AGL Energy has invested US$20 million in energy storage manufacturer Sunverge, as Australia’s biggest utility set up a fund worth ten times that to help meet its climate change commitments.

The organisation responsible for overseeing California’s bulk electric power system has approved proposals to accommodate more distributed energy resources, including rooftop solar, energy storage, advanced inverters and demand response, onto the state’s grid.

The UK solar industry is moving towards a market led by power purchase agreements (PPAs) and wider use of storage technology in the wake of subsidy cuts.

A new project could make power-to-gas “commercially viable” by exploiting links with the automotive industry, according to Germany’s Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW).

Swiss-headquartered power and automation specialist ABB has been awarded a contract by Baltimore-based utility Constellation, to manufacture seven ENVILINE energy storage systems that store train braking energy using lithium-ion batteries from battery manufacturer Saft America.

Secure financing for energy storage is likely to be the main driver for its deployment, the chief of the UK’s biggest solar developer has said, echoing views given to Energy Storage News by analysis firm Lux Research.

Battery energy storage used on the grid for ancillary services has been gaining momentum ever since the United States changed its frequency regulation markets by introducing a concept known as pay-for-performance. Roger Lin of NEC ES takes a good look at how this space is evolving, as the UK’s National Grid prepares a 200MW tender for enhance frequency response.

News in brief: A battery park in Germany will be capable of restarting the local grid in the event of a blackout, a public square in Haiti will be lit at night with solar energy, and a revived Solarmax will target its new range of storage and inverter solutions at several European markets this year.

The UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is seeking answers from the energy storage industry on how best to define and consider the various technologies, both behind and in front of the meter.

Ireland-based renewable energy and storage firm Gaelectric has formally filed a planning application and environmental impact assessment for its 330MW compressed air energy storage (CAES) project in Northern Ireland.