New Jersey is the latest US state to set itself targets for the deployment of energy storage, with newly passed legislation calling for 600MW of the technology within three years.

Edify Energy and Wirsol Energy have connected the 60MW Gannawarra Solar Farm in northwest Victoria to the grid, with a storage retrofit expected before the summer.

India-based EPC firm Sterling and Wilson has forayed into hybrid power plants and energy storage solutions and is already in advanced discussions for its first such projects in Africa and Europe.

UPDATE: Major Indian solar EPC firm Mahindra Susten has put in the lowest bid for a solar and energy storage auction in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the second time, having seen its victory in the original auction torn away by authorities as they reportedly explored other sources of power generation.

Eelpower, a UK-based developer which has executed renewables and cleantech projects including hydroelectric-plus-storage, has secured a £20 million (US$28.5 million) investment from investment trust Gravis Capital Management to build out its pipeline of permitted energy storage sites and pursue new development opportunities.

Bulgana Green Energy Hub, a renewable energy project powering commercial crop farms in Victoria, Australia, including large-scale wind and battery energy storage, will be designed and constructed by Siemens Gamesa.

In short, energy storage technology is set to revolutionise our society, EVs and beyond, with power companies among the most affected – whether they like it or not. The sector needs to wake up to this and decide what it is going to do about it. Education could provide the wake-up call that power professionals need, says Bo Normark of InnoEnergy.

The US is expected to remain the world’s biggest market for energy storage until 2022, with China its closest rival, GTM Research has said.

PV inverter manufacturer Sungrow and energy storage system integrator / software specialist Greensmith are working on the first community solar-plus-storage project to be delivered in the US state of Massachusetts.

Oil and gas giant British Petroleum has partnered with Tesla to install a storage battery at one of its subsidiaries’ wind farms in South Dakota, US, as part of a pilot program which could see the firm further embrace battery storage.