Wärtsilä Corporation’s CEO has said that “activity in the energy storage market held up well” in 2020 despite a difficult year for the company due to prevailing market conditions around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finland has launched a new battery development strategy and is touting for investors to build up its manufacturing industry.

Norwegian state-owned energy company Statkraft is to provide market access and trading optimisation for battery storage assets being developed by RWE in Ireland.

News in brief from around the world in energy storage: this edition has a distinctly British flavour.

Updated: Alamitos, a 100MW / 400MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) has begun operations in southern California, where it will help the state overcome electric system reliability issues as it pursues its goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045.

European member states are to bankroll dozens of projects to create new battery manufacturing solutions.

Mexico’s economy, international competitiveness and quality of power on the electric grid – as well as its environment – could be given a serious boost if battery energy storage systems were given a greater chance to contribute, a developer of projects based in the country has said.

North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for battery storage to manage its electricity costs, with 15-year contracts on the table for the delivery and operation of a turnkey energy storage system.

National Grid ESO, the electricity system operator tasked with keeping the lights on in the UK, is looking to enable multiple application stacking for providers of a new frequency response service that also participate in the national Balancing Mechanism.

Despite the fall in unit prices for energy storage, a total of US$3.6 billion of investment was committed to energy storage projects in 2020, around the same amount as in 2019.