With batteries today finally reaching the size and capacity that enables renewables to replace medium-sized natural gas generators, a future ruled by solar and storage is just around the corner, writes Radoslav Stompf, CEO of FUERGY.
Having previously said that the coronavirus pandemic had badly impacted its financial performance during 2020, a rebound is expected this year and next, ENGIE EPS, the energy storage and e-mobility subsidiary of European utility ENGIE has said.
A 100MW battery energy storage system just announced in the UK by battery storage developer, owner and operator Zenobe Energy is the first such system to win a long-term contract from the country’s transmission system operator to directly absorb reactive power from the transmission network.
TWAICE, a software company headquartered in Munich, has launched a platform aimed at helping energy storage system operators manage the profitable use of their assets against the impact that has on the health of their batteries.
Europe’s cumulative electrochemical energy storage installation capacity has gone past the 5GWh mark and this year is likely to see installations almost double from 2020’s figures.
Almost 70% of home solar PV in Germany comes with battery energy storage attached and the country’s residential storage market represented around 2.3GWh of installed capacity by the end of 2020.
An order worth US$14 billion placed by carmaker Volkswagen with lithium-ion battery manufacturer Northvolt will have a “significant” impact on the stationary energy storage market, a spokesman for Northvolt has said.
Europe is on course to become the world’s second-largest lithium-ion battery cell producing region by 2025, although some key challenges need to be addressed, a European Commission vice-president has said.
Launches of a new “allstar” commercial energy storage system and a large-scale storage solution designed to be moved from one site to another with ease demonstrate the changing needs of customers for versatile and flexible energy storage options.
