A 300MWh compressed air energy storage system capacity has been connected to the grid in Jiangsu, China.

Iberdrola expects its 880MW pumped hydro plant at the Tâmega energy storage complex in northern Portugal to become fully operational in the middle of this year. 

Microsoft, Google and 10 other companies have joined the Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Council, a CEO-led organisation launched at COP26 in November to push for the global deployment of technologies that can store and discharge energy for eight hours or longer.

Hydrostor believes it can get three advanced-compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) projects totalling 1.1GW/8.7GWh built in California and Australia by 2026, but regulators elsewhere need to remove barriers for A-CAES and other long-duration storage technologies to thrive, the company’s CEO has said.

An eight-hour duration lithium-ion battery project has become the first long-duration energy storage resource selected by a group of non-profit energy suppliers in California. 

A 100kW/1.5MWh zinc-based battery energy storage system (BESS) will be installed at a 32-building housing development in Queens, New York, supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). 

The EU’s European Investment Bank has pledged support for a long-duration thermal energy storage project and a gravity-based energy storage demonstration project.

“Extensive works” to house two 125MW turbines have begun at Australia’s first new pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) plant in nearly 40 years, developer Genex Power has said. 

ESS Inc’s long-duration iron electrolyte flow battery energy storage solution will be deployed in a demonstration and test project in Oregon by utility company Portland General Electric. 

Gravity-based energy storage technology company Energy Vault has formed a strategic partnership with non-ferrous metals smelting and refinery company Korea Zinc, including a US$50 million investment commitment.