Funding boost for Australia’s first compressed air energy storage system
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has approved A$6 million of funding for the country’s first compressed air energy storage (CAES) project.
Schneider Electric to perform microgrid expansion at US Marine Corps station
Schneider Electric will perform an expansion of its microgrid project at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar in order to boost grid resilience at the facility.
California clears another hurdle to energy storage net metering
Regulator approves an industry-led roadmap for solar-plus-storage systems to take advantage of net metering.
UK developer Anesco to combine battery divisions in sweeping restructure
UK battery storage developer Anesco has combined its behind- and in front of the meter storage divisions as part of a wider internal restructure which has triggered the loss of 18 jobs.
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.
CATL adds 100MWh battery to ‘China’s largest’ mixed renewables power plant
A 100MWh battery energy storage system has been integrated with 400MW of wind energy, 200MW of PV and 50MW of concentrated PV (CPV) in a huge demonstration project in China.
Italian oil giant acquires Australian solar-plus-storage project
Eni Australia, a subsidiary of Italian oil and gas firm Eni, which has been active in Australia since 2000, has acquired a 33.7MW construction-ready solar-plus-storage project in the Northern Territory of Australia, from Katherine Solar, a joint venture between Australia’s Epuron and UK-based firm Island Green Power.
India plans 14MW of solar with 42MWh of battery storage in Ladakh
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is planning two hybrid projects with a combined total of 14MW solar PV and 42MWh of battery energy storage in Leh and Kargil, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Tesla acquires Maxwell Technologies, rival warns of ‘R&D hell’
Tesla will acquire Maxwell Technologies, it was announced this week, although it is not clear yet which of Maxwell’s product lines, including ultracapacitors, are of most interest to the Silicon Valley automaker and new energy company.
ROUNDUP: Community battery Queensland, Enel joins ESA board, Varta’s grid charge update
News in brief from around the world in energy storage.
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.
California wildfires, bankruptcy create uncertainty over PG&E’s renewables and storage future
Uncertainty persists around the impact bankruptcy proceedings brought about at investor-owned utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) could have on renewables contracts and energy storage projects as it faces “extensive litigation” and “significant liabilities” for California wildfires.
Feature
Guest blog
The smarts inside the storage: Software and analytics can drive economic value
Today, energy storage projects often fail to deliver value because of economic miscalculations. These computational issues, however, can now be mitigated by applying software, analytics and machine learning, write Enrico Ladendorf and Bryce Evans of Pason Power.
LG Chem, Ford sign up to blockchain pilot assessing cobalt supply chains
LG Chem, IBM and Ford Motor Company have joined an effort to increase the transparency of supply chains for cobalt used in batteries - referred to by some as the ‘Blood Diamond’ of the energy and tech sectors.
Canada’s Eguana will set up local manufacturing to join South Australia Home Battery Scheme
Calgary-headquartered Eguana Tech has joined high-profile rivals like Tesla and Sonnen in targeting South Australia’s residential energy storage market, announcing it has become eligible for the state’s incentive programme.
’Huge step forward’ for flexibility: UK’s National Grid adds DERs controls
National Grid, in its capacity as the UK’s Electricity System Operator (ESO), last week launched a new ‘Distributed Resource Desk’ in its control room in a move hailed as a “huge step forward” for electricity flexibility markets.