France-headquartered multinational utility ENGIE has followed up acquisitions in smart energy by incorporating three companies including commercial energy storage provider Green Charge into its parent brand, with the explicit aim of furthering its position in North American markets.

A “hybrid power plant”, controlling the grid for an entire island and its inhabitants, has been created with the addition of a management and control platform from energy storage system integrator Greensmith.

Microsoft is going to be the off-taker of power from a 37MW wind power project in Europe, trialling the use of integrated battery energy storage to trade the energy.

Energy storage services provider Peak Power will supply control platforms to 6MWh of energy storage projects in Ontario and New York, some of which will be funded by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).

Project financing for six large-scale energy storage systems in Germany has been helped along by due diligence provided by testing, certification and knowledge services group TÜV SÜD.

A ‘hybrid’ plant for storing wind energy in batteries has been constructed by infrastructure and energy firm Acciona in Spain, thought to be the first such project in the country.

Finnish power equipment firm Wärtsilä has immediately followed up its launch of hybrid and standalone energy storage systems with the acquisition of system integrator and software specialist Greensmith Energy Management Systems (Greensmith).

Software platforms are emerging as a crucial element in the rapidly expanding energy storage industry. Alex Eller of Navigant Research explains the crucial role software plays in underpinning the value of energy storage systems.

US-based energy storage project developer and software company Demand Energy has been acquired by Italian utility company Enel.

Software for energy storage systems will be a mixture of in-house solutions by integrator/ developers and third-party providers, in an industry segment set for a steep rise in value, according to one expert.