Microgrid projects in the US states of Washington and Maryland combining battery storage, solar and vehicle-grid integration have gone online.

Programmes to provide home energy storage solutions to low-income homes and businesses have been launched in Washington D.C and Connecticut by Electriq Power and Generac/PosiGen, respectively.

A proposed 2,650MW pumped hydro energy storage project in Washington State has received a preliminary permit from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

New technology which can help prevent flammable gas build-up in lithium-ion battery storage systems is being made available for “low-cost, non-exclusive licensing” by the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

News in brief from around the world of energy storage.

A containerised flow battery dubbed the ‘largest’ such system in the US has been matched for size by another system dedicated last week in Snohomish, Washington.

According to the latest GTM Research figures, energy storage is coming into its own and is no longer confined to a handful of US states. 21 states now have 20MW of storage projects proposed, in construction or deployed. Further, 10 states have pipelines of more than 100MW.

Time is running out for stakeholders offering comments to Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) on its draft policy statement regarding how energy storage is treated by investor-owned utilities’ (IOUs) in their integrated resource planning (IRP).

Andy Colthorpe speaks to Matt Roberts of the Washington-based Energy Storage Association about topics including real-world applications of tech straight from the lab, why he dislikes subsidies and the group’s technical conference, happening later this month.

US space exploration agency NASA is considering proposals for four different energy storage systems, submitted by academic institutions and private companies that could power its future robotic and human missions to space.