California

A Tesla Megapack battery caught fire at PG&E’s Elkhorn large-scale battery storage facility in Monterey County, California, in the early hours of Sept. 21. The fire was brought fully under control by the late afternoon, and its cause is under investigation.

The electrification of transportation is set to boost the need for solar energy buildout.

Solar might be more efficient than nuclear energy to supply power for a six-person extended mission to Mars that will involve a 480-day stay on the planet’s surface before returning to Earth, according to new US research.

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.

Redflow has signed its biggest global battery deal yet after agreeing to supply Californian biowaste tech firm Anaergia with a 2 MWh energy storage system. Redflow is hoping the US$1.2 million agreement for 192 of its zinc-bromine flow batteries will serve as a foundation for US market expansion.

Australian company Redflow has made its single largest sale, supplying 192 zinc-bromine flow batteries to waste conversion specialists Anaergia for US$1.2 million.

San Francisco has now joined other US cities in banning natural gas in new homes. The move is in stark contrast to the direction of energy policy in Australia, where the Morrison government seems stuck in reverse: spruiking a gas-led economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 182.5 MW/730 MWh Moss Landing energy storage system could eventually be expanded to 1.1 GWh – putting it on track to overshadow Tesla’s massive Hornsdale project in Australia.

Tesla’s new electric ute, the Cybertruck, may not be the most beautiful of vehicles, but that doesn’t seem to have cost it any attention. The unveiling almost broke the Internet, and a couple windows really did break in the process.

Scientists at Princeton have found solar and wind energy offer the added environmental benefit of reducing water usage, by comparison with hydroelectric dams. Their findings, say the researchers, could have a positive impact on groundwater sustainability in drought-prone regions such as California, where they conducted a case study.