News in brief from around the world in energy storage.

Industry commentators have expressed shock and surprise that NEC Corporation’s Energy Solutions business has been wound down, while an analyst said the reasons for the energy storage system integrator’s demise are likely to go back further than the COVID-19 pandemic.

Itochu, a major Japanese corporation which has sold over 330MWh of residential battery storage systems in its home market, has invested ¥1 billion (US$9.35 million) in TRENDE, a renewable energy retailer which counts utility company Tokyo Electric Power among its major shareholders, with a view to launching a range of renewable energy and storage-enabled services.

US residential solar installer Sunrun is deploying aggregated rooftop solar-plus-batteries in partnership with utility Southern California Edison (SCE), in a demonstration project of the systems’ capabilities to run as a virtual power plant (VPP).

A new service from Photovoltaik Institut Berlin (PI Berlin) looks to solve a pitfall that often awaits solar industry stakeholders when adding energy storage to their projects: making sure the production quality of the batteries they choose meets their requirements.

News in brief from around the world in energy storage.

Energy storage technology provider Fluence has launched its latest systems aimed at three market segments and – according to new CEO Manuel Perez Dubuc – aimed at creating an inflection point in the global transition to low carbon energy.

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).

A project to create performance standards for residential and small-scale commercial battery energy storage systems in Australia has been completed, with project leader DNV GL raising hopes that the rules can inform the global market too.

South Wales is likely to be the location for the UK’s first lithium-ion ‘gigaplant’, as Britishvolt announces plans to combine the site with solar.