Earth Day roundup: The latest private-sector and Biden administration decarbonization efforts

As various companies and federal agencies release a flurry of announcements in tandem with Earth Day celebrations, Utility Dive takes a look at the biggest news in the sector.

By Utility Dive Editors • April 22, 2022

'Do you like minting money?': Musk urges entrepreneurs to enter lithium space as Tesla's supply woes persist

The company deployed 846 MWh of energy storage in Q1, but demand still outstrips its capacity, and it is working on ramping up production at a Megapack factory.

By Kavya Balaraman • April 22, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 Stories from Utility Dive

Power demand is rising amid dramatic shifts in federal energy policy, but technology and markets continue to push the grid toward cleaner, more distributed resources. 

By Utility Dive staff

Global corporate funding for storage rises to $12.9B despite supply chain squeeze: Mercom

Potentially higher interest rates, as well as the Department of Commerce's anti-dumping circumvention investigation into solar cells, could have implications for the industry down the road, however, Mercom's CEO said.

By Kavya Balaraman • April 19, 2022

Battery storage costs rise more than 20% in New York as state forges ahead with 6 GW goal

The competitive market responded to the state's new target by adding more than 12 GW of energy storage to the interconnection queue.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • April 12, 2022

Reliability concerns drive need for energy market design reforms, but regions diverge in FERC proceeding

Filings from FERC proceedings show a one-size-fits-all reform can't sufficiently address regional market diversity, but federal guidelines can target growing uncertainties and costs from rising variable and distributed resource penetrations.

By Herman K. Trabish • April 11, 2022

Energy storage for utilities: Is it better to own or contract a battery storage system?

How to evaluate whether owning or contracting a battery storage system is right for your utility.

April 11, 2022

'Brand new problem': California grid operator considers ways to integrate long-duration storage

The state must act now to position itself for long-duration storage resources to come online when needed, one storage advocate said at a regulatory workshop Tuesday.

By Kavya Balaraman • April 6, 2022

Lithium-ion roadblocks drive development of US-based alternatives for grid battery storage

To help meet growing decarbonization goals, preferred alternatives to lithium-ion need to be long-duration, with at least 10 hours of output, and have minimal or low toxicity, experts agreed at MIT's 2022 Energy Conference.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • April 5, 2022

DOE funds study to evaluate converting Alabama gas plant to run partially on hydrogen

The project, which has received $800,000 in Energy Department funding, is part of an ongoing effort to demonstrate the use of hydrogen as a means of long-term energy storage.

By Emma Penrod • Updated April 5, 2022

Navigating the evolving state of the storage industry

The energy storage industry is in the early days of a global pricing reset that will impact deployments over the next several years. But there are a few things that can help energy providers weather shifting market dynamics.

By Andy Tang, Vice President - Energy Storage and Optimization, Wärtsilä • April 4, 2022

Biden invokes Defense Production Act to bolster domestic battery manufacturing for EVs, energy storage

The action is "limited in scope," the National Mining Association said, but the White House is considering using the DPA on other energy sectors.

By Ethan Howland • April 1, 2022

Supply-chain squeeze: Solar, storage industries grapple with delays, price spikes as demand continues to grow

Facing price pressures and uncertainties, developers are struggling to complete projects or procure new ones, experts say.

By Kavya Balaraman • March 31, 2022

Grid-scale storage installations tripled to a record 3 GW in 2021: report

Energy storage is experiencing a "sea change," according to American Clean Power Association's Jason Burwen, but it still requires policy support to accelerate growth.

By Emma Penrod • March 25, 2022

DOE eyes hydrogen, thermal storage to shrink carbon footprint of fossil fuel plants

The technologies could help bolster grid reliability and affordability while also potentially supporting the Biden administration's goal to decarbonize the electric grid by 2035, according to DOE.

By Kavya Balaraman • March 23, 2022

DOE turns to energy storage to build resilience, energy affordability in underserved communities

More than 30% of all households in the U.S. have experienced energy insecurity, according to the DOE. Energy storage projects may be able to help.

By Kavya Balaraman • March 21, 2022

Michigan will need 4,000 MW of energy storage by 2040: report

The report’s proposed targets should prompt faster action by regulators and electricity providers, one stakeholder said.

By Jason Plautz • March 16, 2022

American Battery Factory plans battery cell gigafactories to support U.S. storage market

The announcement comes as the Biden administration is working to boost domestic battery manufacturing in order to decrease the country’s reliance on China.

By Jason Plautz • March 11, 2022

2021 deals position US to be a global hydrogen leader: BloombergNEF

While records were broken for U.S. clean energy investment last year, the Energy Information Administration says more policy action will be needed for renewable sources to surpass natural gas and petroleum in the U.S. by 2050.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • March 4, 2022

DOE lab offers third license for its vanadium redox flow batteries as analyst questions cost

The Pacific Northwest National Lab is offering a semi-exclusive license for its vanadium redox flow batteries, but one analyst questions whether the price will ever be right.

By Jason Plautz • March 3, 2022

White House invests $35M to tackle rare earth supply vulnerabilities

The money will be used to construct a commercial-scale processing facility for heavy rare earth magnets, which are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.

By Sarah Zimmerman • Feb. 24, 2022

After renewable energy installations dipped in 2021, industry renews call for clean energy package

Energy storage deployments climbed, but 70 industry CEOs say tax reform is needed to keep the momentum going.

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 22, 2022

How much lithium can be extracted from the Salton Sea? A new DOE project seeks to find out.

Scientists will investigate how much of the crucial battery mineral can be obtained through geothermal energy brine in California's "Lithium Valley."

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 18, 2022

DOE makes $3.1B available for battery manufacturing incentives

The funding is part of more than $7 billion for electric vehicle and energy storage batteries coming from the infrastructure bill signed into law last year.

By Jason Plautz • Updated May 3, 2022

California lowers electric sector GHG target, directs procurement of more than 40 GW of clean energy resources

Load-serving entities will need to procure 25.5 GW of new renewables and 15 GW of storage and demand response resources by 2032 under Thursday's California Public Utilities Commission decision.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 14, 2022

Fluence touts strong storage market despite supply chain constraints

A five-fold increase in storage contracts compared with 2021 has the storage giant on pace for more than $1 billion in profits, CEO Manuel Perez Dubuc told investors Thursday. 

By Jason Plautz • Feb. 11, 2022