Grids & Integration

Britain’s renewable energy trade body has published a report examining the state of flexibility market readiness in nine European markets. The result makes for sobering reading for Germany, France and the U.K.

Beijing already owns 24% of Greece’s electricity transmission system operator and has pledged to back a new Greece-EU funded interconnector to Crete which is set to open up more possibilities for solar on the island. The arrival of two of China’s biggest lenders also offers the prospect of new investment in renewables.

Sonnen presented two new products in the usual hip ambiance of Berlin E-Werk. In addition to home storage and electricity, the company now offers electric cars and PV systems with battery storage on a subscription model in Germany.

With hundreds of homes and businesses having received solar-plus-storage systems and monitoring equipment, an algorithm is managing a market for flexibility and capacity in Cornwall. Homeowners with storage can place bids to sell energy from their systems to the distribution system owner on an intraday basis.

The company says its network is the largest fleet of batteries under virtual power plant management worldwide.

A new application for ABB’s ‘Ability’ digital platform enables industrial customers to avoid peak charges without using of battery storage. The Swiss corporation has developed two apps for its energy management software with the help of an artificial intelligence specialist.

Market intelligence company Navigant Research has developed a country forecast of the global market. Incentives and pricing will be the main driver of installations, though the market will continue to be concentrated in certain key regions for now.

Firming up the payment system for solar energy exported back into the grid from PV-powered pumps will offer owners a new revenue stream, eat into a $1 billion annual diesel fuel bill and reduce strain on the grid by up to 1.5 GW daily during the agricultural season.

The latest figures released by BloombergNEF show new solar and onshore wind power plants have reached parity with average wholesale prices in California, China and parts of Europe. The technologies are winning the race to be the cheapest sources of new generation for two-thirds of the world’s population.

Although PV trails wind and nuclear in terms of its anticipated future footprint, the opposition party’s attempt to outflank left of center rivals on climate change has resulted in one of the world’s most ambitious national roadmaps towards a zero-carbon future.