In our latest video feature, we discussed the policy and regulatory space for energy storage in the UK with two leading members of the Solar Media Energy Storage Alliance.
Many have predicted 2016 will be the year when energy storage starts to live up to its hype. Andy Colthorpe canvased views from some of the leading figures and companies in the sector on the next developments a market that could help take solar and other renewables to the next level.
What is thought to be Canada’s first virtual power plant (VPP), aggregating the capabilities of a small fleet of solar PV-plus-storage systems with energy management software, has been deployed in Ontario.
The UK remains on track for a big push on energy storage with the latest budget backing changes proposed in a key report and an imminent consultation looking to shake-up the role of network operators.
For over a decade, net metering has been a crucial component of the economic puzzle for renewable energy, allowing both residential and commercial rooftop PV owners to realise favourable returns on their solar equipment investment. John Merritt of Ideal Power Conversion looks at some of the arguments and counter-arguments and says solar-plus-storage could be the natural successor to the policy – starting at commercial and industrial (C&I) level.
Puerto Rico’s financially troubled electric power authority PREPA will install a large-scale battery park at a 10MW PV farm, to help integrate the farm’s output and other renewables.
Recharge A/S, an investment fund specialising in renewables, will take a 50.1% stake in a €24 million (US$26.7 million) micro grid on a remote Portuguese island that could prove the validity of such projects as an asset class.
The potential for integrating energy storage, wind and solar energy in India is to be investigated under a new US-backed study, which will help India design its future grid.
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited expressions of interest for what may be India’s first utility-scale energy storage project to be combined with a solar and wind hybrid project at Rangreek in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh.
German solar integration specialist Belectric has begun serial production of its ‘Energy Buffer Unit’ (EBU) battery system.
