After another record-breaking year, in which the US surpassed 1GWh of deployed energy storage and China began its programme of building flow batteries several hundred megawatts in size each, we canvassed opinion on what 2018’s biggest challenges and successes were. In this first part, we look at the challenges faced by the industry in 2018.
Batteries in private households will be now able to perform the “same tasks as a conventional power plant”, across the whole of Germany, the CEO of Sonnen has said, following a ruling that opens up grid services markets to the company’s devices.
Ben Hill is widely known in the solar and energy storage industries as the former Trina Solar executive who drove the Chinese company towards a leading position in the European market in the days of the large-scale boom before leaving to become Tesla’s VP for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. UK start-up Solo Energy is among a number of companies he is now working with closely as an advisor.
Hornsdale Power Reserve (HPR), the 129MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) deployed by Tesla and developer Neoen in South Australia in just 100 days, has been found to have had a positive impact on the local network.
Renewable energy supplier and project developer Neoen has begun construction on the largest grid-connected energy storage system in mainland France, a 6MW / 6MWh system which will provide frequency regulation services.
Finland-headquartered clean energy solutions provider Fortum is to deploy the largest battery so far in the Nordic region, a 6.2MWh system at a hydropower plant in Sweden.
Arsenal football club’s Emirates Stadium has become home to what could be the first behind the meter battery of its size aimed at wholesale energy trading over frequency response.
Energy Vault, a Swiss maker of energy storage systems based around gravity, has made its technology commercially available, with India’s Tata Power expected to be the first customer.
