The US state of Minnesota has passed a package of incentives for solar, energy storage, microgrids and energy resiliency totalling US$80 million.

Energy optimisation software provider Peak Power has received US$35 million investment, while startup Financial Machines has launched its own platform, with both targeting the US energy storage market.

Electric ‘supercar’ firm Rimac is bringing “leading expertise in extracting maximal performance” from battery cells to its new energy storage division, which will also consider non-lithium technology, it told Energy-Storage.news.

Developer BlueWave talked Energy-Storage.news through the opportunities for energy storage in ISO New England (ISO-NE), one of only a few markets where ancillary services are not part of the long-term value stack.

BMW has partnered with a California utility to test out vehicle-to-X technologies, while fellow carmaker Volvo has invested in a bi-directional charging solutions provider.

Masdar has signed a joint development agreement (JDA) with the Uzbekistan government to develop more than 2GW of solar and wind projects.

Japan’s Marubeni Corporation working with Vietnamese battery and energy-as-a-service provider VinES to develop energy storage facilities.

Another serving of news in brief from around the world in energy storage.

A tender will open in a few days’ time under NSW’s electricity system roadmap through which 550MW of long-duration storage could be procured.

Switzerland-based renewable energy firm Axpo has acquired its second energy storage development in Sweden, a co-located project with 25MW of energy storage.