The agreement – signed by Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar and Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of Octopus at the UAE Climate Tech Forum – follows Masdar’s commitment to invest £1 billion in UK battery storage after acquiring developer Arlington Energy in October 2022.

Octopus’ Kraken software will allow Masdar to control the performance of its batteries and enable them to store and discharge energy in the “greenest possible way.”

“Masdar and Octopus Energy share a common commitment to pioneering innovative clean energy solutions that disrupt and transform the energy market, and as we expand our presence in the UK energy sector, through our £1 billion investment in battery storage, Kraken will provide us with the flexibility we need to scale our business rapidly,” said Ramahi.

“Kraken’s experience and expertise in battery storage asset management will help us to maximize the value of our investments and support the UK’s ambitious energy transition goals.”

To read the full version of this story, visit Solar Power Portal.

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It is TotalEnergies’ largest BESS project in Europe and builds on a series of units in neighbouring France deployed and commissioned by Saft, which it acquired in 2016, totalling 130MWh. These include a 61MWh system completed in late 2021, the largest in France, and a 25MWh system completed a few months later.

The Antwerp project will be made up of 40 Intensium Max High Energy lithium-ion containers from Saft and will be online by the end of 2024.

“This first storage project in Belgium – our largest in Europe – will help ensure the stability of the Belgian and European grids to allow for greater development of renewable energies. It fits in perfectly with the multi-energy strategy of TotalEnergies,” said Olivier Jouny, Senior Vice President Integrated Power at the company.

“Backed by Saft’s battery energy storage system expertise, TotalEnergies intends to deploy storage solutions – notably in countries where we are actively developing renewable energies. With its energy storage solutions, TotalEnergies supports the growth of renewable energy production in the European energy mix.”

Belgium has a very active grid-scale market with battery storage projects taking advantage of ancillary service and energy trading opportunities.

Earlier this month, Netherlands-based BESS firm Alfen said it would deploy a two-hour project for Centrica Business Solutions in Oostende while at the end of April, utility Engie announced plans to deploy 380MW of projects in the country.

Saft, also based in France, produces battery systems for a range of sectors including defense and transportation.

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Janet Yellen

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have released guidance that provides detailed information about the domestic content bonus under the Inflation Reduction Act for clean energy projects and facilities that meet American manufacturing and sourcing requirements.

“The domestic content bonus under the Inflation Reduction Act will boost American manufacturing, including in iron and steel,” says Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. “These tax credits are key to driving investment and ensuring all Americans share in the growth of the clean energy economy.”

Under the Production Tax Credit (PTC), facilities that meet domestic content requirements receive a 10 percent bonus. Under the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), projects that meet the domestic content requirement receive up to a 10-percentage-point bonus.

Projects are eligible for the full value of the bonus only if they meet the domestic content requirement and one of the following requirements: 1) the project has a maximum net output of less than 1 MW of energy; 2) construction of the project began before January 29, 2023; or 3) the project satisfies the Inflation Reduction Act’s prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. 

The domestic content bonus applies to facilities built using the required amounts of domestically produced steel, iron and manufactured products. To receive the bonus, all steel and iron manufacturing processes must take place in the United States. A statutorily required minimum percentage of the costs of the manufactured products and components of manufactured products that comprise a facility must come from products and components that were mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States.

“The IRA’s domestic content incentive represents a monumental opportunity to continue growing our domestic clean energy supply chain,” comments the American Clean Power Association’s JC Sandberg. “This guidance will help provide clarity around its eligibility requirements, unlocking billions of dollars of investment in American clean energy manufacturing and its workforce.”

Consistent with the Buy America rules administered by the Federal Transit Administration, a manufactured product is produced in the United States if the manufacturing processes for the product take place in the United States and all the components of the product are manufactured in the United States. Components include any articles, materials, or supplies that are incorporated into the manufactured product. The guidance also includes key clarifications around the treatment of labor costs, to ensure the focus of the incentive remains on domestic manufacturing.

To assist taxpayers in determining the applicable steel, iron, or manufactured product standards, the Treasury Department and the IRS are providing a safe harbor for certain types of clean energy projects, which was recommended by the Federal Transit Administration and the Department of Energy.

For more details, click here.

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Aspen Power says it has acquired a portfolio of 15 ground-mounted community solar projects in Maine, ranging in size from 1.4 MW to 7 MW and totaling 37 MW. The projects are located across the state, from the southern region through Bangor.

One of the projects – in Berwick, Maine – has already reached commercial operation, with a capacity of 2.36 MW.

