Energy storage developer-operator Aypa Power and utility Salt River Project (SRP) have brought the 250MW/1,000MWh Pediment energy storage project online in Mesa, Arizona.

We chat to Stephan Lehrke, head of Germany at Second Foundation, a Czech Republic-headquartered energy asset trading firm which is becoming an owner-operator of BESS.

Activity in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) continues to accelerate, with two separate c.600MWh projects completed in Bulgaria by Solarpro & CATL and Sunotec and Sungrow, plus around 800MWh of capacity progressed across Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland.

Neoen Australia has signed virtual battery agreements with energy retailers Nectr and SmartestEnergy for Stages 2 and 3 of the Western Downs Battery in Queensland.

Wärtsilä spinning out its energy storage activities and divesting a 50% stake this week reflects difficulties in making the business profitable and synergistic within the wider group activities, analysts said.

Octopus Energy Generation has partnered with ZE Energy to invest in and build one of Italy’s biggest BESS projects, while Eco Stor has secured financing for one of Germany’s, which it is already building. Optimiser Entrix has also won two large contracts in Germany and the Netherlands.

SECI is inviting bids for 4,800MWh of firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) capacity supported by co-located energy storage.

Around 4.9GW/14.6GWh of large-scale BESS came online in May, with a much more balanced regional breakdown than usual.

Developers of battery storage projects across Southeast Asia must heed lessons learned elsewhere and engage with key stakeholders as early as possible, Energy-Storage.news has heard.

Energy Dome is advancing a 10-hour CO2 Battery project in Arizona, with SRP and Google, while Invinity announces the sale of North America’s largest VRFB, in California.