French renewables developer and power producer Voltalia saw its annual electricity production reach a record high last year, with the company boosted by a 25% rise in installed solar capacity.
Trade association SolarPower Europe has welcomed a proposal from the European Union’s executive branch that would see all new buildings in the bloc be powered by renewables “as far as possible” and emit no on-site carbon emissions from fossil fuels from 2030.
Italian utility Enel will invest around €70 billion (US$78 billion) by 2030 to scale up its renewables and energy storage portfolio as it brings forward plans to reach net zero to 2040.
Investors are becoming increasingly comfortable with energy storage as an asset class but numerous regulatory and market design hurdles remain across European markets.
The first awards of funding designed to “turbocharge” UK projects developing long-duration energy storage technologies have been made by the country’s government, with £6.7 million (US$9.11 million) pledged.
The EStor-Lux battery site in south Belgium fully launched commercial activity in December and has successfully participated in grid frequency auctions.
Optimisation deals have been announced for battery storage systems in the UK for Habitat Energy and Centrica with developers Eelpower and Arlington Energy respectively.
Following last year’s acquisition, independent power plant developer Green Frog Power has rebranded as Pulse Clean Energy and unveiled a target of 1GW+ of energy storage assets in the UK.
Liam Stoker and Andy Colthorpe return for the February 2022 episode of the Solar Media Podcast.
Standalone storage, demand from commercial and industrial (C&I) customers and new types of grid services will increasingly help drive growth in energy storage in the coming years, but the future mix between battery-based and alternative storage types is still unclear.
