The potential for storage to help stabilise the grid has finally been recognised in the UK, where battery projects took all of the 200MW on offer in a recent frequency response tender. David Pickup looks at the evolving role of storage in the future grid and how further policy support can help it flourish.
A ‘multi-stakeholder’ approach, where different parties benefit from batteries at different times, could be the key to enabling communities to deploy grid-connected energy storage systems, DNV GL has said.
An energy trade association which includes Apple, energy storage maker AES and solar giants SunPower and First Solar in its leadership has welcomed the proposal by US energy regulator, FERC, to remove barriers to participation in wholesale markets for energy storage and distributed energy resources (DERs).
The US Navy plans to develop a utility-scale solar farm and energy storage system on the 863.6 hectare Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, according to a draft environmental assessment.
Last year was a “seminal year” for energy storage, where the technology moved from “dream to reality”, according to impact investor Nancy Pfund, one of the earliest backers to Tesla and SolarCity.
Sydney-based lead-acid energy storage specialist Ecoult has secured AU$4.1 million (US$3.13 million) recoupable funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to develop and commericalise its UltraBattery products.
There is a significant opportunity for energy storage under the Trump administration, the US Energy Storage Association has said.
Financial services giant Morgan Stanley has anticipated that the US energy storage market will grow faster than current consensus expectations, while Deloitte has earmarked the technology for exponential growth – although not perhaps this year.
Listed funds in the UK which own a significant portion of the country’s utility-scale solar PV assets are not currently convinced by battery storage’s feasibility, but remain primed to deploy the technology at scale when the time is right.
Energy storage solutions and software company Greensmith Energy announced Tuesday that Oncor Electric Delivery has appointed Greensmith as the software provider for its microgrid facility in Dallas.
