Renewables developers eyeing Saudi Arabia remain wary of the market following the news that the world’s biggest solar project has been canceled.

The $200 billion, 200-gigawatt solar plant planned by SoftBank and the Saudi Public Investment Fund had raised skepticism among developers when it was announced in March, partly because of technical concerns over how it might be integrated into the grid.

The main worry, though, was that the megaproject appeared to have been approved independently of plans for an orderly ramp-up of solar through a tender program managed by the Saudi Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO).

Soon after the SoftBank agreement was unveiled, it emerged that top officials in the kingdom had been excluded from negotiations, adding further uncertainty.

Given the haphazard way in which the deal was brokered — and the fact that the Saudi state and SoftBank had both previously announced plans for massive solar investments that had been canceled — last week’s news came as no surprise.

“Precedent would suggest that grand solar plans from SoftBank or the Saudi state come with a gap between promises and reality,” said Benjamin Attia, global solar analyst with Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. “This is no exception.”

He said the project never got beyond an initial feasibility study.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the announcement of the freeze was greeted with relief by Saudi energy officials. “Everyone is just hoping this whole idea would just die,” one said.

Although the SoftBank project was widely viewed as being doomed from the start, the cancellation is a further blow to the Saudi solar market.

Investment management firm Gresham House is to float an energy storage fund on the London Stock Exchange next month, with an aim to raise £200 million (US$260 million) to fund 262MW of energy storage projects over the next year.

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund has already secured a seed portfolio of 70MW across five projects it has developed alongside its partner Noriker, ranging from 7MW up to 20MW. Gresham House also took over Hazel Capital in 2017, a renewables investment fund company which delivered the 15MW Lockleaze battery project, at the time one of Britain’s biggest projects of that type.

Gresham House New Energy, which will manage the fund, says it also has exclusivity over 132MW of shovel-ready sites across the UK, with a further 80MW in the advanced stages of negotiations.

Finally, more than 50MW of storage projects are also within sight of the management team, which has already invested more than £30 million alongside institutional investors, all of which is expected to be acted on over the next year.

Gresham House hopes to have completed the initial public offering (IPO) and admission to the LSE early next month, with the fund offering yields of 7% to investors.

Rupert Robinson, managing director of Gresham House Asset Management, said: “We are excited to bring this opportunity to invest in energy storage systems to institutional and high net worth investors.

“What will set the Fund apart is the proven expertise of the management team in this highly specialist sector and the cornerstone investment of more than £30 million, from the management team and institutional investors.

“We are confident that we can deploy up to £200 million in a tangible pipeline within 12 months of IPO.”

​It will be the second listed fund dedicated to energy storage after Gore Street Energy Storage Fund was announced in March, targeting £100 million and also promising 7% returns.

However the fund underwhelmed in May having only raised £30 million, with half of this coming from external investors.

Nevada could cost-effectively deploy between 750MW and 1,000MW of energy storage by 2030, according to an economic study commissioned by the state’s rulemakers to investigate the potential for the technology.

Massachusetts, California, New York and Arizona are among the US states to have already implemented or closely investigated the implementation of procurement targets for energy storage, mainly by utilities. A 2017 Nevada Senate Bill, SB204, ordered the state Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) to determine whether biennial targets for energy storage deployment by electric utility entities would be in the public interest.

To that end, the PUC and the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy (GOE) commissioned economists from Brattle Group to produce the study, ‘The economic potential for energy storage in Nevada’, a 90+ page document which has been filed as a docket by PUCN.

Brattle took into account numerous variables in its modelling, including the use of energy storage systems for ‘stacked applications’ i.e. for providing multiple services, the impact of cost savings made by generating and storing power during low-priced hours and looked at various different applications and their value to the Nevada network.

