Updated: Spain’s government has approved an energy storage strategy that it says will put the country “at the forefront” of what is being done in Europe and help it move towards its 2050 climate neutrality target.
Leclanché will deploy a short duration battery energy storage system (BESS) and energy management software to a natural gas power plant in Levice, Slovakia.
A lithium-ion battery recycling plant is under construction in Norway, focusing initially on electric vehicle (EV) batteries, but the CEO of the company behind it has said that it will also be capable of processing batteries from stationary energy storage systems (ESS).
The results of Spain’s auction last week for 3GW of renewables capacity have been widely welcomed by the country’s solar sector, but calls have been made to tweak future auctions to support smaller-scale projects as well as encourage the participation of bids with energy storage.
The biggest battery energy storage system (BESS) in mainland France went into operation in late January, and will provide grid-balancing services to national transmission system operator RTE.
Solar PV bidders secured two-thirds of allocated capacity in the first of Spain’s new renewable energy auctions, while energy storage was not included in any of the winning bids.
Norwegian state-owned energy company Statkraft is to provide market access and trading optimisation for battery storage assets being developed by RWE in Ireland.
France’s electricity transmission system operator, RTE, is exploring options to reduce congestion on the grid at four strategic locations around the country and could award long-term contracts to battery storage systems that can help.
The first of Spain’s new renewable energy auctions is set to take place next week, as the country offers the possibility for bidders to include energy storage in their offers.
Multinational utility Engie and renewables developer Neoen are to invest €1.2 billion (US$1.46 billion) in a large-scale solar-plus-storage project in south eastern France, which includes a 1GW solar system and 40MW of battery energy storage.
