Spain has awarded €165 million to seven pumped hydro storage projects totalling around 2.1GW/21GWh, while Portugal has set a target of 1.4GW of new pumped hydro capacity by 2040.

Two big developments for India’s emerging long-duration energy storage (LDES) sector, with contracts awarded for pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) and the country’s first large-scale flow battery.

Gloucester Coa has received planning approval from the New South Wales government for the 3.6GWh Stratford Pumped Hydro and Solar project.

Australia’s CSIRO has revised pumped hydro storage costs upward in the final version of its annual GenCost electricity cost report.

The Queensland government has reportedly shelved the proposed AU$6 billion (US$4 billion) Mt Rawdon pumped hydro project, ending state support for a mine-repurposing scheme that had attracted AU$50 million in government funding.

UK energy regulator Ofgem has shortlisted 16 projects for the first ever long-duration energy storage (LDES) cap-and-floor scheme, totalling 7.6GW of capacity ranging from 8- to 22-hour durations.

The Czech Republic’s fourth pumped hydro energy storage plant is to be built within an existing hydropower complex, converting convention run-of-river into reversible units, creating 750MWh of energy storage capacity.

New Zealand’s Meridian Energy has received a draft decision proposing to ease access restrictions on contingent hydro storage at Lake Pūkaki.

Battery storage and pumped hydro projects in India, in this edition of news in brief from around the world in energy storage.

In this interview with ESN Premium, Keith Lovegrove of ITP Thermal warns that Australia’s energy storage sector risks over-reliance on lithium-ion batteries.