A City of London investment bank has said it agrees that Swiss energy storage maker and integrator Leclanché will reach profitability, but expects it to take a year longer than the company itself has predicted.

Regulations for the safe use of energy storage systems still need adaptation to “accommodate a broader use of energy storage with higher energy content like lithium-ion batteries in private homes”, experts at Fraunhofer ISE (Institute for Solar Energy Systems) have said.

One of the distribution network operators (DNOs) tasked with maintaining security of electricity supply into British homes is launching a tender for flexibility services that include energy storage.

Europe’s ‘first commercial battery park’, a 5MWh lithium-ion battery system that was recently tripled in size to 15MWh, has been used to successfully restart a disconnected power grid in Germany.

British investment trust, The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), has become the latest investor to enter the large scale energy storage market after buying a 20MW project from RES for £20 million (US$25.9 million).

Tenders for solar-plus-storage projects on French island territories including Corsica, Guadeloupe and Martinique have resulted in winning bids often 40% lower than the victors of previous reverse auctions.

In the past month we have heard a lot about the future of storage in the UK. From plans by the government and regulator to enable greater flexibility across electricity networks to changes to technical rules governing the market, there’s been a sense that a great deal is changing. Analyst Lauren Cook of Solar Media’s in-house market research team takes a look at the utility-scale pipeline figures behind the headlines.

Pierre-Pascal Urbon, CEO of solar inverter manufacturer SMA, has said that the company is anticipating medium-term “exponential growth” in the energy storage market, reporting a “positive performance” in storage-related sales.

The UK’s Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has published its long-awaited Code of Practice for Electrical Energy Storage Systems, filling what has been described as a vacuum of clear guidance for installers and their customers.

Nidec ASI will be installing 5MW / 5MWh of battery energy storage at a utility-scale wind farm on the French island territory of Martinique, aimed at stabilising and maximising the flow of energy onto the grid.