Energy storage developer Convergent Energy + Power has signed a long-term agreement with grocery store chain Tops Friendly Market for three large-scale community solar-plus-storage facilities in upstate New York.

Three new battery energy storage system (BESS) projects from the US that may not individually make headlines for their relative size, but nonetheless prove the value and flexibility of batteries for the grid.

As society moves away from centralised fossil fuel generators to increasing shares of distributed renewable energy resources, the idea that customers’ homes could become host to virtual power plants (VPPs), joining the dots between electricity supply and demand across the grid, has gradually gathered traction. Andy Colthorpe speaks with Suleman Khan CEO of Swell Energy, which has raised nearly half a billion dollars in financing for solar-plus-storage VPPs in 14,000 homes across California, New York and Hawaii.

A zinc-air energy storage system (ZESS) offering 10 hours of storage is being trialled in a New York Power Authority (NYPA) project, while a US Department of Defense-funded investigation into flow batteries has moved into a physical validation and evaluation phase in Colorado.

Equity investors have already committed more than US$300 million to lithium battery recycler Li-Cycle’s plan to go publicly-listed through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger.

A combination of renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage can be used to effectively retire New York City’s entire fleet of more than 6GW of peaker plants by 2030, a new study has found.

The CEO of US virtual power plant provider Swell Energy has said that New York utility company Con Edison has been “very progressive” in recognising the value that aggregated home battery systems paired with solar can offer.

Energy storage project developer Convergent Energy + Power has contracted GE Renewable Energy to supply key equipment to a three-site large-scale solar-plus-storage hybrid resource project in New York State.

The new episode of the Solar Media Podcast, sponsored by Honeywell, is now available stream, as we take a look at US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s in-tray and explain why solar module prices could be set for a short-term price increase.

ROUNDUP: News in brief from around the world in energy storage.