Grids & Integration

Railway operators can now feasibly connect solar plants to traction substations, claims a consortium that is now working on a similar demonstration project in the U.K. Almost all of the 30 kW installation’s output will be used to move trains, but in the future storage could come into the picture for larger “railway-connected” solar power projects, says 10:10, the U.K.-based climate change charity that developed the pilot.

The high efficiency solar panel maker pulled off a rare profit in the second quarter due to selling off leases, but expects to report another quarterly loss in its next update.

With grid capacity a limiting factor, the Middle Eastern country has moved to foster private-to-private solar projects to meet industrial power demand.

The analyst has published its latest Energy Storage Outlook report and says large scale deployment will provide the majority of the 1,095 GW/2,850 GWh of battery storage worldwide in 2040, with prices driven down further by grid services demand and EVs.

The scheme will test the potential of distributed energy resources such as rooftop systems, battery storage and controllable load devices aggregated into VPPs to provide scalable energy and network services traditionally performed by large scale, conventional electricity generators. With registration open, the Australian Energy Market Operator wants VPPs to register to accelerate shared learning.

The Palo Alto company says it has improved its large scale battery offering with the new product in the wake of the success of its Powerpack-driven big battery in Australia. The Megapack can be deployed at a 250 MW/1 GWh clean energy plant four times faster than a fossil fuel alternative, claimed the business in a blogpost.

Previously known for its automotive activity, CATL is turning to another promising sector to generate demand for its battery cells. With the first few hundred thousand Japanese solar households seeing their 10-year FIT contracts expire, demand for small scale storage is on the rise

Batteries of the type have traditionally been used for long-duration storage applications. Now though, it seems vanadium is making an entry into the fast-paced world of ancillary grid services.

Study claims that investment in a new 1GW nuclear power plant leads to average losses of approximately 4.8 billion euros. It further argues that the technology’s dangerous radioactivity emissions and proliferation risks do not qualify it as a ‘clean’ energy solution to be considered for addressing climate change. Yet still, governments are incorporating the technology into clean energy plans around the world.

A report by the U.S.-based Rocky Mountain Institute has modeled scenarios for the deregulation of electricity markets in China. The report finds the implementation of a spot market would drive increased integration of renewables and provide significant reductions in costs and emissions.