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UTILITY

Pivot Power tenders for transmission system batteries

Aug 28, 2018

UK developer of a nationwide network of transmission system-connected batteries Pivot Power has started tendering for storage systems. The first 50MW battery storage system the company is developing will be deployed in Southampton and will become operational by...

Power-to-gas. The thinking person’s energy storage solution

Jun 1, 2018

Big batteries are little more than revenue-chasing grid-stabilisers. The challenge of decarbonising heating and transport, whilst addressing renewable energy's intermittency, requires some joined up approaches and few technologies are able to bridge the electricity,...

UK one step closer to first large-scale power-to-gas project

May 6, 2018

A location on Northern Gas Networks’ grid has been deemed suitable for installing a 50-100MW electrolyser to convert electricity into hydrogen. The site, at Low Thornley, in Gateshead in north-east England, has been identified through a feasibility study undertaken...

EDF developing hybrid microgrid in the tropics

Apr 16, 2018

French energy supplier EDF is building a hybrid microgrid in Singapore, as part of an ambitious project aimed at shifting communities across south-east Asia away from diesel electricity generation. The microgrid is expected to become operational in October this year...

Greening the Islands initiative launches new data resource

Apr 16, 2018

A global initiative promoting sustainability projects exclusive to island economies and communities has launched a resource that will provide key information and analysis in areas such as policy, regulations and technology costs. Greening the Islands Observatory,...

EDF developing hybrid microgrid in the tropics

Apr 16, 2018

Greening the Islands initiative launches new data resource

Apr 16, 2018

Primus Power gears up for export markets

Apr 13, 2018

Projects with Goldwind in China and Eskom in South Africa are footholds in markets needing long duration energy storage. Other energy storage players may have surpassed California start-up Primus Power in terms of units shifted, but a company that can count the US...

Hydrostor to convert old mine site in Australia into CAES plant

Apr 11, 2018

The Toronto-headquartered company commercialising an adiabatic compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) technology, is developing a demonstration plant at a legacy mine site in South Australia. The 5MW plant is expected to be operational in the first half of 2019. The...

Falling battery and renewables costs put the squeeze on fossil fuels

Mar 29, 2018

Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s (BNEF) latest study shows increasing competitiveness in renewables and batteries, with Australia leading demand for renewables-plus-storage and UK topping demand for battery deployments for flexibility. BNEF’s latest report on the...

UET to install flow battery on one of the San Juan Islands

Mar 23, 2018

A flow battery storage system is to be installed on an island off the coast of Washington state with potential to be replicated across other island grids. The 0.5MW/2MWh vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) energy storage system will be installed in the first quarter...

Vattenfall touts battery-renewables co-location expertise

Mar 12, 2018

Swedish energy firm and wind developer Vattenfall has pulled off a tricky wind and battery co-location project in the UK, gaining experience that could benefit renewables asset owners. In an overcrowded market, replete with regulatory uncertainty, changing revenue...

Move over batteries: energy storage alternatives to lithium ion now being commercialised

Feb 27, 2018

From containers of molten silicon to winching weights up and down old mine shafts, Gridchangeagent.com takes a moment to explore the feats of engineering that have gone into alternative forms of energy storage, to address renewables integration and other issues facing...

Enel invests in 22MW grid battery in Germany with view to reducing wind curtailment

Feb 23, 2018

The project marks the Italian energy firm’s first Germany-located energy storage investment, which will provide primary frequency regulation, but there are plans for the battery to integrate wind into the local grid in Cremzow, Brandenburg. The 22MW Cremzow plant,...

BNEF sponsored study identifies flexibility gaps in high renewables future

Feb 15, 2018

A study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) crunches the numbers to show the need for flexible resources to offset increased short-term volatility in supply as solar and wind gradually dominate electricity generation. Beyond the Tipping Point: Flexibility gaps in...

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EXCLUSIVES

Cleaning up heat with silicon storage

Decarbonising heat presents a huge challenge, which could be addressed by a technology that stores electricity as thermal energy in molten silicon blocks. 1414 Degrees based in Adelaide, Australia, is installing the first customer pilot of its thermal energy storage...

OVO gears up to install V2G chargers

As part of the next phase of its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) project Sciurus, OVO Energy will soon begin installing its chargers with residential customers. At first OVO’s V2G charger will only be available to Nissan LEAF drivers that participate in the Innovate UK-funded...

Moixa’s bigger battery boosts solar consumption

The firm’s latest offering, a 4.8kWh battery, increases solar PV self-consumption and takes advantage of time-of-use tariffs for bill savings. Moixa has installed 1500 home batteries across the UK, based on its 2kWh or 3kWh versions. Per kWh the latest bigger battery...

Water firms use energy tech to cut OpEx

Working with aggregators, UK water utilities are flexing demand and optimising on-site generation, reducing energy operational expenditure. Water utilities’ operations need lots of electricity, and so energy has become their biggest operational cost. The challenge...

Pivot Power tenders for transmission system batteries

Your future car might recharge from a DC microgrid, and why that’s a good thing

A UK project is working through the commercial and technical aspects of a direct current (DC) microgrid architecture that integrates electric vehicle charging, storage and solar generation while supporting the wider network. Benefits of DC microgrids have been...

Just how deserving is the UK’s Road to Zero Strategy of a rough ride?

The Department for Transport's strategy does at least appreciate that without the right infrastructure in place, the EV transition will get stuck in first gear. It was never going to be an easy policy to get right. Road to Zero states its mission is to put the UK at...

Mines in Africa and Australia go for hybrid power rental model

Within mining the idea of renting clean, reliable hybrid power is gaining traction as Aggreko signs up offtakers in Australia and Africa for its microgrids-as-a-service model. With the platform Aggreko can develop different combinations of hybrid microgrids that...

The rise of hybrid power projects in mining

A solar-battery plant at an Australian mine has shown hybrid power has a place in the sector, but according to Sandfire Resources mining companies expect to contract cheaper, cleaner power from a single provider. Energy projects hailed as ‘firsts’ and ‘blueprints’...

New JV launches storage-as-service offering in UK

Thrive Renewables and Aura Power have launched a joint venture (JV) based on installing no-money-down battery storage to cut electricity bills for commercial and industrial (C&I) energy customers. The JV is targeting thousands of businesses that spend at least...

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