After another record-breaking year, in which the US surpassed 1GWh of deployed energy storage and China began its programme of building flow batteries several hundred megawatts in size each, we canvassed opinion on what 2018’s biggest challenges and successes were. In this first part, we look at the challenges faced by the industry in 2018.

In another eventful and exciting year, Energy-Storage.news has been able to capture conversations and interviews with leading industry figures.

Andy Colthorpe spoke with Janice Lin of the California Energy Storage Alliance on what sort of role energy storage will play in reaching the ‘100% carbon-free retail electricity’ goal of the state’s SB100 legislation. This is Part 2 of a feature interview originally included in Solar Media’s quarterly journal PV Tech Power.

Power electronics giant Hitachi has acquired ABB’s power grids business in an US$11 billion (£8.7 billion) deal which cements its position in the energy solutions sector.

The Dutch Development Bank (FMO) and investment firm Symbiotics have announced a US$32.5 million facility to finance ZOLA’s operations within Tanzania over the next five years.

The latest edition of PV Tech Power, Solar Media’s quarterly technical journal for the downstream solar PV industry is now available online, including ‘Storage & Smart Power’, a dedicated section brought to you by the team here at Energy-Storage.news.

News in brief from around the world in energy storage.

Kenya’s government has launched a plan for total electrification in the country by 2022, which acknowledges the role that off-grid systems, mini-grids and stand-alone solar plants can have in complementing extensions to the grid and mitigating higher loads.

BIRD Energy, a foundation jointly created by the US Department of Energy (DoE) and Israel’s Ministry of Energy (MoE) will invest around half the amount required to fund US$12 million of solar, storage, energy efficiency and microgrid projects in Israel.

The economics of rural electrification using microgrids should be considered an investment for the future, akin to how Silicon Valley tech providers plough money into initially loss-leading products and services, the chief of developer and manufacturer Solar Philippines has said.