St Eustatius’ Statia Utility Company (STUCO) has welcomed a “user-friendly” hybrid system which enables it to provide enough clean energy to cover more than 23% of the island’s annual electricity demand.

As Britain ponders its future in the European Union, Dr Jill Cainey of UK trade group the Electricity Storage Network discusses how grid codes will remain a binding factor in the continent’s electricity markets, regardless of the outcome of the referendum.

Tucson Electric Power (TEP), a utility in Southern Arizona with around 420,000 customers, has received approval to build two 10MW energy storage systems, including one co-located with solar, from the state’s regulator.

Operators of transmission infrastructure and wholesale markets in the US have supplied their views on energy storage to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with industry and other stakeholders expected to follow. Energy-Storage.News’ Andy Colthorpe spoke with Energy Storage Association policy expert Jason Burwen on what he describes as a “systematic review” that could have a transformative effect on the market and drivers for storage.

This week, at the Energy Storage Summit in London on Thursday, Solar Media brings together a broad range of stakeholders as the country goes through some defining moments in infrastructure and energy policy. Here are some interesting recent developments in the space – and who you might expect to meet if you make it to Twickenham Stadium.

While the effectiveness of flow batteries in islanded situations is quickly being recognised, on the grid, the cost of providing that storage is still seen as something of an inhibitor to uptake. Andy Colthorpe spoke with the RedT CEO, Scott McGregor, to get his views on how flow batteries can thrive – and why lithium-ion is not the enemy.

Deploying battery storage at grid level is relatively uncharted territory, but a number of pioneers’ projects are now in the ground. Patrick Leslie and colleagues at RES, which built some of the first wave of storage projects, teases out the key technology, finance and regulatory lessons the industry can learn from these early experiences.

PV inverter manufacturer Sungrow is partnering with renewable energy storage system market leader Samsung SDI to perform demonstrative energy storage projects in China.

Unsubsidised, commercial solar-plus-storage projects of the type being executed in Puerto Rico could demonstrate how to overcome many of the challenges imminent for the world’s PV markets, according to one company with experience in the field.

Many have predicted 2016 will be the year when energy storage starts to live up to its hype. Andy Colthorpe canvased views from some of the leading figures and companies in the sector on the next developments a market that could help take solar and other renewables to the next level.