PosHYdon says it wants to validate the integration of three energy systems in the Dutch North Sea: offshore wind, offshore gas, and offshore hydrogen. The project will involve the installation of a hydrogen plant on the Neptune Energy (Eni) Q13a-A platform. The PosHYdon pilot project has started onshore testing at an InVesta site in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. PosHYdon aims to produce green hydrogen on an operational gas platform in the Dutch North Sea. The project developer said it will be the first time that three offshore energy systems will be integrated. Hydrogen will be transported to la ..read more

Sinovoltaics has released its latest energy storage manufacturers ranking report, based on balance sheet assessments and publicly available financial information. It lists US-based Tesla as number one, followed by South Korean’s LG Energy Solution, Taiwan-based Kung Long Battery, China's Mustang Battery, along with US-based Solid Power in the top five. The latest Sinovoltaics financial stability ranking of battery energy storage system producers, which is based on a balance sheet model and publicly available financial information, lists US-based Tesla as number one, followed by South Korean’s ..read more

The authorities in Ireland have opened a €20 million ($21.5 million) fund for energy research and innovation. It will support projects contributing to the nation's clean energy transition, such as heat decarbonization and energy storage. The Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) said it will invest €20 million of government funds into energy research and innovation this year. The funds are earmarked for energy research development and demonstration (RD&D) projects that will help accelerate Ireland‘s transition to a clean and secure energy future, said the SEAI. Since 2018, more than ..read more

UK scientists have proposed a way to combine photovoltaic-thermal energy with Stirling engines and battery storage in residential buildings. Despite the high upfront costs, they said the cost-effective hybrid co-generation system could significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Researchers from Durham University in the United Kingdom have developed a hybrid cogeneration system that combines photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collectors with a Stirling engine (SE) and battery storage. The system is designed to meet the demand for electricity and domestic hot water (DHW). “The advantages of such a hybrid syste ..read more

The Japanese authorities selected 30 battery storage projects in the procurement exercise. The selected developers and plant owners will be awarded a 20-year fixed revenue. Japan's Organisation for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators (OCCTO) has published the results of the country's first capacity auction, the so-called Long-Term Decarbonization Power Source Auction. Through the procurement exercise, the organization assigned 1.09 GW of battery storage capacity spread across 30 projects, 1.3 GW of nuclear power capacity, and 824 MW of thermal power capacity. Furthermore, it ..read more

BSES Rajdhani Power’s new 20 MW/ 40 MWh project is India’s first utility-scale, standalone battery energy storage system to secure regulatory approval under Section 63 of the Indian Electricity Act, 2003. The project is supported by a concessional loan from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). From pv magazine India The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has granted regulatory approval to India’s first commercial standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) project. The project is being developed by BSES Rajdhani Power (BRPL) in partnership with IndiGrid and ..read more

Modeling shows that shifting just one-third of the electricity consumption of commercial and institutional buildings in Australia to the middle of the day, coinciding with peak solar supply, would create almost 12 GW of new peak capacity in the National Electricity Market. From pv magazine Australia The researchers behind the new “Buildings as Batteries” paper claim that a load shift in Australia to the middle of the day would save AUD 1.7 billion ($1.1 billion) per year. They claim it would also add additional peak capacity equivalent to 52% of Australia’s existing coal-generation fleet and s ..read more

A group of Chinese researchers has made a first attempt to integrate pumped hydro with compressed air storage and has found the latter may help the former to better deal with large head variations. Researchers from China's Harbin Institute of Technology proposed to combine pumped hydro storage systems with compressed air energy storage (CAES) technology in an attempt to address a well-known issue of pumped hydro schemes – dealing with large head variations in hydraulic machinery. “We have designed a novel pumped hydro compressed air energy storage system integrating pumped hydro storage, compr ..read more

The US Department of Energy says it is aiming for “clean” hydrogen production costs of $2/kg by 2026 and $1/kg by 2031. The US Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) has published a detailed strategy and planning document that will help guide hydrogen innovation and research in the coming years. It outlines HFTO's mission, goals, and strategic approach, said the Department of Energy. The document aims for “clean” hydrogen production costs of $2/kg by 2026 and $1/kg by 2031, but also electrolyzer system costa of $250/kW (low-temperature electrolyzers) and ..read more

A study led by Russia’s Skoltech and China’s HPSTAR suggests that rubidium and cesium additives could improve the efficiency of hydrogen batteries. Researcher Dmitrii Semenok tells pv magazine that "it is a question of changing the approach to the search for promising hydrogen storage materials." Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Italian scientists have synthesized two polyhydrides – cesium heptahydride (CsH7) and rubidium nonahydride (RbH9) – for the chemical storage of hydrogen. They claim they “can absorb as much four times” hydrogen as frequently used magnesium-nickel and zirconium ..read more