It is sometimes said that as of today there is no business case which delivers economic viability for decentralised residential battery storage systems owned by private end customers- without subsidy programmes- or they propose other solutions which offer higher benefits. Despite the discussion, the market already offers a variety of storage solutions which seem to be well accepted by the end-customer. Volker Wachenfeld of SMA explains the contrast.

EOS Energy Storage has placed an order totalling more than 1MW from NASDAQ-listed power converter specialist Ideal Power, while both companies have launched new products since the start of the year.

Another large-scale project to test the grid-stabilising capabilities of battery-based energy storage systems will be launched at a solar farm in England, led by the National Grid, which is responsible for the UK’s electrical transmission network infrastructure.

Mining giant Glencore has taken delivery of a lithium-ion energy storage system at a nickel mining complex in Canada, to be used to lower diesel costs and integrate power from wind turbines.

E.ON, the German utility giant with 61GW of generation assets, has announced plans to split its business in two. The company will stake its future on renewables in a major restructuring, spinning off its conventional power generation business, in part as a response to the growth in distributed generation. Cosmin Laslau of Lux Research digs deeper.

Bosch, BMW and Swedish state-owned power company Vattenfall have begun the latest attempt to harness the potential of batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) to provide stability to electrical grid infrastructure.

Chilean authorities have received plans for an ambitious 600MW PV plant project which could be connected to a 300MW pumped hydro energy storage plant, from developer Valhalla Energy.

Energy security is a growing concern for economies across the world with electricity outages currently costing economies billions of dollars annually, driving electricity prices up. The US experienced nearly 700 power outages caused by severe weather between 2003 and 2012, costing the country up to US$70 billion annually.

The failure of a grid-connected storage system at a solar farm in Hawaii is part of the learning process the US island state is undergoing to integrate more PV using storage, according to analyst Dean Frankel at Lux Research.

A UK auction held to provide the nation with energy security, has failed to deliver the boost to energy storage that a top government minister had hinted would be the case, according to a number of commentators and industry figures.