The Energy Storage Digital Series, an online-only conference and webinar series, produced and hosted by the events division of our publisher Solar Media kicked off yesterday. Here are some highlights and key quotes from opening panel discussion: ‘Predicting the energy storage tech of the future’.

South Korean lithium-ion battery manufacturer SK Innovation will begin construction on the second of two manufacturing plants in the US state of Georgia this summer, with the first already under construction.

A new guide has been published in the US to “help stakeholders assure prudent use of funds by electric utilities” when it comes to upgrading the distribution grid.

There are 1.3GW of read-to-build battery storage projects in the UK, with the majority between 30MW and 49.9MW power output per project, according to new analysis from Solar Media Market Research.

Australia’s government-owned green bank, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), has pledged AU$300 million (US$192 million) of existing funding towards “building investor confidence in renewable hydrogen”.

The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) that can be achieved today for battery energy storage means that “new-build batteries can be competitive on cost with gas peaker plants,” according to BloombergNEF.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam two days ago signed the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), finally putting into law a 3.1GW energy storage target and a goal to achieve 100% renewable and clean energy by 2050 for the US Commonwealth State.

The latest episode of the Solar Media Podcast is now available to stream, featuring considerable discussion around the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the energy storage sector.

“We work hard every day to continue to push forward to the best of our ability, as we believe that we must do all that we can do to keep our projects on track and support the greater economy.”

Utility company RWE has begun marketing a tech solution through which data centres, which already integrate batteries for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, can use their UPS to “help stabilise the grid”.