Thermal storage startup Antora Energy has raised US$50m from a group of investment firms including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures to accelerate the development of its heat-based carbon block energy storage system for heavy industry. 

Verdant Microgrid, a developer of distributed generation projects ranging from 1MW to 20MW largely for commercial and industrial (C&I) sector customers, has secured a US$150 million financing agreement to further its activities.

The first phase of a 1,000MW behind-the-meter virtual power plant (VPP) is expected to begin deployment in Australia as soon as the state of Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown is over.

The US state of Tennessee is set to join the advanced energy storage age with the deployment of a 40MWh stationary grid-connected battery storage plant.

Australian startup Vast Solar said it has picked a site in Queensland where it could develop a AU$600 million (US$427 million) power plant combining different low emissions technologies to provide baseload power cost-effectively over a 30-year lifetime.

Siemens Energy has formed a partnership aimed at sustainably decarbonising the industrial sector with Norway-headquartered thermal energy storage company EnergyNest.

Vattenfall will build an industrial lithium battery energy storage project in Sweden – at a plant which recycles lead acid batteries.

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

LG Chem and Siemens have announced the signing of a deal to “collaborate more closely” on grid-stabilising energy storage systems, which will include work on Siemens’ Siestorage solution for grid integration of renewable energy.