While decreases in costs continue to make energy storage more and more competitive, financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard has highlighted just how variable project economics can be, citing examples of US projects with 9%, 11% and 21% IRR (internal rate of return).

Hybrid systems that combine high power technologies such as lithium-ion and long duration, high energy redox flow energy storage is “where the market will go”, the CEO of a vanadium ‘flow machine’ provider has said.

Florian Mayr, partner at Apricum – The Cleantech Advisory, reflects on knowledge gained in energy storage’s rapidly growing markets and offers his five key ingredients for success.

With over 180MW of energy storage projects under its belt, Greensmith Energy is beginning to be seen as one of the cornerstone players of the rapidly growing US – and global – market. President and CEO John Jung spoke to Energy-Storage.News

While Brexit – the impending departure of the UK from the European Union – looms, bringing uncertainty into the country’s economy and international relationships, the role energy storage will play in a decentralised, low(er) carbon and more flexible energy system at least seems a little more assured than it did before.

Involvement from billionaire Peter Thiel in Stem’s Series C indicates a shared belief among investors that “distributed, intelligent storage is going to absolutely revolutionise the electric grid over the coming decades”, the company’s marketing director has said.

While the effectiveness of flow batteries in islanded situations is quickly being recognised, on the grid, the cost of providing that storage is still seen as something of an inhibitor to uptake. Andy Colthorpe spoke with the RedT CEO, Scott McGregor, to get his views on how flow batteries can thrive – and why lithium-ion is not the enemy.

A small municipal utility will be the recipient of what is thought to be one of the first US projects to try out a combination of revenue streams from a storage battery linked to a solar farm.