Solar+storage

The Brazilian power grid reaches approximately 99% of the country’s population. To connect the remaining 1% has been challenging – often located in isolated communities of regions that are difficult to reach. With increasing global adoption of solar+storage, and significant price drops across the two technologies over the past decade, the solution is showing promise for the remote Brazilian market. Solar+storage is becoming a more competitive solution than its most popular alternative – diesel – to supply the needed power for off-grid communities. And now, even grid-connected residential properties are opting for independence.

Black Hills Energy is seeking 200 MW of solar power or wind plus energy storage capacity as part of a request for proposal, driven by summer 2019 bids for solar+storage of $0.024/kWh and $0.036/kWh and looming cuts to the 30% investment tax credit.

ReNu Energy signed an agreement last week for the sale of its Australian solar assets to CleanPeak Energy, a commercial rooftop solar startup.

Solar-plus-storage could be competitive against gas peaking power plants in Australia within the next five years, as the average solar-plus-storage LCOE across the Asia-Pacific region is set to fall from $133/MWh this year to $101/MWh by 2023, according to a newly released research report.

The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment has given the green light to a massive solar farm coupled with a utility-scale energy storage facility. The Australian project proposed by Edify Energy is valued at AU$407 million.

With declining costs, and increasing amounts of solar+storage added to electrical grids across the globe, there is a growing need to understand how to build bankable projects. In a recent pv magazine webinar, we discussed just this.

The Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) has published a list of the 75 Expressions of Interest (EoIs) for three 100 MW solar PV plus storage projects. A detailed call for project proposals will be circulated to the 75 consortiums by December 2018.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a US$1.2 million grant for a feasibility study assessing the viability of an up to 100 MW solar PV plant, coupled with storage, in Mozambique.

Hungary-based Sinergy Kft is the recipient of Wärtsilä’s first EPC energy storage project in Europe. The Finnish technology group commissioned the engine plus storage hybrid installation, its first globally, on August 22. The VPP can now provide frequency and secondary regulation to the Hungarian national grid.