Battery storage

TransAlta has planned to start construction on the storage facility in March 2023 and to complete it within nine months. The 180 MW battery facility is designed to be charged by the existing Ghost Hydroelectric facility when demand is lower.

SDG&E and Sumitomo Electric complete a pilot microgrid project in California that successfully powered utility customers solely with energy stored in a flow battery.

The recharging station will operate 24 hours a day and in a flexible format, which will allow fleets of electric buses, last-mile distribution vehicles, trucks, taxis and private electric cars to be supplied through fast charging points.

Researchers in Portugal have tested how vanadium redox flow batteries can be integrated with rooftop PV to balance the system load to ensure firm power output. They proposed a 5 kW/60 kWh battery configuration for a 6.7 kW building-integrated PV microgrid. According to their findings, the battery can be used in different energy management strategy scenarios to better complement solar photovoltaic generation.

Global bids are invited to develop a cumulative 500 MW of energy storage system facilities on a “build-own-operate” basis anywhere in India. The proposed plants can be set up ranging in sizes from 100 MW to 500 MW, with the capacity to store at least six hours of electricity — for example, a 500 MW project with a minimum energy storage capacity of 3,000 MWh. Bidding closes on March 11.

The New South Wales Government is forging ahead with plans to bring 12 GW of renewable energy and 2 GW of storage online by 2030 with the formal declaration of Australia’s second coordinated renewable energy zone in as many months.

Canada-based Ly-Cycle has formed a joint venture with Norwegian-headquartered strategic partners Eco Stor and Morrow Batteries to build a new commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility in southern Norway.

Bill Nussey describes in his new book a much larger role that he foresees for local solar and storage, and a correspondingly altered role for electric utilities.

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto’s ambition to become one of the world’s largest lithium suppliers has taken a battering with the Serbian government pulling the plug on the company’s $3.3 billion ($US2.4 billion) Jadar lithium-borates project.

On the company’s Q4 earnings call, the world-leading EV manufacturer again prioritized delivering cars over growing low-margin energy storage products, while solar products were barely noted. Both verticals grew though, solar by 68% and storage by 32%.