Essentially, Nevada’s future power mix could cost-effectively incorporate storage, the study found, although deployment levels vary under the different market scenarios modelled by Brattle. At the low end, where battery and other costs remain relatively high, some 700MW of storage could be deployed cost-effectively, while if high end expectations on cost reduction are proven correct, the figure could be closer to 1,000MW. In other words, while the analysis found that energy storage, which could include other technologies as well as advanced battery storage, could be a useful addition to Nevada’s networks and for consumers, much depends on the future cost declines of the technology and its deployment.

The economists also made the prediction that behind-the-meter (BTM) storage will carry a compelling business case, although opportunities may be fairly limited compared to booming markets for C&I energy storage such as California. Brattle predicts that without any supporting incentive programmes, around 7MW of storage could be deployed cost-effectively BTM, rising to 31MW by 2030. The addition of incentive programmes could boost this figure by between 6MW and 39MW.

Eguana Technologies (tsx.v:EGT) (otcqb:EGTYF) and Ameresco SolarAMRC, +0.80% are pleased to announce that Eguana’s “Evolve” Home Energy Storage System is immediately available to Ameresco’s select partner network in North American markets. Initial product certification training is scheduled to take place on October 5 [th] , 2019 at Ameresco’s Temecula, California facility.

Ameresco maintains a network of several thousand active solar and electrical contractors located in key SunBelt states who stand to benefit from the immediate availability of the Evolve residential energy storage system. Ameresco designs and engineers grid-tie battery backup and residential power systems delivering a unique experience for installers and contractors. The one stop solution approach for products, engineering services and project management, coupled with a strong product portfolio, has positioned the company as a high-value added reseller for energy storage systems.

“Ameresco Solar has an extensive background in the grid-tie battery backup and residential power solutions market and the Evolve system enhances their existing offering with advanced grid interactive energy storage functionality,” said Justin Holland, Eguana Technologies CEO. “Ameresco brings a new group of value added partners who will open up new markets for the Evolve residential energy storage system throughout North America.”

Renewables as baseload will ‘flip the old model on its head’

October 3 (Renewables Now) – LG Electronics Australia will next year start offering energy storage solutions (ESS) for residential customers in Australia, thus marking its entry into that market.

The company, a unit of South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc (KRX:066570), said on Wednesday that the home battery system will come with its LG 3 phase hybrid inverter in a pack that will be launched on the market from the second quarter of 2019. The first such product will be first presented at the All-Energy Expo in Melbourne on October 3-4.

The new ESS battery and inverter pack will be able to store up to 12.8 kWh of electricity, with the pairing of an expandable 6.4-kWh battery pack. It will be provided with a 10-year warranty. “The addition of the ESS to our energy portfolio will enable us to support Australian homeowners with a 3 phase electric power and their demand for greater control over their residential energy consumption,” said Markus Lambert, general manager solar & energy at LG Electronics Australia.

In addition, LG announced it will lift by 5 W the efficiency of its 2019 NeON R and NeON 2 premium solar panels and will also start offering 370-W, 380-W and 400-W 72-cell “made to order” panels. Those panels will be suitable for homeowners with limited rooftop space, the company said.

Following a competitive bid process, Arizona Public Service Company has selected Sunverge’s intelligent energy storage system and distributed energy resources operations platform for its new residential energy storage program. The new program, Storage Rewards, provides eligible customers a behind-the-meter storage battery to help them shift power load to off-peak periods and reduce their demand, while providing grid services to APS. The Sunverge integrated platform will help customers get the most out of APS service plans that include peak-usage and demand charges. Residential customers will also receive a one-time participation award of $500 once they have been accepted to the program and the battery is activated. The Sunverge platform automatically manages power flows behind the meter to optimize the use of grid power, battery storage, solar self-generation, and smart appliances in the home to reduce customer energy bills and improve efficiency.

“Our customers today want more than just reliable power; they want cutting edge technology and they want to know how to manage their energy use to best fit their lifestyle,” said Marc Romito, APS Director of Customer Technology.

“We have had the privilege of working with APS on other Distributed Energy Storage programs and are excited to continue our partnership with this new program,” said Sunverge CEO Martin Milani. “APS is one of the leaders in renewable energy and is leveraging new technologies to build the grid of the future.”

