Energy Storage

Rise in small scale solar contributing towards new trend of falling summertime peak transmission system demand on U.K. grid, says outlook report. Inflexibile gas and nuclear plants may be curtailed to make way for solar and wind.

Inaugural global energy storage report by GTM Research finds that Australia’s behind-the-meter storage market tripled in 2017, while the U.S. remains the world’s leading market with an installed energy capacity of 431 MWh. China poised to rise to second place globally in 2019.

Local power utility, TPL is seeking independent power producers for the deployment of 6 MW of solar PV capacity combined with storage. The selected project will be granted a 25-year PPA.

Götz Fischbeck, Business developer Central Europe Delta EE, discussed with pv magazine at the recent Energy Storage Europe exhibition ways in which storage applications can become smarter in order to better serve the grid and boost the growth of electric vehicles.

A solar power plant with a capacity of between 20 and 30 MW is currently being planned with the support of the World Bank, which is now seeking consultants to carry out a feasibility study for the project.

Aggreko-owned storage system experts Younicos claimed first place in the pv magazine Energy Storage Highlights award. Alexander Schönfeldt, the company’s VP sales EMEA, describes this award-winning concept and reveals more details about Younicos’ new rental storage system.

Testing from TÜV Rheinland has revealed that PV inverters and battery storage systems are vulnerable to hacking. By changing system parameters, a hacker could potentially cause a battery system to corrode, “making it like a ‘bomb’.”

‘Unprecedented challenge’ for fossil fuels as low LCOE for solar and wind power, allied to tumbling storage costs, sees renewables claim larger share of bulk and dispatchable generation while adding vital flexibility to global energy mix.

At the recent Energy Storage Europe exhibition in Düsseldorf, Florian Mayr, partner at renewable energy advisory firm Apricum, explained how lithium-ion technologies got a jump on other battery forms in the stationary storage world, but its dominance should not be taken for granted.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed between the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and Japan-based SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, to establish the world’s largest solar PV energy project by 2030. How likely it is to materialize, and what will be done with the power, if it is realized, however, remains to be seen. Of more interest, says BNEF, is the first 7.2 GW phase.