Using energy storage – and often renewables – could see mines, cement companies, data centres and other large industrial operations in emerging markets reduce their electricity costs drastically, the CEO of Greensmith has said.

VC funding for battery energy storage companies in the first half of this year has already exceeded 2016’s total and looks on the way to bettering 2017, with US$539 million raised across 29 deals.

Energy storage can be an extensive value enabler for existing customers of UPS systems, while attracting new commercial and industrial (C&I) users into the space, a spokesman for Vertiv has said.

Oregon-based utility company Portland General Electric intends to spend between US$50 million to100 million on around 39MW of energy storage, company executives have revealed.

Electricity and heat generator and retailer Vattenfall is developing a third party model for energy storage deployment, which will see the Swedish firm deploy batteries alongside UK solar farms.

Britain could be the best “scale-up” market in the world when it comes to deploying energy storage batteries, leaning on years of experience in solar PV, the chief of one manufacturer has said.

A dozen San Diego schools in the Poway district of San Diego, California, have taken energy storage systems from Green Charge, with 6.3MWh cumulative capacity.

German firm talks up its flywheel energy storage system as a solution for wind farms and public transport.

German manufacturer Siemens has been recruited by Italian energy utility Enel to provide battery storage to the small Mediterranean island of Ventotene.

New York City expands its target for solar power capacity, and sets new goal for energy storage, as mayor Bill de Blasio claims capacity from renewables has quadrupled on his watch.