
A new white paper from Wärtsilä Energy shows that being able to integrate and then optimise all of these different assets is the key to ensuring that your project - and your investment - is going to provide the maximum benefit, longest possible lifetime in the field - and the best business case. Risto Paldanius, Director of Business Development, Energy Storage and Integration at Wärtsilä told us a bit more about what optimization really means in today’s energy market.
The latest project to be switched on in Nigeria’s solar electrification programme for universities is also thought to be the largest ‘hybrid’ plant of its kind on the African continent so far, inaugurated this week at Bayero University Kano (BUK).
North Carolina’s draft Clean Energy Plan was published last week, including the retirement of 4GW of coal and putting in place measures to drive renewable energy and EV adoption in the US state.
Federal universities in Nigeria have welcomed the commissioning of the first megawatt-scale solar hybrid project that will reduce dependence on fossil fuels and the grid and are expected to be rolled out at every such institution in the country.
Wärtsilä remains tight-lipped on the exact location of a hybrid power plant including 100MW / 100MWh energy storage in Southeast Asia which will “leverage abundant wind and solar resources”.
While software has been described by many as the single most important aspect of how an energy networks integrates, manages and then uses energy storage, two industry heavyweights have said that selling software licensing alone was not a viable business model for them.
VIDEO: Using solar and batteries to replace diesel and other fossil fuels at off-grid industrial sites is both a viable business model and a way to "inject" solar into the global energy mix in a smart – and economical way, MD Karim Wazni says.
Australia may be one of the leading major economies in terms of renewable deployments, but it’s woefully underprepared at a network level to actually make the transition...
Plummeting solar-plus-storage costs could help electrify millions worldwide by facilitating a ten-fold explosion of mini-grid systems, a new report from the World Bank has said.
Ameresco has completed the construction of a comprehensive energy resiliency and energy infrastructure project at the United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) Parris Island, South Carolina.
Cordova, Alaska, is isolated from the grid, but fortunate to be blessed with hydropower resources - and now a 1MWh battery storage system will help this coastal Arctic community increase its self-reliance in a “harsh and unforgiving climate”.
World Bank Group has set up a “global international partnership” to support the deployment of energy storage in developing countries, just a few months after committing a US$1 billion sum to the sector.
Following announcements from various manufacturers of deployments and partnerships in new territories, the latest wave of flow battery news includes an agreement that could put batteries in space for mission critical applications at the likes of NASA and the International Space Station.
While energy storage, like the electrification of transport, is often discussed as the ‘Next Big Thing’ for first world economies, this emerging technology is starting to play an important role in developing nations too.
Questions around who should own, operate and ultimately benefit from the deployment of energy storage systems could soon be resolved in the Philippines after the government Department of Energy issued a set of draft guidelines.