Storage

Energy Dome built its first pilot facility in the Italian province of Nuoro. It said the battery was performing under the expected standards for both long-duration and round-trip efficiency and that it plans to build another full-scale commercial facility with a capacity of 20 MW/200 MWh by the end of 2023.

US provider EnerVenue will provide its nickel-hydrogen batteries for large scale renewable and storage applications to Sonnell Power Solutions. The devices will add resiliency to the island’s industrial sector, which has suffered outages and inconsistencies in the years since Hurricane Maria.

Researchers in Germany have built bipolar plates for electrolyzer stacks without using titanium, which they claim may further reduce green hydrogen costs. They used coated stainless steel and niobium for the stack coating and found these new materials do not affect electrolyzer performance.

The battery has a rated output of 5.5 kW and can be installed in outdoor environments. It is equipped with a hybrid power conditioner, a DC-to-DC converter, and a vehicle power supply adapter with a maximum output of 1.1 kWh.

Jigar Shah reflects on the challenges that come with achieving a zero-carbon electric grid and how virtual power plants (VPPs) can turn those challenges into opportunities for all Americans.

Shipbuilder Hermann Barthel has developed the world’s first push boat to combine battery-electric propulsion with hydrogen and fuel cell technology. Iberdrola and Fertiberia, meanwhile, have commissioned Europe’s largest green hydrogen production plant.

An international research team has proposed the use of water from high-altitude rivers and regenerative braking in electric trucks to store electricity for reuse in power networks, or for transport purposes.

Transgrid, the transmission network owner in the Australian state of New South Wales, has started building its section of the AUD 2.3 billion ($1.64 billion) Project EnergyConnect. The high-voltage electricity transmission interconnector will link power grids across three states, unlocking gigawatts of planned renewables.

In Texas, where batteries cannot send power to the grid, Tesla has filed a request for a rule change and has called on Powerwall owners to form a virtual power plant.

Scientists in Saudi Arabia looked at the potential of different solar technologies to meet energy demand for cooling systems. They found that PV is the best cost-effective option, especially for compression refrigeration cycles in hot climates.