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.

Commodities trading company Trafigura has said that it is building a large-scale battery storage plant in Belgium through a newly-launched renewable energy joint venture (JV) company.

The cost of solar energy paired with battery storage on France’s island territories has fallen yet again, as the European country awarded contracts to winning bidders in its latest tender process.

UK energy storage firm AceOn has joined a call to reverse changes to Value Added Tax (VAT) rates applicable to energy storage systems that came into effect in the country in 2019.