Welcome to Part 2 of our in-depth talk with Nancy Pfund, managing partner at DBL Partners, a venture capital firm specialising in companies and start-ups that offer both rewarding financial returns and positive social impacts. As well as being one of the earliest backers to Tesla and SolarCity, to utility-scale solar tracker company NEXTracker to Off-Grid Electric, which deploys solar in rural Africa; to others in energy storage like Advanced Microgrid Solutions and Primus Power, Pfund is extremely well-placed to offer a quick Q&A ‘masterclass’ in energy storage investing.
Work begins this month on solar-plus-storage projects in North Carolina that will deploy a total 12MWh energy storage, by developer Cypress Creek Renewables and turnkey solar and storage provider United Renewable Energy.
What is expected to be Europe’s largest community battery is set to be installed at an innovative regeneration scheme in Nottingham, England, with a 2MWh Tesla battery to be deployed in September as part of a housing scheme alongside community solar.
Dutch grid-scale electrical equipment and integration company, Alfen, has delivered a 3MW wind power-integrating energy storage system using BMW car batteries, in the central Netherlands.
Jamaican utility company Jamaica Public Service (JPS) announced Monday that its board of directors has approved a hybrid energy storage solution which — pending approval from the Office of Utilities — will be the first of its kind in the Caribbean.
A consultancy contract for a 250MW pumped hydro energy storage plant in Dubai has been awarded to French power company EDF by the emirate’s main public infrastructure company.
South Africa’s main utility Eskom said it has identified a need for as much as 2,000MW of energy storage on its networks, and has opened a testing facility to find the technologies most suitable.
Energy storage firms have responded to the outcome of the general election with calls for stability, long term vision and an end to the “regulatory hurdles” that have limited the industry’s growth thus far in the UK.
The Cook Islands in the Pacific will host a 5.6MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system for the integration of renewables, in a project funded by the Asian Development Bank, European Union and Global Environmental Fund.
UK distribution network operator Western Power Distribution (WPD) has launched a consultation seeking views on the potential growth of energy storage on its distribution network after receiving an ‘unprecedented’ 8GW of applications in the last 18 months.
