Two startups seeking to disrupt the energy sector with novel long-duration energy storage technologies have formed partnerships with established industry players.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said the state is “exploring every resource available as a potential tool to address climate change,” as funding was announced for long-duration energy storage technologies along with investigation on the role of green hydrogen in decarbonisation.

Germany-headquartered multi-national renewable energy project developer Baywa r.e. has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for a utility-scale solar-plus-storage project in California with San Diego Community Power (SDCP).

Talen Energy, a US independent power producer (IPP) with a 13GW portfolio of generation assets, has contracted energy storage developer Key Capture Energy to install a battery storage system at the site of a coal power plant in Maryland.

NASDAQ-listed zinc-based electrochemical battery storage provider Eos Energy Enterprises has said that a subsidiary of Koch Industries has committed to investing US$100 million into the company.

The cooling of commercial and industrial (C&I) buildings accounts for a significant percentage of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), but can instead be turned into “powerful energy assets.”

Residential energy storage system provider Eguana will begin deploying devices to operate as a connected virtual power plant on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

This edition of news in brief focuses on recent acquisitions of three US developers of solar and storage projects, taken from the pages of our sister site PV Tech.

Texas’ ERCOT market has been one of the US’ fastest-growing regions for renewable energy, but recent weather-driven events have made it clear that more needs to be done to ensure electricity system reliability. The answers are already here, affordable and practical, argues Wayne Muncaster, vice-president at commercial demand response platform technology group GridBeyond.

SK Innovation has established a partnership with US energy storage system integration solutions and services company IHI Terrasun Solutions that could see the South Korean manufacturer’s lithium-ion batteries used in Terrasun projects from 2022.