Utility Scale Storage

A computing pilot program, housed within Europe’s largest electricity utility, Iberdrola, found that some quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms matched or outperformed existing benchmarks for optimal placement of grid batteries.

Current market conditions are propelling grid-scale project deployment in a more diversified European energy storage market. Anna Darmani, principal analyst – energy storage EMEA, at Wood Mackenzie, examines revenue streams in different parts of Europe and emerging routes to the market.

Greece’s energy storage market is hot with a number of new policies paving the way to new applications in the market. The government is now working a new plan, which will allow the colocation of batteries with existing solar plants as well as standalone, in front of the meter battery energy storage systems.

Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has concluded a 1.2 GW solar and storage tender at an average price of $0.041/kWh, with Acme Solar Holdings, Hero Solar Energy, JSW Neo Energy, and Pace Digitek Infra emerging as winners.

The German government has granted €4.6 billion ($5 billion) for 23 green hydrogen projects, while BP has revealed separate plans to develop a 100 MW green hydrogen installation in Germany.

China’s Sungrow has signed three landmark energy storage contracts with Saudi Arabia’s Algihaz Holding, amounting to the world’s largest grid-side storage order. Each project will have a capacity of 2.6 GWh, totaling 7.8 GWh.

China Three Gorges has announced plans to build a 16 GW renewables cluster in China’s Inner Mongolia region, including 8 GW of solar, 4 GW of wind, a 200 MW solar thermal system, a 4 GW coal plant, and a 500 MWh energy storage system.

The project, located in Victory Giant Technology Industrial Park in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, is designed to have a capacity of 121 MW/630 MWh, making it the largest commercial and industrial (C&I) energy storage station in China.

The Polish government has outlined its main objectives for the development of hydrogen, while Tyczka Hydrogen says a damaged compressor from Maximator Hydrogen caused a recent incident at one of its filling stations in Germany.

Building on research work at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology, Sinonus has developed carbon fiber-based structural batteries that not only store energy but also become an integral part of a product’s structure. Their possible span of energy density is said to be around 25-50% of a conventional lithium-ion battery at current technology level.