A new research centre ‘uniquely equipped’ to evaluate energy storage technologies has opened at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Washington, US.

The benefits of advances in cell technology, which improve the performance and lifetime of battery storage systems, can be directly passed onto customers.

According to Lazard, the impact of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentives on the business case for battery storage in the US is now significant.

We hear from Enervenue CEO Jorg Heinemann on why metal-hydrogen technology can be a direct competitor to lithium-ion.

The latest episode of the Solar Media Podcast is out now, as Andy Colthorpe and Liam Stoker unpick the fallout from a dramatic US election.

The latest annually-published figures from financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard show that the on the levelised cost of energy storage (LCOS) continues to fall, with solar-plus-storage becoming increasingly price competitive.

In this article, experts at consultancy Apricum examine with some simple “reverse engineering” how recent low solar-plus-storage PPAs in the USA were achieved, yet another example of the competitiveness of energy storage and new market opportunities emerging via storage-plus-renewables projects.

While decreases in costs continue to make energy storage more and more competitive, financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard has highlighted just how variable project economics can be, citing examples of US projects with 9%, 11% and 21% IRR (internal rate of return).

Florian Mayr, partner at Apricum – The Cleantech Advisory, reflects on knowledge gained in energy storage’s rapidly growing markets and offers his five key ingredients for success.