Updated: Spain’s government has approved an energy storage strategy that it says will put the country “at the forefront” of what is being done in Europe and help it move towards its 2050 climate neutrality target.

The results of Spain’s auction last week for 3GW of renewables capacity have been widely welcomed by the country’s solar sector, but calls have been made to tweak future auctions to support smaller-scale projects as well as encourage the participation of bids with energy storage.

Solar PV bidders secured two-thirds of allocated capacity in the first of Spain’s new renewable energy auctions, while energy storage was not included in any of the winning bids.

The first of Spain’s new renewable energy auctions is set to take place next week, as the country offers the possibility for bidders to include energy storage in their offers.

Virginia’s clean energy policies introduced during 2020 included the US’ biggest state-level target for deployment of energy storage – and the state’s regulator has now introduced the rules intended to enable achievement of that target.

In an exclusive first interview for international press since the elections, Energy-Storage.news speaks with CEO Kelly Speakes-Backman about the Energy Storage Association’s hopes, ambitions and policy asks as 2021 begins to come into view.

Find out what’s been going on in the UK energy storage market over the past three years, presented by not-for-profit clean energy expert group Regen at the Virtual Energy Storage Summit which took place online in late September.

The US national Energy Storage Association (ESA) has adopted a goal for the deployment of 100GW of new energy storage using a range of technologies by 2030, updating a previously set 35GW by 2025 target.

The market for grid-connected energy storage will defy the “headwinds” caused by the coronavirus pandemic on industries across the world, analysis firm IHS Markit has predicted.

Australian utility AGL is now inviting tenders to procure battery storage which will help it meet climate and sustainability goals – but the company expects to be economically dependent on coal as well as gas for years to come.