Microgrid

No more than four hours per day, did the 160 households enjoy energy supply. This has had negative impacts on the economic development of the islands. With support from the ADB, the island inhabitants now have 24h supply of clean energy, and new billing methods that suit the economic realities of poorer households.

French power group Engie has started up its first minigrid installation in Zambia, while also announcing plans to expand Fenix, its PV home system unit for the African market. It did not disclose the specifications or size of the minigrid system. 

SUSI Partners has bought a 50% stake in Macquarie Capital’s 63 MW / 340 MWh distributed energy storage portfolio in Southern California. Included as part of this purchase is the world’s largest virtual power plant.

Australia’s Coalition government has announced funding to support up to 50 off-grid and fringe-of-grid feasibility studies that will investigate whether building a microgrid is cost-effective and whether existing off-grid capabilities can be upgraded with more up-to-date technology.

Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly posing a competitive threat to coal- and gas-fired generating plants when paired with solar and wind projects in a number of markets throughout the world, without the need for subsidies, according to new research by BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Finnish clean-energy company Fortum has achieved a lithium-ion battery material recycling rate of over 80% — against what it says is a current rate of 50% — with a low-carbon hydrometallurgical recycling process.

Automaker Volkswagen and Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt have announced plans to jointly form and lead a new organization, the European Battery Union (EBU), to conduct research on batteries used in transport and stationary energy storage applications.

Canadian Solar has been acquiring utility-scale projects and signing module supply and EPC deals at a rapid pace in recent months. Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar’s founder and CEO, would prefer the market to continue at a stable level, rather than boom and bust. And he argues that the dual role of module maker and developer delivers valuable insights into pricing and technology trends — giving the company an advantage over rivals. 

The Solarville project, by Ikea’s Danish research and design laboratory, has seen the participation of blockchain companies such as Bloc, Blocktech, WeMoveIdeas India and Temporal. It was conceived to help create cooperative community micro-grids to enable homeowners to become clean energy traders.