Deals to establish manufacturing and supply of energy storage system (ESS) solutions and components closer to where demand is in the North American market have been signed by Powin Energy and KORE Power.
The installed cost of solar PV, solar-plus-storage and standalone battery energy storage in the US was reduced across all market segments between 2020 and 2021, with the biggest drop seen in the utility-scale segment.
A six-year lithium off-take contract signed by LG Energy Solution and supplier Sigma Lithium “signals the importance of securing lithium supply and the importance of ESG,” an industry supply chain expert has said.
The pipeline for utility-scale battery storage in the UK has been continually increasing and is now over 20GW across more than 800 projects. A recent surge in submitted applications for battery storage has led to a record breaking quarterly submitted capacity for Q2’21.
As energy system modernisation and decarbonisation progresses, energy storage could represent between 10% and 25% of India’s total installed power capacity by 2050, while other countries in South Asia including Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan also have “significant opportunities” for energy storage.
Battery storage could play the same role on the grid as a proposed 60MW natural gas and fuel oil peaker plant in Massachusetts and not only result in lower emissions but also in cost savings.
Companies in the battery storage industry raised US$9.6 billion in corporate funding during H1 2021, with European manufacturing startup Northvolt once again the biggest single recipient of venture capital (VC) investment.
There’s still a disconnect between what’s achievable and what is actually being achieved in the drive to decarbonise. Despite a boom in renewable energy generation, Australia’s government line is instead commitment to “a gas-fired recovery”. That commitment is a dangerous one, says Lillian Patterson of the Clean Energy Council.
Eagle Mountain is a large-scale pumped hydro energy storage project under development in California. It’s a win-win project, argues Jeff Harvey, a consultant with over 35 years experience in California and senior environmental scientist for developer NextEra Energy Resources.
