Gatekeepers of the electric grid – and electricity markets – in the US discuss the primary challenges facing energy storage and reveal what their organisations are doing to unlock the true value of batteries and other storage.

The US’ Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has blocked a request to delay implementation of new market participation rules for energy storage made by the Mid-Continent Independent System Operator (MISO).

Texas’ grid and the idiosyncrasies of its electricity planning system regime made global headlines in February following a harsh winter storm and subsequent blackouts that affected millions of people and businesses for almost an entire week. It may be a unique market with unique characteristics, but what wider role can batteries — and other energy storage technologies — play in assisting the grid to remain stable and prevent a situation like this from happening again?

A round-up of energy storage news in brief; this edition has a distributed, behind-the-meter flavour.

The government of Western Australia has issued a Request for Information (ROI) for parties interested in working on a 100MW / 200MWh battery energy storage project at the site of a decommissioned power station.

Two recent reports, one from credit rating and investment advisory agency Moody’s, the other from technology and tech market analysts Navigant Research, appear to show divergent views on the potential of distributed energy storage, including residential solar-plus-batteries.