Energy Storage

Utility leaders hail clean energy tax incentives as House sends historic climate bill to Biden’s desk

The bill's 15% minimum corporate tax could ding some investor-owned utilities, however.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 15, 2022

Solar-plus-storage: 3 reasons why they’re better together

Adding storage to your commercial on-site solar power asset is a numbers game. When you save on your overall electricity bill, you definitely come out ahead.

Aug. 15, 2022

Solar + storage breaks out in 2021 with installed hybrid systems surpassing standalone storage: LBNL

Hybrid photovoltaics and storage make up about 42%, or 285 GW, of interconnection queues, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers said in a report Wednesday.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 11, 2022

US on track to be a 27 GW annual storage market by 2031: Wood Mackenzie

While long-term growth looks strong, Wood Mackenzie expects a slowdown this year and in 2023 because of disruptions caused by the Department of Commerce’s solar panel antidumping investigation.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • Aug. 9, 2022

Senate passes Inflation Reduction Act with $369B in energy and climate spending

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Friday on the bill, which includes major tax credit provisions to spur emissions-free energy, electric vehicles, nuclear power and clean hydrogen, among other things.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 8, 2022

DOE offers $26M for projects showing how grid can run on all renewables, storage

The Department of Energy aims to show how inverter-based resources can provide key grid services like voltage support and frequency stability.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 4, 2022

US storage providers increasingly use price arbitrage strategies to maximize income: EIA

Grid-scale storage arbitrage reflects an expanded market for storage providers, with the strategy playing the biggest role in California.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • Aug. 3, 2022

NextEra’s ‘game-changing’ Real Zero emissions goal spurs questions about hydrogen, demand-side management

NextEra, the world’s biggest IOU by market cap, wants a “real” reduction of all carbon emissions by FPL, its regulated subsidiary, with solar, batteries and green hydrogen, but it will go without much help from the demand side.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 3, 2022

Energy storage strategies for island power

Islands boost grid resiliency with smart, actionable strategies for energy storage success. Holistic planning, system optimization, and future-proofing systems for extreme weather can maximize BESS revenue and ROI.

By Greg Weyl, VP of Business Development, and Nadja Gocek, Strategic Director of Energy Storage at DEPCOM Power • Aug. 1, 2022

With Manchin’s support, Democrats unveil bill with $369B in energy, climate spending

The legislation invests in hydrogen, nuclear and renewable energy, fossil fuel and energy storage technologies, according to West Virginia Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin.

By Ethan Howland • July 28, 2022

New Bloom Energy fuel cell factory expected to produce over 1 GW a year amid rising reliability threats

The $200 million facility will help Bloom meet the growing demand for its fuel cells to provide power during outages and periods of intense demand on the grid.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • July 26, 2022

DOE announces $2.5B loan to GM, LG Energy JV to support EV growth as US battery manufacturing heats up

The conditional loan commitment to General Motors and LG-backed Ultium Cells builds on a trend of automakers partnering to manufacture EV batteries.

By Robert Walton • July 26, 2022

A first look at the technology pushing battery storage forward

At Sungrow we are discovering new energy storage technology, allowing battery power to become a greater part of the grid.

July 25, 2022

Tesla energy storage deployments fall 11% in Q2 amid supply chain challenges

The drop in energy storage deployments year over year is mainly due to semiconductor-related challenges, according to the company.

By Kavya Balaraman • July 21, 2022

Intense heat pushing Texas grid to the brink highlights need for long-duration storage, experts say

A range of energy storage technologies is necessary to protect against grid instability across the U.S., with public and private funding as well as new tools offering much promise, panelists at an Our Energy Policy webinar said.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • July 19, 2022

Pending copper shortfall threatens energy transition, greenhouse gas reduction goals: S&P Global

Even assuming record levels of mining and recycling, there won’t be enough copper to meet the needs of electric vehicles and other components of the energy transition, according to a report released Thursday.

By Ethan Howland • July 15, 2022

Offshore wind developer Equinor to acquire battery company East Point Energy

Wind developer Equinor, based in Norway, says the acquisition will allow it to “build a portfolio of battery storage assets in the U.S.”

By Robert Walton • July 14, 2022

California ISO moves to enhance reliability, economic prospects for utility-scale energy storage

One proposed revision would protect the federal tax credit for batteries co-located with solar plants to keep them from being charged by the grid. Another aims to help storage projects replace local gas plants.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • July 12, 2022

US energy storage capacity tripled in 2021: EIA

The increase in storage capacity was accompanied by changes in how the batteries are used, with applications shifting away from traditional ancillary services.

By Robert Walton • July 12, 2022

Battery prices to rise for first time since 2010, slowing EV adoption: BNEF

The costs to build and operate new onshore wind and solar resources have also risen in the past year but overall remain cheaper than those costs for fossil fuel resources, according to BloombergNEF.

By Robert Walton • July 11, 2022

PG&E, Tesla launch program to use customers' Powerwall batteries to tackle California reliability concerns

A pilot program to turn Tesla’s distributed energy storage systems into a virtual power plant as part of a state program to address reliability concerns may be hampered by its short life, warns a storage advocate.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • June 29, 2022

Energy sector job growth outpaces overall US economy, with strength in transportation, renewables: DOE

The number of jobs in the U.S. energy sector grew 4% in 2021, outpacing 2.8% growth in overall domestic employment, according to the agency.

By Robert Walton • June 28, 2022

The next chapter for solar-plus-storage

At a time when supply chain constraints are resulting in overall higher costs and setbacks for energy storage projects, every bit of efficiency and profit that can be gained becomes extremely important.

By Andy Tang, Vice President, Energy Storage & Optimisation, Wärtsilä • June 27, 2022

Energy storage soars despite international and national supply challenges: report

The domestic dispute over imported solar panels with alleged Chinese parts slowed large solar projects that were paired with storage but may have less of an impact next year, Wood Mackenzie analysts say.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • June 22, 2022

'All hands on deck' for the energy storage industry

A greater sense of urgency is needed to support markets for energy storage, a proven technology that provides the transformational pathway to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the author writes.

By Kelly Sarber • June 21, 2022