The US installed 41.2MW of energy storage capacity in the second quarter of 2016, up 126% from 18.3MW in Q1, according to the latest report from GTM Research.

However, GTM’s quarterly ‘U.S. Energy Storage Monitor’, found that deployment grew by just 1% on a year-on-year basis in Q2. GTM said this lack of growth was countered by a significant diversification of geographies and market segments for storage. However, Lithium-ion technology accounted for 99% of deployments in this period with aqueous batteries the second most used technology.

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According to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, a quarterly publication from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association (ESA), the U.S. deployed 41.2 megawatts of energy storage in the second quarter of 2016, an increase of 126 percent over the first quarter of the year.

Year-over-year, energy storage deployments were up just 1 percent. What the market lacked in annual growth, however, it made up for in geographic and market-segment diversification.

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ALBUQUERQUE, NM–(Marketwired – Sep 6, 2016) – Sharp Electronics Corporation’s Energy Systems and Services Group (Sharp) announces the installation of itsSmartStorage® system at Roadrunner® Food Bank in a project with its channel ally and Albuquerque-based, Affordable Solar Installation, Inc. (ASI). This installation, which signals Sharp’s entry into the New Mexico market, is the state’s first commercial solar plus storage installation. The project features two Sharp 30 kW SmartStorage®systems, paired with the site’s existing 366 kW solar rooftop array. Sharp’sSmartStorage® system reduces the property’s peak demand usage.

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Canadian-based Enbridge Inc. will buy Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) in a $28 billion stock-for-stock transaction that will create the largest energy pipeline and storage company in North America, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.

Shareholders of Houston-based Spectra will get $40.33 per share, representing a premium of about 12% to the Sept. 2 closing price, according to the statement. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, pending regulatory approval of the cross-border agreement.

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Most of the time when people talk about microgrids, they talk about reliability (e.g., for a hospital or other critical load) and renewables. When people talk about renewables, they often talk about storage (e.g., to maximize the output of a rooftop solar array). And when people talk about storage, they often refer to enhancing reliability.

Of course there’s more to microgrids, storage and renewables than this circular conversation, and the key is economics (aka, a business case).

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The U.S. unit of Japanese Sharp Corp. announced Monday that it has entered the New Mexico energy storage market with a project that combines commercial solar arrays with battery systems at an Albuquerque non-profit food bank.

The Sharp Electronics Corp.’s Energy Systems and Services Group (ESSG) has partnered with Albuquerque-based Affordable Solar Installation, the companies reported. The project installed at Roadrunner Food Bank includes two Sharp 30-kW SmartStorage systems paired with the site’s existing 366-kW solar rooftop array.

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WESTBOROUGH, Mass. & TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NEC Energy Solutions (NEC ES), a subsidiary of NEC Corporation, today introduced the DSS™, a new distributed energy storage platform and a significant step into the commercial and industrial (C&I) energy storage segment, enabling its partners to offer distributed energy management services. As one of the most trusted global suppliers of energy storage technology, NEC ES is offering the DSS platform with proven lithium-ion battery storage technology, power conversion, and advanced controls software in a range of flexible outdoor-rated configurations that are smaller, simpler, smarter and safer than competitive products.

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The US company Axiom Exergy has been wasting no time getting its new thermal energy storage technology to the marketplace. Just 18 months after nailing a glowing review from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Axiom has inked a major deal with the New York City utility Con Edison to supply its “Refrigeration Battery” to grocery stores all over Brooklyn and Queens.

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In a fast-developing industry teeming with technologies that promise to be the next big thing, energy storage appears to be the biggest.

Its supporters not only sing its praises but also tout what they say is its inevitability.

“We’re going to have 10 times as much energy storage on the grid by the end of this decade and that is going to impact every facet of the energy industry,” said Matt Roberts, executive director of the Energy Storage Association, an industry trade group.

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As the California legislative session wound down, lawmakers voted on four separate bills aimed at giving a boost to energy storage.

AB 33 directs the CPUC to consider large-scale storage, specifically pumped hydro. The bill comes after the California ISO identified a need for fast-ramping, flexible resources to balance the grid and mitigate the potential impacts of over-generation from renewables.

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