Energy Storage

How can you get the gigawatts of distributed solar generation in the WA South West Interconnected System to play nicely with the network? Western Power has gathered 100 MW of resource to test its coordinated ability to stabilize the system on low-demand days.

Oil and metals trader will join forces with Australian investment group IFM to launch the new entity, which will develop solar, wind and energy storage projects – some of them supplying clean energy to Trafigura operations – as well as making acquisitions.

The Caucasian nation could use its hydropower resources to generate the sustainable fuel for transport in its gas pipeline network. An agreement to cost the development of such an industry formed part of a deal which will see the EBRD lend the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation €217 million to help it through a Covid-19-related cash crisis.

The Spanish renewables company is offering up two of its solar and wind power sites in Spain for the testing of energy storage systems. The call for companies to take part is open until the end of next month.

The business intelligence firm has projected storage costs will continue their downward trajectory on the back of product and process optimization. That will favor a higher adoption rate in automotive and grid applications, the analysts say. Elsewhere, discoveries of lithium in the U.S. and the U.K. have raised hopes for lower raw material costs and more supply chain diversity.

‘Lithium Valley’, south of Perth, is set for two new faces after U.K. battery manufacturer Amte Power and Perth-based infrastructure firm Infranomics signed an agreement to explore the possibility of establishing lithium-ion cell manufacturing facilities in the state of Western Australia.

The Portuguese and Dutch governments want to connect the hydrogen project of Sines to the Port of Rotterdam and to develop a strategic export-import value chain to ensure the production and transport of green hydrogen to the Netherlands and its hinterland.

Amid an uptake in EV sales, researchers are examining battery material supply chains. A report has indicated policy-driven circular economy strategies must be introduced in Europe if the bloc is to strengthen its resilience to volatility in the cobalt market.

The Spanish energy company, which has hydrogen projects under way in its homeland and the United Kingdom, says it will allocate new resources to position itself at the forefront of the supply of renewables-powered hydrogen.

Victory in the economic realm (increasingly the case with solar, solar-plus-storage and wind) is no guarantee of market victory if the regulations are stacked against renewables.