An Arizona scheme to study the use of energy storage and smart inverters in integrating solar to the grid has contracted the deployment of 4MW of AES Energy Storage’s lithium battery systems.

Developers who were successful in winning contracts within last week’s Capacity Market auction have lauded the “crucial role” battery storage is set to play in the future for the national grid.

News in brief: Sunverge launches AC-coupled systems, whether South Australia’s blackouts could have been a different story with batteries, German government approves model region project for renewables, storage and grids.

A programme by utility Con Edison to reduce stress on the electrical grid at low cost to consumers in two districts of New York will get its first microgrid at a low-income housing complex.

Ireland’s first Tesla Powerpack commercial-scale energy storage system has been installed successfully recently, while England’s first was officially opened with a visit from a government minister yesterday.

US energy storage had a fairly quiet period in the third quarter of this year deploying just 16.4MW/31.4MWh but enjoyed a record quarterly sum of US$660 million of corporate investment.

Poor grid flexibility in Indonesia means energy storage could be critical leverage when trying to install solar and wind projects.

SolarPower Europe is calling on the European Commission (EC) to address both solar power and energy storage in its upcoming Energy Union Package. In light of this, the association’s Task Force on solar & storage has created 10 policy priorities that will need to be considered to develop an appropriate framework for those technologies.

The UK’s government department for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) and its regulator, Ofgem, have jointly launched a Call for Evidence on System Flexibility for the country’s power networks, putting storage at the forefront. Anthony Price, head of trade group the Electricity Storage Network spoke to Energy-Storage.News about the document, which gives stakeholders until January to respond.

The US energy regulator has opened a consultation process on the integration of energy storage into a competitive market structure.