Energy Storage

Philippine government’s National Irrigation Administration revealed that two canal-top solar arrays for irrigation purposes were recently commissioned. It also said that 147 solar-powered irrigation projects in the country will be delivered by the end of the year, with 183 in the pipeline for 2024.

The Chinese manufacturer said its new LiFePo4 battery is IP66-rated and has a lifecycle of more than 6,000 cycles. It comes with a 10-year warranty.

JinkoSolar has launched an all-in-one battery solution for commercial and industrial (C&I) solar applications. It includes a new outdoor cabinet that integrates battery packs, a management system, a power conversion system, and firefighting equipment. The system offers 215 kWh of battery capacity and up to 100 KW of rated power output.

An international research team has examined the potential use of hybrid microgrids that integrate PV and biogas for electric vehicle recharging in Karnataka, India. Their findings indicate that this combined approach offers economic and environmental benefits compared to separate biogas and PV systems.

Malakoff and MMC Group have agreed to deploy 500 MW of solar in Malaysia, while Citicore has agreed to supply 7.5 MW of solar to utility Clark Electric Distribution Corp. in the Philippines.

The Yemeni government and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) are now accepting proposals from developers for four solar projects, ranging from street lighting to a 300 kW array.

The first tender under the European Union’s new €40 million ($41.8 million) multilateral solar scheme – targeting 5 MW to 100 MW projects based in Finland and providing energy to Luxembourg – has been ‘oversubscribed’ with bids ‘significantly exceeding target volumes’, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy recently announced.

In the last week of September, European electricity market prices rose from the previous week. For a majority of prices the weekly average was above €100/MWh and, in several markets, some hourly prices were above €200/MWh. The rise in gas prices, the decrease in wind energy production and higher demand favored this behavior. Brent futures continued to rise, reaching their highest level since November 2022 on September 27.

A research team in Spain has developed an hourly mathematical model that reportedly allows for the optimal management of grid-connected renewable generation facilities and pumped hydro-energy storage with reversible pump turbine. The scientists tested the model on a potential pumped hydro-solar-wind complex in northern Spain and found that the combination of the three technologies may achieve considerable savings.

Chile is now on track to become the second-largest battery market in the Americas, following the United States. As of this year, the Latin American nation has switched on 12 storage projects, with a total capacity of 1.3 GW. It currently has 85 energy storage projects, totaling 6.4 GW, in various stages of development.