On Friday (4 October), the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced Australia as an international collaborator on its Long Duration Storage Shot initiative.

The Australian government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources has indicated that lithium-ion batteries are poised to “dominate” stationary storage for durations under 4-hours, but alternative technologies could surpass them for long duration energy storage (LDES).

The first phase of the world’s largest sodium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS), in China, has come online.

Here’s news in brief from around the world in energy storage with liquid metal battery maker Ambri, a German government-funded sodium-ion initiative, and ESS Inc’s iron flow battery project at Amsterdam.

Natron Energy has started commercial-scale operations at its sodium-ion battery manufacturing plant in Michigan, US, and elaborated on how its technology compares to lithium-ion in answers provided to Energy-Storage.news.

AMTE Power, a UK-based manufacturer of batteries, has said its new sodium-ion cells are close to being ready to send out into the field for testing and validation.

More news in brief from around the world in energy storage.

A £55 million (US$67.8 million) fund has been earmarked for five projects in the UK looking at developing the next generation of battery storage technology.