Australia’s 1414 Degrees to supply abandoned Aurora CSP site with PV, thermal storage
Adelaide-based storage specialist 1414 Degrees has announced plans to acquire SolarReserve Australia II, which owns the Aurora Solar Energy Project in South Australia and two other PV projects in the state of New South Wales. The company wants to use the Aurora site to build a massive 400 MW solar farm with several thousand megawatt-hours of thermal storage capacity.
Total completes 16 MW/10 MWh solar+storage project in New Caledonia
The project is an extension of the Hélio Boulouparis 1 installation, which was commissioned in May 2017 with 11.2 MW of capacity.
Indian government now finalizing new energy policy, says think tank
Aside from an emphasis on energy efficiency, the Indian government’s new energy policy will primarily focus on Indian-made battery cells for electric vehicles, in addition to demand creation initiatives and new incentives.
Iberdrola switches on 3 MWh battery in Spain
The project was realized by the i-DE distribution company of the Spanish electric utility. The large scale storage battery is intended to improve the quality of electricity supply with a focus on solar projects located nearby.
Tender for 50 MW of floating solar launched in Portugal
The Alqueva Dam on the Guadiana River, in southern Portugal, will host ten floating PV projects mostly financed by a €45 million Council of Europe Development Bank loan.
Bangladesh to assess impact of integrating renewables into grid
The government has set a very low bar of achieving just 10% of its electricity supply from renewables as it tenders for consultants to advise it on how to incorporate intermittent generation into the national grid.
Peering into a 55% solar future for the US
National Renewable Energy Lab researchers conducted hourly modelling based on a future energy mix containing 55% solar power and found spring days of free electricity among the results, emphasizing the critical role energy storage will play.
Solar-plus-storage vs grid enhancement – Part VI
Two projects have been deployed by Canopy Power on private islands in Indonesia. The two 52.5 kW/77 kWh mini-grids were the only alternative to diesel generators due to the lack of a connection with the grid on the island of Batam. The projects – which rely on REC Solar modules, SMA inverters and a storage system from Tesvolt – provide around half of the energy required on their respective islands.
Mounting interest in gravity-based storage solutions
Austrian researchers have proposed gravitational energy storage for locations with low demand. The scientists claim the system they are suggesting can be combined with other forms of storage as well as renewables, costs $50-100 per megawatt-hour of stored energy and $1-2 million per megawatt of installed capacity to develop.
Solar will power ahead to offer 20% more output for 25% lower module costs within 15 months
PV industry veteran Karl-Heinz Remmers recalls the trajectory of solar power this decade and predicts stronger than expected development for the ten years ahead.
