As society moves away from centralised fossil fuel generators to increasing shares of distributed renewable energy resources, the idea that customers’ homes could become host to virtual power plants (VPPs), joining the dots between electricity supply and demand across the grid, has gradually gathered traction. Andy Colthorpe speaks with Suleman Khan CEO of Swell Energy, which has raised nearly half a billion dollars in financing for solar-plus-storage VPPs in 14,000 homes across California, New York and Hawaii.
For the US to thrive while achieving its decarbonisation goals, it needs a robust clean energy economy, creating well-paid jobs and a strong trajectory for technical innovation, argues Philip Brennan, CEO of Echogen, an Ohio-based provider of waste-heat recovery systems and electro-thermal energy storage solutions.
Battery storage can be a significantly cheaper and more effective technology than natural gas in providing peaking capacity, according to a new study released by the Clean Energy Council, the industry group which represents Australia’s clean energy sector.
A zinc-air energy storage system (ZESS) offering 10 hours of storage is being trialled in a New York Power Authority (NYPA) project, while a US Department of Defense-funded investigation into flow batteries has moved into a physical validation and evaluation phase in Colorado.
US power generation holding company Vistra has renewed its call for legislation designed to assist the transition from coal to renewable energy in the US state of Illinois.
Having previously said that the coronavirus pandemic had badly impacted its financial performance during 2020, a rebound is expected this year and next, ENGIE EPS, the energy storage and e-mobility subsidiary of European utility ENGIE has said.
A 100MW battery energy storage system just announced in the UK by battery storage developer, owner and operator Zenobe Energy is the first such system to win a long-term contract from the country’s transmission system operator to directly absorb reactive power from the transmission network.
Fluence will deploy Lithuania’s first grid-scale battery project, aiming to prove the advantages of using batteries as an alternative to building out expensive transmission infrastructure.
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund, one of two stock exchange-listed investment funds in the UK dedicated to energy storage, is proposing a new issue of ordinary shares at 102 pence (US$1.41) per share to raise further capital for its development pipeline of 1.3GW.
Software is rapidly becoming recognised as key to the value proposition and bankability of energy storage, which in turn lies at the heart of the energy transition. Andy Colthorpe speaks to three providers of software aimed at the energy storage industry.
