News in brief from around the world in energy storage: this edition has a distinctly British flavour.

Updated: Alamitos, a 100MW / 400MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) has begun operations in southern California, where it will help the state overcome electric system reliability issues as it pursues its goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045.

Mexico’s economy, international competitiveness and quality of power on the electric grid – as well as its environment – could be given a serious boost if battery energy storage systems were given a greater chance to contribute, a developer of projects based in the country has said.

North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for battery storage to manage its electricity costs, with 15-year contracts on the table for the delivery and operation of a turnkey energy storage system.

National Grid ESO, the electricity system operator tasked with keeping the lights on in the UK, is looking to enable multiple application stacking for providers of a new frequency response service that also participate in the national Balancing Mechanism.

Solar inverter manufacturer Sungrow’s energy storage system (ESS) solution will power a 100MW battery storage project in Texas which is scheduled to go into operation in mid-2021.

The US energy storage industry remained “remarkably resilient” during what most of us have found to be a difficult year – to say the least. Andy Colthorpe speaks with Key Capture Energy’s CEO Jeff Bishop and FlexGen’s COO Alan Grosse – two companies that made 2020 one of growth in their energy storage businesses – to hear what lessons can be learned and why economics rule.

France’s electricity transmission system operator, RTE, is exploring options to reduce congestion on the grid at four strategic locations around the country and could award long-term contracts to battery storage systems that can help.

Renewable Energy Hub has announced the first transactions as part of its new ‘Virtual Storage’ electricity swap contract in Australia..

Vertically-integrated vanadium mining, production and supply company Largo Resources wants to launch its own vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) onto the market within a year-and-a-half, predicting that the technology will play a “critical role” in addressing significant demand for energy storage.