Utility Scale Storage

The 10 MW system at Tata Power Delhi Distribution’s Rohini substation is said to be South Asia’s largest.

Former NREL employee pens paper to rebut claims conventional energy can supply the essential grid services needed to return to normality after network disruption. The author says claims renewable energy cannot provide such services are erroneous.

The €150 million project is entering the approval phase. Using the new facility, expected by 2023, the two companies will test how electricity from renewable energy can be converted into green hydrogen and green methane via electrolysis.

The nation already meets well above 80% of its electricity demand from renewable energy. With e-mobility and electric industrial processes on the rise, higher demand has created new development opportunities.

The opportunities for power-to-gas have long interested the solar community, but large-scale projects have been exceptionally rare. The outgoing CEO of SolarPower Europe, James Watson, has presided over a transformative period at the organization, and departed in January to head up Eurogas – right at the point the region’s solar sector is set for revival. Advancing a power-to-gas agenda, Watson tells pv magazine editor in chief Jonathan Gifford, will be a big part of his new challenge.

Clean energy is driving the country to its Paris commitments well ahead of schedule. The Australian National University published findings today that conclude Australia is on track to hit 50% renewable electricity in 2024 and 100% in 2032 – at a net cost “of approximately zero”. Despite the good news, the Clean Energy Council warned federal policy may see the opportunity squandered.

Chinese li-ion battery manufacturer CATL has delivered a 100 MWh battery storage system to the country’s largest mixed renewables plant, which features 400 MW of wind energy, 200 MW of PV and 50 MW of concentrating solar.

State-owned utility Hydro-Quebec will deploy its first 10 MW of ground-mounted solar to test the technology at the province’s latitude. The hydropower company is also using storage to better manage winter peak demand. Bifacial modules will be included in both projects.

Indra Overland, head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, explains how the world’s future energy landscape may include pan-regional super-grids. However, prosumer states seeking energy independence could also be in the mix. According to Overland, the two developments will go hand in hand and the balance between them will be determined by the competitiveness of storage technologies.

The Robertstown region could host two big renewable energy projects – a 500 MW solar farm co-located with a 250 MW/1 GWh battery storage capacity, and a construction-ready 200 MW PV project with 120 MWh of storage that forms part of the Solar River Project, the size of which could eventually double.