Another 500MW of energy storage procurement targets have been bestowed onto California’s three main investor-owned utilities by the state’s Public Utilities’ Commission (PUC), on top of an existing 1.325GW mandate.

Distributed energy technologies such as solar and battery-based energy storage could save Australia AU$101 billion (US$75 billion) by 2050 and completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from CSIRO and Energy Networks Australia (ENA).

News in brief from this week in energy storage around the world.

A “first of its kind” collaboration between energy storage provider Sonnen and transmission system operator TenneT will integrate solar and batteries into energy networks in Germany using blockchain technology.

Flow battery maker Primus Power was leader of the charts in VC funding in the first quarter of 2017, securing US$32 million from a range of investors, according to Mercom Capital’s latest report.

Australia-based flow battery provider Redflow has paused deliveries of new batteries after a number of unexpected product mode failures during remote monitoring at customer sites, according to a filing on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Major utility firm E.on has announced its entrance to the UK’s solar and storage market with a new consumer-focused offering.

In the spirit of harnessing clean energy and enhancing grid reliability, Californian utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has signed contracts for 83.5MW of energy storage.

Projects that demonstrate how energy storage can benefit a wide range of stakeholders and the electric grid can compete for US$15.5 million of funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

Work has been completed on a 1MW / 2MWh battery energy storage system for a ‘multi-resource microgrid’ in Denver, by Younicos and its project partners, Panasonic and utility Xcel Energy.