A fire has taken place at a battery storage project in Queensland, Australia, as it reached the final stages of its commissioning phase.

This year has seen major energy storage deployment plans announced by telecommunications network operators in Finland and Germany, and substantial fundraises by ESS firms targeting the segment.

Battery storage plays an important role in adding resilience to energy networks. But it should also be remembered that natural catastrophes can affect BESS resources too, writes Ross Kiddie of bespoke battery insurance company Altelium.

Suppliers of equipment to two landmark battery storage projects in Western Australia have been awarded contracts worth more than a billion dollars from the state’s government.

Flow battery maker Invinity Energy Systems signed a deal for the newest iteration of its product with Everdura at RE+ in Las Vegas last week.

Fastmarkets analysts Muthu Krishna and Phoebe O’Hara look at the potential of solid-state and sodium-ion batteries to scale up and ease the pressure on lithium-ion NMC and LFP battery chemistries, which currently dominate the EV and ESS markets.

Global system integrator Fluence has been enlisted by developer Tilt Renewables for a 100MW/200MWh BESS project in Victoria, Australia, the first to deploy the full Fluence product ecosystem, it said.

System integrator Wärtsilä has signed an MSA with Eve Energy while peer Powin is targeting 5GWh of US-made BESS equipment in its supply chain by 2025.

Advanced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell design and localising production are among chief strategies for differentiation in the US for LG Energy Solution, according to the company’s ESS division head.

Blackrock-owned developer Akaysha and Japanese conglomerate Itochu have entered into a strategic alliance to develop battery storage projects in Japan.