Four makers of lithium-ion batteries have been sanctioned by the European Commission for anti-competitive practises, with three incurring fines totalling €166 million (US$176 million) after colluding to “avoid aggressive competition”.

An Arizona scheme to study the use of energy storage and smart inverters in integrating solar to the grid has contracted the deployment of 4MW of AES Energy Storage’s lithium battery systems.

A local authority in the UK has approved planning permission for the construction of a 20MW energy storage system which will provide real-time grid stabilisation to the local distribution network.

Solarwatt has hosted a week-long training session for its distributors in the UK and Ireland in preparation for the launch of its MyReserve storage system in the first quarter of 2017.

Vertically integrated energy storage solution company Leclanché and global battery manufacturer Narada Power have agreed to a strategic partnership for the manufacturing and development of lithium-ion battery technology for the Chinese and global markets.

Major utility Steag and Nidec ASI, formerly known as Ansaldo Sistemi Industriali, have inaugurated a 90MW energy storage system in Germany, in what is the largest installation of its kind.

Energy storage designer and manufacturer SimpliPhi Power Energy has completed installing a ‘plug and play microgrid’ for an off-grid solar-plus-storage project with Pure Power in California.

Manufacturing equipment supplier Manz AG said 25% of its revenues for the first nine months of this year came from its energy storage segment, despite the ill effects of a large order being stopped.

The energy storage business of German auto manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is expanding to the US market starting early 2017.

Battery manufacturer and developer NEC Energy Solutions is to supply Southern California Edison (SCE) with its first grid energy storage pilot system under a procurement programme established last year.