By the middle of the 2020s, using hybrid ‘portfolios’ of batteries and renewable energy sources will economically outperform existing gas power plants, while the combination of technologies is already cost-competitive with building new gas plants, a new report from the US-based Rocky Mountain Institute has said.

Solar Media’s Liam Stoker and Andy Colthorpe are back for episode three of the Solar Media Podcast after what’s been a bumper month for energy storage.

Advanced battery technology company Saft has executed its first projects in Australia, installing around 2MWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) at 13 sites in Queensland.

The rapid acceleration in energy storage deployment expected over the coming years will require innovation in the quality and safety standards underpinning new battery and associated technologies. VDE’s Jan Geder looks at the technical work underway to ensure the coming storage boom has firm bankability and insurability foundations.

The Nobel Foundation recognised not only the role of lightweight, portable battery technology for mobile phones, laptops and latterly electric vehicles, but also that it “can also store significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society”.

Batteries are increasingly widely used in grid balancing, but there are many more applications where a battery can play an important role. With electric grids requiring periodic maintenance, batteries can stand in for the grid during downtime in order to reduce the impact on industry and households, writes Dieter Castelein.

Updated: Germany-headquartered renewables developer Baywa r.e. will deploy a solar-plus-storage solution for a goldmine in Mali that will include 13.5MWh of battery storage and reduce the mine’s dependence on heavy fuel oil during the daytime.

Distributed renewables and energy storage are now the cheapest form of baseload power and if Western Australia’s remote areas can benefit from that, we can all benefit, argues David Martin, founder of energy trading platform provider Power Ledger.

New technologies and designs aimed at driving down the cost of energy storage facilities are currently the focus of intense industry R&D. Sara Verbruggen reports on DC coupling, an emerging system architecture that many believe will soon become the industry standard.

Engie has been hired by Guam’s state electricity utility to build two solar-plus-storage plants with a combined capacity of 50MWp/300MWh on the Micronesian island.