Another 500MW of energy storage procurement targets have been bestowed onto California’s three main investor-owned utilities by the state’s Public Utilities’ Commission (PUC), on top of an existing 1.325GW mandate.

Distributed energy technologies such as solar and battery-based energy storage could save Australia AU$101 billion (US$75 billion) by 2050 and completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from CSIRO and Energy Networks Australia (ENA).

The second and final instalment in Energy-Storage.News’ blog on the Aliso Canyon energy storage procurement takes a look at some of the most impressive projects in the deployment, as well as what this all means for the future of the industry.

News in brief from this week in energy storage around the world.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is continuing its mission of funding priority development projects in emerging economies, this time by signing two grants that leverage US technology and investment to increase access to affordable, reliable electricity in Kenya.

Flow battery maker Primus Power was leader of the charts in VC funding in the first quarter of 2017, securing US$32 million from a range of investors, according to Mercom Capital’s latest report.

The Department of Energy (DoE) of the Philippines has progressed solar projects with a combined total of 162MW of capacity, along with a 30MW battery energy storage project to grid impact testing (GIS) stages, according to consulting firm Enerdata.

In the first of a two-part blog series on the energy storage response to the infamous Aliso Canyon gas leak in California, Energy-Storage.News sets the scene of how the California Energy Commission and chosen system suppliers got their heads around solving a mammoth power shortage with many, many batteries, in a race against time.

Multinational utility Engie will install a 1MW / 4MWh Eos Energy Storage zinc hybrid cathode battery system in Brazil and is expected to “exercise the system to its operational boundaries”.

In the spirit of harnessing clean energy and enhancing grid reliability, Californian utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has signed contracts for 83.5MW of energy storage.