In the UK, a new, quarter of a billion-pound innovation competition for batteries has been launched, while plans for overhaul of the energy sector promising a “determined, joined-up, far-sighted and deliberate approach from government” appear to have been met with relish by the industry. Consultant Robert Ede goes beyond headlines to look at what this might really mean in practical terms.

Residential battery storage has won a partial victory after the UK government agreed to a tax break for battery systems, but only if they are supplied and installed alongside solar panels.

Primus Power, a flow battery maker which claims its systems can cost less than half the price of lithium-ion energy storage over its lifetime, is establishing manufacturing lines in China.

Trina BESS, the battery energy storage company originally launched alongside Chinese PV giant Trina Solar but now run as an entity in its own right, sold 1,000 residential units in the first half of this year.

Tesla’s senior director of battery technology since 2006 has quit the company seeking pastures new, a company spokeswoman confirmed this morning.

Scandinavian furniture giant IKEA has added home battery storage solutions to its line-up of clean energy products, it can be revealed.

The financial services arm of engineering giant Siemens will be offering no-money-down options for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in the UK to purchase energy storage systems.

BYD has announced a tie-up with the inverter manufacturing division of Kostal, where the former’s latest high voltage energy storage systems will be paired with the latter’s PIKO brand inverters.

Interest in energy storage in the Middle East is ‘ramping up significantly’, as we reported last week in an extract from this interview with IHS Markit analyst Julian Jansen. His firm is forecasting 1.8GW of energy storage for the region by 2025 – from an installed base of next-to-nothing today. Jansen talked us through some of the drivers, market dynamics and the general picture of what we might see developing.

Distribution network operator (DNO) UK Power Networks (UKPN) has launched a new fast-track application process for small scale electricity storage just days after Britain’s government solidified its support for the technology with funding allocations and new regulatory proposals.