Sodium-sulfur (NAS) battery storage manufacturer NGK Insulators has formed partnerships aimed at distributed and utility-scale segments.

Blackrock-owned developer Akaysha and Japanese conglomerate Itochu have entered into a strategic alliance to develop battery storage projects in Japan.

Construction is set to begin on a battery storage project in Japan through JV involving CATL with utility Shikoku Electric Power.

Idemitsu Kosan, Japan’s biggest petroleum producer, has launched an energy storage business and announced its first lithium battery project.

NGK Insulators will supply a sodium-sulfur (NAS) battery storage system to a project for utility Sala Energy in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture.

Projects using novel, non-lithium battery technology have been progressed by organic flow battery firm CMBlu, liquid metal battery firm Ambri, and the NAS battery division of NGK Insulators.

In June, Japanese renewable energy developer Pacifico Energy made the first trades from BESS assets in the country’s power markets.

Milestone reached in utility-scale battery storage market development in Japan, with Pacifico Energy trading energy from two new projects.

Energy storage can enable decarbonisation of economies around the world and Asia-Pacific is no exception. Hendrik Bohne of Aquila Capital looks at the examples of two leading examples in the region.