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News in brief from around the world in energy storage.
Articles tagged with: Microgrid
UL acquires microgrid software specialist HOMER Energy
HOMER Energy announced that it has been bought by global safety certification company UL, following the completion of the aquisition on 16 December.
California deserves better than ‘draconian’ wildfire shutoffs, SimpliPhi CEO says
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.
Challenges of financing and low renewables still plague energy storage in emerging markets
Concerns around financing ran throughout the Climate Investment (CIF) Funds Energy Storage in Emerging Markets: The Next Frontier event.
Guam awards ENGIE 50MWp solar project with 300MWh of storage attached
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.
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Interviews
SPONSORED: The ‘new animals’ of the grid: why energy optimization is your best investment
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.
Africa’s ‘largest off-grid solar hybrid’ goes online at Nigerian University BUK
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 plans for life after ‘uneconomical’ coal
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.
Nigeria’s VP hails power of solar universities to decommission ‘hundreds of generators’
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.
100MWh ASEAN ‘pathfinder’ project for Wärtsilä
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”.
Tough to build a software-only ESS business, battery system integrators argue
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.
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Interviews
Off-grid tech: Economically combining low-cost solar and batteries with Aggreko
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.
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Guest blog
Hybrid theory, in practice: energy storage as key to Australia’s energy ‘revolution’
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...
World Bank: Cost declines in solar-plus-storage could see 490 million relying on microgrids by 2030
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 completes 8MWh battery storage system at US Marine Corps Recruit Depot
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.
Salmon fishing in Alaska gets a battery-powered renewable boost
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’s new global partnership to ‘adapt and develop’ energy storage for emerging economies
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.
Space the latest frontier for flow batteries
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.
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Guest blog
‘Leapfrogging’ the grid: Hybrid lithium-flow in action at a remote Thai village microgrid
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.
New DoE framework puts energy storage at heart of Philippines’ energy reforms
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.
Tesla batteries reach Eritrean villages in SolarCentury’s minigrids
UK company Solarcentury has commissioned two solar-storage-diesel mini-grids in rural communities in Eritrea that are far away from the grid and have relied purely on diesel power until now.
2.3MWh battery saves 300 litres of diesel an hour on Dutch Caribbean island
Saba Electric Company, sole supplier of electricity to the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba, celebrated as the island ran on 100% solar for the first time ever this month, with the switch-on of a solar-plus-storage microgrid.
More microgrids reach Australia
Perth-based Hybrid Systems and BayWa r.e. have reaped the lion’s share of the first round of a programme to roll out 'standalone power systems' (SPS) across Western Australia.
Australian gold mine will rent ‘storage-as-a-service’ to power operations
A megawatt-scale energy storage system will be rented out to power a gold mine in Western Australia by Aggreko, the mobile power solutions company which bought up energy storage provider Younicos last year.
ABB accesses SUSI’s €100m Energy Storage Fund following Ability power suite launch
A €100 million (US$114.44 million) fund will be used to develop and deploy microgrid and energy storage projects by engineering and automation firm ABB, which has recently launched a new line of solutions in those areas.
ESS to increase reliability, lower cost of energy on Caribbean island Bonaire
A 6MW / 6MWh containerised energy storage system will help provide power to all 19,000 inhabitants of a tiny Caribbean island, installed by Wartsila, via its recently-acquired energy storage system integrator subsidiary Greensmith.
Microgrid aims to help oil major Shell accelerate distributed energy solutions
Infrastructure development and engineering company Black & Veatch has just completed a microgrid project in the US for Shell which is set to help inform the oil and gas company on its next steps into distributed energy.
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Guest blog
Energy storage in India: A ‘year of action’ lies ahead of us
We asked Dr Rahul Walawalkar, executive director of the India Energy Storage Alliance, three simple questions to illuminate what was achieved in 2018 and what held the market back, if anything. We also look ahead to this year and what we might expect to see going forward.
Ohio trucking terminal gets wind-solar-storage microgrid from EnSync
A trucking terminal in Ohio, US, will play host to a microgrid that incorporates around half a megawatt of wind and solar generation combined with battery energy storage from distributed energy technology company EnSync.
US-Israel gov’ts invest in US$12m of solar, storage, microgrids and efficiency innovations
BIRD Energy, a foundation jointly created by the US Department of Energy (DoE) and Israel’s Ministry of Energy (MoE) will invest around half the amount required to fund US$12 million of solar, storage, energy efficiency and microgrid projects in Israel.