Energy Storage

The proposed 26 GW Asian Renewable Energy Hub in Western Australia gained federal government support last week. Construction is expected to start in 2026.

Analysts at Mercom Capital Group have tallied up corporate funding, venture capital and debt and public market investment for battery storage, smart grids and energy efficiency companies. From a financial perspective, the industry appears resilient to the Covid-19 crisis and ready to grow further.

Swedish scientists have developed a redox flow battery with polymer electrodes, based on a special conductive polymer known as PEDOT. The battery features a water-based electrolyte based on a solution of redox quinone molecules, which can be extracted from forest-based materials.

The pilot project, consisting of a 50 MW solar plant and a utility scale electrolyzer, is planned to test how this combination may help reduce grid constraints in the country.

Softbank has energized a 102.3 MW solar park backed by 27 MWh of lithium ion storage capacity. The project was built on 132 hectares of land near the town of Yakumo, in the northern island of Hokkaido.

The latest project is another African opportunity for the India-based EPC player after successfully commissioning Nigeria’s first solar-plus-storage hybrid power plant, which is also Africa’s largest battery energy storage system.

The Western Australian government has given environmental approval to the first stage of the Asian Renewable Energy Hub, a 15 GW hybrid solar and wind plant. The approval is a massive step forward for the project, which will eventually reach 26 GW, and an even larger step forward for green hydrogen development in Australia for domestic use and export.

Falling solar prices are leading to a new energy strategy for the United Arab Emirates as local energy companies offer unbeatable prices that make green hydrogen increasingly affordable.

The proportion of clean energy consumed in the EU continues to rise but the European Commission’s State of the Energy Union report is critical of failings in energy efficiency, low-carbon-R&D spending, and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.

An independent power producer, AEP OnSite Partners, will be the first to deploy Wärtsilä’s new storage product.