While it is better known for putting lithium-ion batteries in phones, tablets and computers, consumer technology company Apple said it is building a 240MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at a solar PV plant in California.

News in brief from around the world in energy storage.

Tom Kenning of PV Tech/Energy-Storage.news visited a village in the heart of the North Indian plains where Uttar Pradesh borders Bihar, to see how a bold mix of biomass, solar and energy storage technologies is transforming local businesses by providing round-the-clock clean energy at prices cheaper than those of the main grid – all the while helping to solve India’s long struggle with power theft.

Vertically-integrated solar energy company First Solar will be involved in the first megawatt-scale battery system announced in Arizona since it was revealed the state could put a 3,000MW energy storage deployment target in place.

Brisbane-based renewable energy investor Lyon Group will soon start building a AU$1 billion (US$767 million) solar-plus-storage farm in South Australia – the world’s largest.

Engineering multinational Siemens will collaborate with Eos Energy Storage, maker of zinc hybrid cathode-based battery systems, on the integration, installation and servicing of energy storage systems.