European Commission vice president for energy, Marcos Sefcovic has referred to an EU action plan for ‘green batteries’ to be made in Europe, citing the technology as vital for renewable energy integration as well as giving the continent a ‘competitive edge’.

This week the editorial teams of Solar Media’s international brands, PV Tech and Energy-Storage.news, will be among those travelling to Munich for the Intersolar Europe trade show, which once again includes the electrical energy storage Europe (ees Europe) event.

First developed by NASA, flow batteries are a potential answer to storing solar – and wind – for eight to 10 hours, far beyond what is commonly achieved today with lithium-ion. In the first of a two-part special report, Andy Colthorpe learns what the flow battery industry faces in the fight for commercialisation.

A new study has found that the UK could meet its growing power needs predominantly with solar and wind energy, with battery storage and demand response providing flexibility.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has offered to transfer its lithium-ion cell technology to Indian companies to support them in establishing lithium-ion cell production facilities in India.

An Indian clean energy firm hopes to bring down the cost of lithium-ion cell manufacturing below INR15,000/kWh (US$222) by setting up a facility in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Xcel Energy has filed a plan which would retire two coal plants, add significant capacities of renewables and gas – and deploy 275MW specifically in combination with PV.

UK demand response aggregator Kiwi Power has completed its latest behind-the-meter battery installation at a manufacturing site in Plymouth as the company continues to target the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector with similar projects.

California investor-owned utility (IOU) San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has contracted companies including RES, AMS and Enel Green Power to execute five energy storage projects totalling 85MW / 334MWh in its service area.

Advisory and certification house DNV GL is supporting Turkish plans to source 30% of total electricity generated in the country from renewable sources, carrying out a feasibility study for combinations of solar PV and energy storage.