New work from consultancy Atkins shows that alongside a huge step up in solar and wind deployments, the UK needs to install a significant amount of energy storage to achieve its ‘net zero by 2050’ target.

With the recognition that “battery technology holds the key” to a future of cleaner transport and flexible, resilient electricity grids, four key US government departments have jointly established a Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries (FCAB).

Lithium has been added to a list of raw materials deemed essential to secure supply in Europe, for the first time ever, by the European Commission.

Batteries, hydrogen and other energy storage should be a “key topic of energy policy,” in the EU, Members of European Parliament (MEP) that worked together on formulating a report into the role of storage in a decarbonised, fair and secure energy system have said.

South Somerset District Council (SSDC), a local government authority in the UK, is to build its second grid-scale battery storage project, announcing a 40MW facility that will be located near Fareham in Hampshire, southern England.

Thousands of residents of social housing in Adelaide, South Australia, will get Tesla PV panels and battery storage in their homes if they join a virtual power plant (VPP) project run by the state.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has awarded 200MW of renewable energy capacity in a reverse auction, while the state government has emphasised the significant role large-scale batteries that were also handed contracts will play in the region’s transition to cleaner energy.

Reports into the performance of two large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the Australian state of Victoria have been published, showing that both performed as expected, or better, in 12 months of operation.

Guidelines for lithium-ion battery storage system decommissioning and recycling have been launched in the US by the national Energy Storage Association, while associations in European Union territories as well as the US have come together to launch an online information portal on the safe transportation.

The auction was the first of its kind in Portugal that invited companies to lodge bids with a storage component included, with eight of the 12 batches awarded to solar-plus-storage projects.