BESS

JCI ‘in Power Solutions sale talks’ with investment firm

North American firm Brookfield Asset Management is at the centre of fresh speculation about a possible sell-off of Johnson Controls’ batteries business.

Brookfield, whose business interests include a graphite electrode manufacturing business and battery storage systems, could pick up JCI’s Power Solutions for between US$13 billion and $14bn, according to Reuters.

johnson controls

JCI

Brookfield Asset Management

BESS

George Oliver

BMW, Northvolt and Umicore join forces for cells recycling

The BMW Group has formed a joint technology consortium with Swedish lithium-ion start-up Northvolt and Belgium-based materials tech giant Umicore, to develop a “complete and sustainable value chain for battery cells for EVs in Europe”.

This announcement comes just weeks after BMW placed a “billion euro” order for EV batteries from China, saying that they “can’t wait” for Europe to build a battery cells industry.

The consortium’s main aim is to establish a closed life cycle loop for batteries to make battery cells sustainable. The partners said this would be achieved by creating a recyclable cell design and manufacturing process that uses mostly renewable energy.

SoCal Edison selects esVolta to shore up grid with storage

Utility-scale energy storage developer esVolta has been chosen to supply four lithium-ion battery storage systems to provide “incremental capacity” in California for utility Southern California Edison Company (SCE).

SCE said the systems, with a combined battery storage capacity of 38.5 megawatt-hours, would provide incremental capacity at specifically targeted locations, in order to improve the reliability of SCE’s electric distribution system”.

The installations in Riverside and Ventura counties— the contracts for which are subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission— will also “avoid more costly system upgrades that would otherwise be necessary to meet anticipated load demand”, SCE said.

Battery system at heart of microgrid in Micronesia

The government of the Pacific Ocean island nation of Palau has signed an agreement to install a battery system at the heart of a solar and storage microgrid.

The agreement with Engie Electro Power Systems (Engie EPS) will see the creation of the 100-megawatt ‘Armonia’ microgrid— comprising 45 megawatt-hours of battery storage and a 35MW solar photovoltaic project to be integrated with existing diesel generating facilities.

Engie EPS general manager and CEO, Carlalberto Guglielminotti, claimed the microgrid “would not be just one of the largest storage-enabled solar projects in world, but a pioneering showcase for the whole global energy sector”.

Renault to use EV batteries for ‘biggest stationary BESS’

The Renault car group has unveiled plans to build “the biggest stationary energy storage system using electric vehicle batteries ever designed in Europe” by 2020.

Renault said the 70-megawatt/60 megawatt-hour system will be installed across three sites in France and Germany— at Renault plants in Douai and Cleon, and at a former coal-fired plant in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Germany marks solar BESS ‘milestone’

Germany has welcomed the “milestone” installation of the country’s 100,000th grid-connected residential battery energy storage system.

Solar-battery storage projects will become “increasingly important” in pushing ahead with Germany’s energy transition (energiewende) policy, the German Solar Association (BSW) quoted parliamentary state secretary to the federal economic and energy minister, Thomas Barei, as saying.

Narada’s German BESS ‘can spur closer cooperation’

Chinese battery maker Narada’s launch of its first large-scale battery storage project outside of China in Germany should spur both countries to expand technical and economic cooperation, a top Chinese diplomat has said.

Narada formally inaugurated the 15-megawatt/25 megawatt-hour Langenreichenbach lead-carbon battery system near Leipzig, in partnership with German electric energy storage operator the Upside Group, on 14 September.

New lithium-ion battery storage facility online in UK

One of the UK’s biggest battery energy storage facilities to date has gone into operation in southeast England.

British Solar Renewables (BSR) said the 49.99-megawatt Stocking Pelham lithium-ion BESS, near Bishop’s Stortford, is connected to a nearby 400kV substation via a 132kV grid connection.

British Solar Renewables

Germany turns on ‘Europe’s biggest BESS’

A 48-megawatt BESS claimed to be Europe’s biggest battery storage facility has been switched on in Germany.

NEC Energy Solutions supplied the lithium-ion facility in Jardelund, in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, for energy services firm EnspireMe— a joint venture of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation and Dutch power company Eneco.

lithium-ion batteries

NEC

EnspireMe

RES Deutschland

US states ramp up battery storage

Nevada and California have announced moves to expand battery energy storage facilities across the two states.

In Nevada, utility NV Energy is asking regulators to back plans to build six solar energy plants with three related BESS facilities with a combined storage capacity of 100 megawatts.

lithium-ion batteries