About Sunverge Energy

Sunverge Energy provides the leading open, dynamic platform for Virtual Power Plants (VPP) with near real-time control, orchestration and aggregation of behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DERs). The Sunverge platform provides co-optimization of services on both sides of the meter, helping customers have access to backup power, reduce their energy bill and maximize the use of their renewable energy while helping utilities to efficiently and proactively manage DERs on the distribution grid, lower operational costs, increase feeder resiliency and meet their renewable energy and carbon reduction goals. The Sunverge platform provides near real-time autonomic and intelligent control of Distributed Energy Resources that is efficient, reliable and responsive to utilities and their customers. Visit sunverge.com.

Energy storage firm Highview Power Inc. named David Sandalow chairman of the company’s U.S. unit.

The former senior White House, U.S. State Department, and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) official has been a senior advisor to Highview Power as the company develops and deploys utility-scale liquid air energy storage systems in North America.

“Large-scale, long-duration energy storage will play an important role in the grid of the future,’’ said Sandalow. “Highview Power’s liquid air energy storage technology provides a cheap, environmentally-friendly way to manage variable renewable power, relieve transmission congestion, and provide additional grid services. I look forward to working with the exceptional team at Highview Power during a very exciting time for the energy storage and renewable energy industries.”

Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).  He writes and speaks widely on energy policy and has served as Honorary Chair of the U.S. Energy Storage Association’s annual conference. From 2009-2013, Sandalow served in senior positions in the U.S. Department of Energy, where he helped oversee the department’s renewable energy, energy efficiency, fossil energy, nuclear energy, and electricity delivery programs with an annual budget of more than $3.5 billion.

Highview Power’s proprietary liquid air energy storage technology is based on the principle of air liquefaction, which enables the easy storage of gases in cryogenic liquid form. The process involves a 700-fold expansion in volume from liquid back to gas, which releases the stored energy, powering turbines and generating electricity.

This enables Highview’s system to store energy in increments measured in days rather than hours, at half the cost of lithium-ion batteries when deployed at scale, with no siting constraints, and while releasing zero emissions in the process. It uses technology with an economic useful life of over 30 years. The company has already deployed two plants in the UK, the latest the 5 MW/15 MWh Pilsworth LAES plant that was officially launched in June.

One key to making electricity more efficient across the world is figuring out power storage. In recent years, lithium-ion batteries have overtaken lead-acid batteries as the industry-wide standard. But that might be set to change thanks to a new milestone in power storage innovation: zinc-air batteries

NantEnergy, a US energy company, has announced the development of a zinc-air battery which stores energy and is considerably cheaper than other battery types currently on the market, including the popular lithium-ion battery. Compared to lithium-ion battery costs estimated to be between $300 and $400 per kilowatt-hour, NantEnergy says its zinc-air battery has cut cost down to less than $100 per kilowatt-hour—a threshold at which power storage is expected to be affordable enough to have more mainstream impact.

Beyond potential pricing points, zinc-air batteries hold other advantages over lithium-ion batteries as they don’t pose fire hazards or need to prevent overheating. Sourcing cobalt, an essential mineral in lithium-ion battery manufacturing, from DR Congo, the world’s largest producer, has also been problematic as global brands have sought to look elsewhere given the country’s political instability and desire to hike cobalt taxes.

Like lithium-ion, the potential applications for zinc-air batteries range from powering electric cars and also homes and businesses. As the world increasingly turns to renewable energy, optimizing battery storage is crucial to decrease cost, boost uptake among customers and ultimately, reduce carbon emissions.

But in the least electrified regions of the world, like Africa where 450 million people still lack access to power, the need is more urgent. NantEnergy says its zinc-air batteries have already been successfully tested in 110 villages that previously had no access to electricity in parts of Asia and Africa, including Indonesia and Madagascar. But with only 55 megawatt-hours of storage deployed globally, the company is looking to boost scale with a battery manufacturing facility set to open in California next year.