Energy Storage

Spanish companies Repsol and Ibil have launched the first charging station for electric vehicles with energy storage. The system reuses batteries from electric buses.

Abengoa Innovación has completed the construction of the pilot plant for the Grasshopper project, which is in the commissioning and start-up phase in Seville. The plant will be then transferred to its final location – the Netherlands.

Ford, Toyota, and the U.S. government have all taken huge steps toward getting more electric vehicles on the roads, and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has released a report outlining which states are keeping pace.

Augwind CEO Or Yogev recently spoke to pv magazine about the Israeli company’s new storage solution for the renewables sector. The underground compressed-air storage specialist recently secured 166 MWh of capacity in Israel’s latest solar+storage tender, and plans to take equity stakes in all five projects.

The University of New South Wales and several other universities in Australia are embarking on a feasibility study into how New South Wales can utilize excess renewable energy to make fuel, chemicals, and feedstocks for the industry. The aim is to develop a plan for how fuels and chemicals such as green hydrogen and ammonia produced from renewables can decarbonize the industry.

Real Energy, an oil and gas developer, continues to pursue its hydrogen ambitions. It recently entered into a key partnership with Port Anthony Renewables to build and develop a large-scale hydrogen production facility in the Australian state of Victoria.

A new, nature-inspired algorithm has been applied by scientists in Egypt and Saudi Arabia to optimize the production of green hydrogen via solar and wind power generation. The proposed energy system consists of PV and wind power generation, a water electrolyzer, a tank of hydrogen gas, a fuel cell, and an inverter that brings the generated electricity to final consumers.

The Port of Rotterdam is set to host a 100 MW electrolyzer from 2025, with a feasibility study expected this summer. The project will produce green hydrogen and will eventually be expanded to 500 MW.

Sweden saw extraordinary high spot prices during last summer, due to difficult power transmission from the north, where most of power generators are located, to the south of the country, where most of the demand is concentrated. According to Swedish PV association Svensk Solenergy, solar-plus-storage offers a quick and scalable solution to avoid expensive and slow grid improvements.

Around 2,400 South Australians will soon be fogging up the bathroom mirror without qualms about the cost of heating water, as Solahart is set to implement a new trial to control hot water systems.