Developer-investor Hexa Energy Services has inaugurated what is thought to be Japan’s first operational battery storage project with a capacity market contract.

The Michigan Public Service Commission has approved six battery energy storage system (BESS) projects totalling 1,332MW of capacity in the US state.

BESS platform NGEN has started building an 85M/170MWh BESS in Austria, while Foresight Group and the EBRD have invested in development platforms in Germany and Lithuania.

BESS safety issues become all too visible when it’s already too late, but a considered approach through the full lifecycle can mitigate these and many other risks, writes Sunny Rai from Intertek.

In this news roundup, Unigrid, Inlyte Energy, CIUDEN, and Sunamp are advancing non-lithium energy storage technologies worldwide.

Hithium has signed a cooperation agreement for a potential 3GWh of battery storage deployments in the Asia-Pacific region with infrastructure investor Brawn Capital.

Climate Energy Finance’s Tim Buckley argues that geopolitical instability exposes Australia’s oil dependency and positions the country as a safe haven for international renewable energy capital.

Chile continues to be Latin America’s hotspot for energy storage deployments, with a major new deal for Grenergy and Engie bringing a project online in the past week.

European battery storage optimisers Entrix and GridBeyond, have between them raised €55 million (US$63.22 million) in financing from investors.

Form Energy has signed a 12GWh supply agreement in the US for its iron-air batteries with AI data centre infrastructure developer Crusoe.