A roundup of news from Europe, with Alfen and Sermatec deploying BESS projects in Sweden and Bulgaria and new firm terralyr raising €77 million for project development and operation, starting in Germany.

World leaders attending COP29 next month have been encouraged to sign a pledge to collectively increase global energy storage capacity to 1,500GW by 2030.

Developer and IPP Elevate Renewables will deploy a grid-forming BESS at a fossil fuel peaker plant in Connecticut, US, with US$27.5 million from the Department of Energy (DOE).

Installed battery storage capacity in California has grown from just 500MW in 2018 to more than 13,300MW at the latest count.

US utility Dominion Energy Virginia has outlined options for meeting future power demand, including an additional 12GW of PV and 4.5GW of battery storage.

Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto has signed a decree allowing Italy to proceed with its energy storage capacity market auction, known as MACSE, in the first half of 2025.

The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has awarded 587MW of solar-plus-storage in its latest Innovation Tender.

While there is much more variety in the BESS supply landscape today, there are relatively few suppliers able to offer products for ‘grid-forming, enduring infrastructure assets’, developer and operator Dais Energy’s CEO said.

Three US-based independent power producers (IPPs) are currently seeking permission from the Minnesota PUC to construct new renewable energy facilities incorporating battery storage.

The European Union’s transition to a renewable-energy-powered electricity grid will fail unless it does more to support and promote energy storage, according to the Energy Storage Coalition.