60MW of energy storage developed by Fluence and Sembcorp Energy UK has come online, lauded as one of the largest transacted fleets of its kind in Europe.
UK liquid air energy storage (LAES) start-up Highview Power said its first ever 250MWh ‘Cryobattery’ installation will be placed at the site of a decommissioned thermal power plant in the North of England and could be Europe’s largest ‘battery’ system when completed.
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.
NGEN, a developer based in Slovenia, has celebrated the installation of a 22MWh grid-scale battery energy storage system (ESS) supplied by Tesla in what is thought to be the product’s first deployment in the Balkans.
British battery storage system manufacturer Powervault is backing a recent agreement with energy tech platform Kaluza to help expand its reach in its home market.
The UK government has confirmed that energy storage systems will be eligible under the UK’s newly unveiled successor policy aimed at supporting the deployment of residential solar in the wake of feed-in tariff cuts, but only if co-located with a participating renewable energy generator.
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.
