Indian utilities contemplate coal – rather than energy storage – to balance renewables
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has specified how grid back-up capacity procurement will work for Indian electricity distribution companies. The rules consider energy storage solely as part of the 51% clean energy requirement, and instead use coal – with a variable price tariff element – as necessary for evening out supply.
New solar+storage converter for greater grid stability
Scientists from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers have presented research suggesting a new topology for residential solar+storage inverters.
Vehicle-to-grid business model would make Canadian EVs cheaper than conventional rivals
Canadian non-profit Plug’n Drive has looked at Ontario’s time-of-use electricity rates and found electric vehicle owners could generate substantial income by charging at night and selling to businesses during the daytime. Doing so could mean EVs have a lower net cost than conventional vehicles.
Ukraine’s first utility scale battery – supplied by Honeywell to a fossil fuel plant
North Carolina-based Honeywell will supply a 1 MW/1.5 MWh lithium-ion battery storage system at the Zaporizhzhya Power Plant belonging to utility Dtek.
Planned law could unlock 4 GW of UK storage projects
The government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has drafted secondary legislation aimed at easing the construction of large scale energy storage projects for renewables. Around 100 such batteries could be deployed thanks to the proposed rules, according to the department.
Rooftop solar window based on semi-transparent perovskite solar cells
A prototype of an energy-harvesting, solar-powered smart window device has been developed by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. The window was created by integrating a semi-transparent perovskite solar cell and a multi-layer nanophotonic coating.
PV mini-grid to back Congolese agriculture
Equatorial Power and SustainSolar are installing containerized, off-grid solar battery power systems to support farming projects on an island in Lake Kivu.
EU hydrogen strategy could drive 120 GW of renewables capacity
The European Commission has outlined a long-anticipated plan it says could unlock up to €340 billion for new solar and wind projects over the next decade. The 30-year strategy envisages up to €470 billion being spent on electrolyzer capacity.
Have global carbon emissions peaked?
Accreditation institute DNV GL has made some astonishing carbon-related predictions as it prepares the next edition of its Energy Transition Outlook report. The Norwegian body says transport-related emissions have peaked and those of the iron and steel industries may well have too.
Hitachi-ABB Power Grids takeover could boost e-mobility and energy storage
The Japanese brand has closed the initial $6.85 billion purchase price for 80% of the Power Grids business that was owned by ABB. The buyer will have the option of purchasing the outstanding shares in 2023.
