Eagle Mountain is a large-scale pumped hydro energy storage project under development in California. It’s a win-win project, argues Jeff Harvey, a consultant with over 35 years experience in California and senior environmental scientist for developer NextEra Energy Resources.

The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the UK has given the green light to the country’s biggest ever battery storage project.

US wholesale electricity supplier NextEra Energy Resources has said 700MW of contracted battery energy storage resources it will deploy in California within two years could be followed by a further 2,000MW pipeline of battery projects under development in the state.

Barriers have been removed allowing for battery storage projects five times the size as the current limit in Britain, in a move hailed as a “significant, positive and well-timed” step.

“We work hard every day to continue to push forward to the best of our ability, as we believe that we must do all that we can do to keep our projects on track and support the greater economy.”

California, the world’s fifth largest economy and a global innovation engine, is confronting ambitious clean energy and GHG reduction goals. California must achieve 60% renewable energy and 5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, and a fully decarbonised power sector by 2045.

Installing and maintaining renewable energy resources can be viewed as an “essential service”, according to the California Solar + Storage Association (CALSSA).

A 4.8MW/16.4MWh battery energy storage system supporting the local grid of utility Con Edison in Brooklyn, New York, has begun operation.

As US states work to address and enable the swift growth of distributed energy resources (DERs), including solar and energy storage, the issues surrounding their interconnection to the electric grid require close attention, Sara Baldwin, VP for regulatory affairs at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), explains.

US$400 million of funding pledged by New York’s state Governor Andrew Cuomo last week towards his “comprehensive climate agenda” will include US$280 million in support for energy storage.