U.K. Chancellor, Phillip Hammond’s Spring Statement was delivered to the House of Commons earlier this afternoon. While the announcement did include provisions for greener products and services, and support for cleaner vehicles, solar and renewable energy were not mentioned specifically.

Private equity firm, Gore Street Capital is planning an IPO for an investment fund focused entirely on utility-scale energy storage projects, to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. The fund already owns three storage projects in the U.K., and is seeking to raise GBP 100 million in initial investment.

Scientists at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) have demonstrated the first working example of a “proton battery”, which utilizes a carbon electrode and a reversible hydrogen fuel cell for the storage of energy. The scientists say their small prototype has already demonstrated similar storage capacities to commercially available lithium-ion batteries, with plenty of potential for further optimization.

A team of scientists based at the Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices has integrated a silicon solar cell with a device that generates power from the motion of raindrops, an innovation which could greatly enhance performance in cloudier climates.

Researchers in the U.S. have confirmed the existence of a novel state of the element manganese, first proposed in a journal dating from 1928, which could allow for the development of low-cost, high performance batteries for grid level and other energy storage applications.

A team of scientists based at New York University (NYU)’s Tandon School of Engineering has developed a method of improving the performance of non-fullerene organic solar cells, by introducing a crystallizing agent.

Japanese engineering company, JGC has been awarded a contract for the construction of a 49 MW (AC) power plant in Southern Vietnam. The contract has been signed with Gia Lai Electricity Joint Stock Company, a subsidiary of the TTC Group.

Scatec Solar, alongside Norfund Investments and Electricidade de Mozambique have closed financing and begun construction on the first utility-scale solar plant in Mozambique, a 40 MW project to be located close to the city of Mocuba.

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCO) has announced the start of construction on a new hybrid storage facility set to provide spinning reserve power to the country’s grid. The project, according to JPSCO, is the first of its kind in the Caribbean and will be completed by April 2019.

U.K.-based developer, Hive Energy announced that its first project in Turkey – the 10 MW Adiyaman solar park – has begun feeding power into the country’s grid.