Habitat Energy has been appointed by Octopus Australia to provide optimisation services for two DC-coupled solar-plus-storage sites.

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has classified foreign-produced power inverters and “advanced robotic devices” as national security threats.

BESS and solar have driven Australia past the halfway mark in NEM renewable penetration, but the technology mix is not yet broad enough.

Thermal energy storage (TES) technology provider Antora Energy has closed a US$550 million Series C funding round to accelerate deployment of its thermal battery storage systems for industrial facilities and data centres in the US.

Environmental services company Veolia has been selected to operate and maintain a 350MW microgrid to power an AI data centre campus in New Albany, Ohio, US, which includes a 430MWh BESS.

Infrastructure and construction company Aecon Group has executed an agreement with Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) for the 150MW/1,200MWh Simcoe energy storage project in Norfolk County, Ontario.

Large data centres should serve as “anchor tenants” for new renewable energy generation, storage, and transmission investment, leveraging the scale and longevity of digital infrastructure commitments to advance energy projects rather than waiting for supply to arrive.

Neoen Australia has commenced construction of a 227MW/907MWh grid-forming battery storage system in South Australia.

In this news roundup, Grenergy, MaxSolar and Saft, and Amarenco have made significant advancements on BESS projects in Spain, Germany, and France.

ESN Premium speaks with Bryen Alperin and Sophie Brkovic of Foss & Company about the tax equity investor’s entrance into microgrids.