Goldman Sachs invests $250 million in Hydrostor to advance compressed air energy storage projects
The investment is planned to support development and construction of Hydrostor’s 1.1GW, 8.7GWh of Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage projects that are well underway in California and Australia, and help expand Hydrostor’s project development pipeline globally.
520 MW agrisolar + battery project proposed for the Hunter progresses
Lightsource bp, the solar arm of oil major BP, is proposing to build an ‘agrisolar’ project in the Upper Hunter region big enough to provide 4% of New South Wales’ (NSW) electricity demand.
Korea Zinc invests in gravity storage developer Energy Vault
Korea Zinc, non-ferrous metal smelting company, has agreed to invest $50 million in Energy Vault, a Switzerland-based gravity storage specialist, in order to use its tech to decarbonise its refining and smelting operations in Australia.
Philippines’ San Miguel Corp to start operation of 690MW of batteries
Filipino conglomerate San Miguel Corp aims to complete 1GW of battery storage projects this year to make way for the integration of some 3GW of intermittent renewable energy generation.
Storing hydrogen with ‘nano-chocolates’
German scientists have developed a novel hydrogen storage method that relies on nanostructures – tiny nanoparticles made of the precious metal palladium – instead of high pressure and lower temperatures.
Reliance Industries to acquire sodium-ion battery provider Faradion
Reliance Industries said its solar unit will buy UK-based sodium-ion battery technology provider Faradion for GBP100 million (AUD$187 million) including debt, as the Indian conglomerate pushes forward with its ambitious plan to move into the renewable energy industry.
ARENA pours funding into advanced inverter capability batteries
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has announced a $100 million competitive funding round for grid scale batteries. While battery technology agnostic, the projects must be equipped with advanced inverter technology.
Carbon-air batteries vs hydrogen storage
Researchers from Tokyo Tech have developed an alternative to hydrogen energy storage which is smaller in size and more efficient. The system utilises carbon as an energy source and demonstrates superior power density and charge-discharge efficiency of 38% over 10 cycles.
Photon offloads solar farm to focus on ‘solar-hydro’ technology in Australia
Netherlands-based renewables developer Photon Energy has reaffirmed its commitment to Australian tech company RayGen Resources’ innovative ‘solar-hydro’ technology, offloading its majority stake in the 160 MWdc Maryvale Solar Farm so it can focus its future development activities in Australia on large-scale projects featuring the solar-plus-storage technology.
BHP looks to use 35-tonne blocks to store renewable energy for its WA operations
An agreement with Energy Vault may see resource company BHP stack 35-tonne blocks to store wind and solar energy in the Pilbara, northern Western Australia.
