Energy Storage News – The Intertubes have been buzzing with news of a new “hourglass” flow battery that could provide a durable, low cost energy storage system for the nation’s vast wind and solar resources. The old meme about clean power being unreliable is fast disappearing, and if the new battery pans out, that will seal the deal.

In addition to becoming an area of interest for the Energy Department’s solar and wind grid integration efforts, flow batteries are also edging their way into electric vehicle technology.

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Energy Storage News – A trio of non-profits has come out with a report that makes a strong case for deploying energy storage plus on-site solar for low-income rental housing in California. The analysis projects that under today’s market conditions, the combo has a quick payback and would whittle electricity bills down to practically nothing.

To be clear, the analysis covers the electricity bills of the housing owner, not the tenants. Providing low income renters with the benefits of solar energy storage is a whole other can of worms, but the non-profits do have some suggestions on that score.

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The UK electrical energy storage market is not yet as advanced as global leaders such as the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and Germany. However, as with these other countries, the UK is primarily looking to lithium-ion battery technology to be the forerunner of battery energy storage. The UK has around 30 operational battery energy storage projects, many of which are demonstration projects, with only a handful of operational projects larger than 1 megawatt (MW) in size.

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In an interesting duo of energy stories this week, Arizona is getting two new innovative energy storage systems while Illinois is this close to losing up to 2300 megawatts of coal-fired power plant capacity. The news illustrates how quickly the country is transitioning to a low carbon economy. In the context of last year’s McKinsey report on the state of the US coal industry, that’s already proving to be a harsh and painful process for some communities.

The two Arizona energy storage projects are under the umbrella of Tucson Electric Power (TEP). The utility will be working with two companies, Chicago-based E.ON Climate & Renewables and NextEra Energy Resources, to construct two 10-megawatt facilities.

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The US has become the world’s leading market for energy storage, primarily on the back of California’s mandate. But what are the other investment opportunities now emerging across the country?

Energy Storage Update* is hosting the 2016 Energy Storage Update USA in San Diego, June 15–16. This is the only event in the United States focused exclusively on energy storage commercialization, to help you bring your technology to market and win lucrative projects.

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The Intertubes have been buzzing with news that a research team based at UC-Irvine has created a new type of energy storage device that can last for more than 100,000 charges. For all practical purposes, that counts as an infinite battery. Under real life conditions, such a battery would most likely outlive the device it powers, and it might even outlive the owner of the device as well.

The new battery is still in the early research stage, but if it pans out, it would have a significant impact on lifecycle and supply chain issues for the ballooning number of smart phones, electric vehicles, energy storage products, and countless other battery powered devices inhabiting the Earth.

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Leclanché has secured a $28.9 million order for a 53 MWh battery system to be installed in Ontario. It is part of an even bigger project, which is worth $45 million. This second part will provide ancillary services to the Independent Electricity System Operator for the Canadian provinces.

Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) will provide access to a $6 million revolving credit insurance facility for Leclanché.

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San Diego Gas and Electric has signed a contract with Hecate Energy Bancroft for a 20 MW energy storage system. It was reported that this amount of electricity will be enough for 28,000 households for four hours. The lithium-ion battery system will be the largest in the San Diego area.

“Furthermore, SDG&E is proud to launch an advanced energy storage facility to harness solar, wind and other sources of energy so that we can supply it to our customers when they need it most,” explained Scott Drury, an SDG&E executive.

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