Energy Storage News

Most current solar energy systems utilize storage outside of the generators that create the power. In other words, two separate systems are required to ensure successful operation. But experts from UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering have developed a way to integrate solar power generation and storage into one single system, effectively reducing the cost by an estimated 50 percent. The UT project will develop the next generation of utility-scale photovoltaic inverters, also referred to as modular, multifunction, multiport and medium-voltage utility-scale silicon carbide solar inverters.

As reported previously, AES Energy Storage and the energy storage team from Siemens recently merged, creating Fluence Energy, LLC. The new company is jointly owned by Siemens and the AES Corporation, combining the engineering, product development, implementation and services capabilities of both teams. It is now embarking on an “aggressive expansion” of the business, backed by the financial support of the two parent organizations. Fluence builds on more than a decade of grid-scale battery-based energy storage experience and the largest advanced battery-based energy storage fleet in the world with nearly 500 MW deployed or awarded across 15 countries.

The integration of advanced energy storage and software with hydroelectric generation is seen to be a world's first hybridized system of its kind to provide ancillary services. The system is scheduled to begin operation in the first quarter of 2018 and is expected to run for 20 years. It will utilize Greensmith's GEMS software platform which offers multiple storage applications. The project will serve both of PJM's (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland) frequency regulation markets, including traditional regulation known as RegA and dynamic regulation known as RegD.

Mr Kiernan appeared before the US Congress House Energy and Commerce Committee where he said that, thanks to technological advances, wind farms are now competitive with other energy technologies with regard to reliability and resiliency. He added that grid reliability and resilience are goals that everyone can support and that efforts underway at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and by market operators are rightly focused on market-based solutions to better compensate generators for providing those essential services.

Lloyd’s Register is supporting RES in developing a live 100MW (approx. £40M) storage battery in South Australia. Demand for energy storage is expected to increase after the entire state of South Australia lost power in September. The blackout was a widespread power outage across South Australia that occurred as a result of storm damage to the state’s electricity transmission infrastructure.

BYD, a leading battery manufacturer, and Enerpoint Group, one of the top players in the international PV scenario, have established a cooperative relationship to jointly develop energy storage market in Italy.

A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency suggests the global renewable energy share can reach and perhaps even exceed 30 per cent by 2030 at no extra cost. The rest of the power system's resources have traditionally been adjusted around wind to support a reliable and efficient system. The research that led to this report challenges that concept.