News in brief from around the world in energy storage, this time from the USA.

Taking the UK’s transmission system and the circumstances which led to a dramatic blackout as a direct example, Javier Cavada and Gary Preece of liquid air energy storage (LAES) systems company Highview Power look at how such events could be avoided, cost-effectively and with lesser environmental consequences.

There is a significant opportunity for energy storage under the Trump administration, the US Energy Storage Association has said.

A programme to re-configure New York’s energy networks, including a comprehensive evaluation of energy storage, could provide “valuable lessons” for other parts of the world, according to the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology consortium (NY BEST).

Oil major Shell is to purchase 20MW of energy storage from Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS).

PV Tech Storage interviews John Jung of Greensmith, an energy storage system and software provider which claims to have been involved with one third of all storage deployed in the US last year. Jung discusses ‘killer apps’, opening up new business models in new markets, software and battery agnosticism.

Research into energy storage and related technologies has been given a boost in the US in the past few days, with a major utility company committing funding in Indiana for renewables integration and New York’s governor announcing the creation of a research facility.

An ‘electricity trading’ scheme to be launched by Reposit Power in Australia for residential energy storage system owners has been described by an analyst as “one of the most interesting examples” of software as a differentiator in the energy storage marketplace.

Energy security is a growing concern for economies across the world with electricity outages currently costing economies billions of dollars annually, driving electricity prices up. The US experienced nearly 700 power outages caused by severe weather between 2003 and 2012, costing the country up to US$70 billion annually.