The optimisation arm of oil and gas major bp will provide power trading and optimisation services for two UK battery energy storage system (BESS) projects owned by Harmony Energy Income Trust (HEIT).

Global system integrator Fluence has been enlisted by developer Tilt Renewables for a 100MW/200MWh BESS project in Victoria, Australia, the first to deploy the full Fluence product ecosystem, it said.

While the demand for third-party battery energy storage system (BESS) optimisation services looks set to grow substantially, challenges for companies specialised in offering those services remain.

Energy trader Danske Commodities will optimise a BESS for parent company Equinor, while optimisation specialist Habitat Energy will manage a large fleet for investor Gresham House.

US battery storage developer and long-term management firm Spearmint Energy is “a little bit distrustful” of the “black box” of optimisation, its head of trading told Energy-Storage.news.

Creating a wider ecosystem of services and software is essential for system integrators to stay ahead, according to Julian Jansen at Fluence.

Digital software company Capgemini is partnering with battery energy storage startup Verkor to help bring to life a 16GWh-capacity lithium-ion cell factory in France.

More news in brief from around the world in energy storage.