Saft wins Saudi project deal
27 October 2015: Battery manufacturer Saft will install an energy storage system for a new innovation centre being built by major Saudi industrial SABIC. The company will provide 48 batteries with a peak power of 20kW and a capacity of 187kWh. They will be used to smooth the output of the building’s installed PV. Xavier Delacroix, GM at Saft’s Industrial battery Group said energy storage was vital “to help the Middle East region make the transition from its reliance on fossil fuels”.
Image credit: Saft
New storage caucus launched in US congress
27 October 2015: A new Battery Energy Storage Caucus has been launched by a Democrat and Republican US Representatives. Chris Collins (R-NY) and Mark Takano (D-CA) hope to brief Congress on the role of energy storage in reinforcing the US grid and making it “affordable, and sustainable”. "Energy storage is modernising the grid and enabling new economic possibilities, saving businesses and consumers money," said Rep. Takano.
Swiss college installs 500kWh PV-tied battery
28 October 2015: Swiss battery producer Leclanche has installed a system at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). The 500kWh titanate lithium-ion battery was developed in conjunction with EPFL and is based on the college’s grounds. It is connected to a PV plant owned by utility Romande Energie with results from the install to be used as part of EPFL’s smart grid research.
Battery system at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) .