Energy Storage

Once a European leader in PV deployment, the solar market in Czechia has slumbered for the last decade. Now, with growing public support and financing in place, momentum is building and a gigawatt-scale pipeline is taking shape. However, fresh challenges loom, as Marija Maisch reports.

An international research team is assessing the potential of flywheels for renewables storage in the Philippines. They considered the use of a flywheel energy storage system developed by US-based Amber Kinetics.

The Guyanese authorities are seeking proposals to deploy eight PV plants linked to storage.

Edinburgh-based energy storage solutions specialist StorTera has developed a long-duration, energy-dense, lithium-sulfur-based single liquid flow battery (SLIQ). The tech is said to last for 30 years with minimal degradation.

Australia’s bounteous land and sun, combined with its new energy-transition-focused government, make it attractive for international renewables investors. Two such players are Greek industrial conglomerate Mytilineos and Philippines-based energy company ACEN Corp., both of which have recently announced further large-scale investment to expand their Australian solar portfolios.

Israel’s market for behind-the-meter energy storage projects could grow significantly this year, due to new regulations and plans to commission new solar-plus-storage installations that were tendered a few years ago.

Robert Piconi, CEO of gravity storage specialist Energy Vault, makes the case for the US company’s long-duration energy storage solutions as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries, and discusses the ideal project size from an economic perspective.

New Zealand is set to get its first big battery by 2024, as Meridian Energy has chosen Saft to build the 100 MW / 200 MWh Ruakaka battery energy storage system on the country’s North Island.

Sun Cable, the developer of the world’s largest solar and battery project, has entered voluntary administration. It is still unclear what this will mean for its hallmark project, the Australia-Asia PowerLink.

MyGrid’s new 1.5 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery system purportedly runs for more than 6,000 cycles. It uses a bidirectional charger to receive and send electricity to the grid via a wall socket.