Major US utility company Duke Energy has announced the first grid-scale battery energy storage project to be built in the service territory of Duke Carolinas, in Anderson County, South Carolina.

Once again, lithium-ion battery-based solutions have been selected for projects that will “improve overall reliability” of electricity supplies, to enhance the grid and make it more efficient, while also providing backup in case of outages.

North Carolina-headquartered utility Duke Energy has agreed to sell a minority stake in a roughly 1.2GW portion of its renewable energy portfolio for US$1.25 billion.

As part of Duke Energy’s efforts to advance battery storage technology within the Carolinas, the company announced US$500 million in projects over the next 15 years within both US states.

German-American system integrator and technology provider Younicos has completed a two-phase operation to upgrade a lead acid energy storage system for lithium batteries, at the 36MW Notrees facility in Texas.

Duke Energy is planning to develop and install battery storage materials and PV panels that will serve as part of a microgrid system at the Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury in Johnson County, Indiana.

Duke Energy announced plans to install North Carolina’s two largest battery storage systems — which stands as a US$30 million investment as part of Duke Energy’s Western Carolinas Modernisation Plan.

News in brief from this week in energy storage around the world.

Utility and network needs are rapidly changing and some are adopting both batteries and ultracapacitors to meet these needs. David Lentsch of Maxwell Technologies looks at some of the various approaches.

US-based power firm Duke Energy plans to increase the energy storage capacity of its Bad Creek pumped storage hydroelectric station by 200MW between the years 2021 and 2024.