European renewables developer and operator Low Carbon has reached financial close on a solar and storage portfolio in the UK, which includes 95MW of co-located 2-hour battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Lithium battery cells will be rolling off a production line at a 16GWh-capacity factory in France in 2023, with manufacturing startup Verkor then planning to scale up to 50GWh “in line with market dynamics”.

A new project called ‘Zero Carbon Lithium’ is being established in Germany by a start-up lithium exploration company with the aim of establishing carbon neutral lithium production.

Industry voices in the UK have said that electricity market activity during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that the network will become prohibitively expensive and possibly unmanageable without the further rapid deployment of energy storage.

Two community energy groups in California have partnered to buy the energy output of a 150MW solar farm with 180MWh of battery energy storage from Recurrent Energy, the US-based utility-scale solar project developer subsidiary of Canadian Solar.

Keele University, which is near the border between Wales and England, is to become a living laboratory for emerging low carbon and smart energy technologies in what is thought to be the largest scheme of its type in Europe and North America.

VLC Energy has become the latest firm to finish its Enhanced Frequency Response (EFR) battery projects following the completion of two projects totalling 50MW.

With a surprise general election coming in June for Britain’s ballot-weary voters, Ian Larive of Low Carbon looks at the possibility of political flux interrupting the industry’s momentum – and why whichever party is victorious, they should back energy storage.

A number of demonstrator projects for smart grid and storage technologies have been awarded funding under Scotland’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP).

A new joint venture has been established to fund early stage energy storage and renewable energy projects in the UK, beginning with two of the winning projects from National Grid’s Enhanced Frequency Response (EFR) tender.