The energy produced by all the projects will be used by community solar subscribers in the state and support Maine’s goal of achieving 80% renewable energy by 2030.

“We are proud to be a part of Maine’s renewable energy transition and are committed to providing clean and sustainable energy solutions to our communities,” says Dan Gulick, senior vice president of Aspen Power. “We believe that the acquisition of these solar projects is an important step towards achieving that goal, and we look forward to bringing all of them online to benefit the communities they serve.”

Aspen Power recently acquired Safari Energy, significantly expanding the company’s footprint in the commercial and industrial solar market.

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Andrew Sendy

According to SolarReviews’ 2022 Solar Industry Survey, the market continues to show signs of strong growth, with 63% of residential installers reporting increased demand in 2022, and 73% expecting to sell more solar in 2023.

“This survey provides essential data about how the industry has dealt with the unique challenges of 2022, from supply chain issues to a shortage of trained workers – whilst companies prepare to grow in response to the Inflation Reduction Act,” says Andrew Sendy, president of SolarReviews.

Important trends revealed in the survey’s results include the following:

30% say they plan to take the Section 48 Investment Tax Credit for the first time;

81% now provide energy storage installation, while 67% offer EV charger installation; 63% have both additional services;

67% of all respondents reported supply-chain issues of the same or worse severity in 2022 compared to 2021;

38% were waiting to see final guidance before deciding whether to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act’s low-income incentives (guidance was released while collecting responses);

34% reported they would not expand low-income offerings or the new incentives didn’t affect their business

The survey was conducted from February 6 through March 3 and collected feedback from nearly 450 respondents from across the U.S. solar industry.

The full report can be found here.

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CS Energy has begun construction on a 10 MW landfill community solar project located in Berkeley, N.J. The development consists of two 5 MW solar energy systems and is the first ever project to simultaneously close a landfill and build a community solar system atop the landfill, the company says.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with CS Energy and Luminace to close this landfill at no cost to our taxpayers and residents while also offering more affordable and cleaner sources of energy to our community,” says Berkeley Township Mayor Carmen Amato. “My administration and the council have set robust goals for resiliency and green initiatives and are pleased to have this outside the box, strategic method for generating revenue for the township on township-owned land.”

After landfill operations ceased in 1982, the Berkeley Township Landfill remained uncapped due to lack of funds available to close the landfill. CS Energy and Berkeley Township entered a public-private partnership to close the landfill in 2020, and CS Energy spent nearly two years completing all relevant studies and permitting work required to make the project a reality.

Part of New Jersey’s Community Solar Energy Pilot Program, which is now being established as a permanent, long-term initiative, this project also contributes significantly to the state’s goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2035.

Once this project is complete, CS Energy will have completed 310 MW of solar projects in the state, and a total of 231 MW of landfill solar projects in the U.S.

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Chris Hurley

FirstLight Power, a clean power producer, developer and energy storage company, recently completed the expansion of its corporate credit facility led by Royal Bank of Canada, the Toronto-Dominion Bank and Export Development Canada.

The credit facility, totaling $97.5 million, provides the company with more resources for long-term growth of its business, including advancement of its solar and battery project development pipeline to complement its portfolio of more than 1.6 GW of hydropower, storage and solar assets.

“Over the past two years, FirstLight has moved aggressively to expand our focus beyond our traditional hydropower operations,” says Chris Hurley, senior vice president of finance. “FirstLight is excited to have the support of its lenders to continue our growth … as we advance our mission of accelerating the decarbonization of electric grids across.

This expanded credit facility follows a number of recent growth-related endeavors from FirstLight:

The integration of H2O Power, adding 150 MW of generating capacity and representing the company’s first venture into the Canadian market;

Joining a successful investment consortium that secured a lease in the NY Bight Offshore Wind auction;

Creating a new partnership in Connecticut to advance new hybrid renewable energy projects at the company’s Connecticut properties;

Collaborating with New Leaf Energy (formerly Borrego) to develop new solar and storage generation at hydropower facilities in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

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Of a AU$2.8 billion (US$1.87 billion) total package of funding for renewable energy, storage and transmission line upgrades, the vast majority – AU$2.3 billion – will go towards the two large-scale BESS assets.

Notably, both will be up to 4-hour duration systems, which marks a big step for the Australian market which has been largely dominated by systems of up to 1-hour duration and only more recently joined by a handful of 1.5-hour and then 2-hour projects.

That’s likely to be due to the aim of the projects, which are planned to help the state manage its electricity supply and reliability as coal-powered thermal generation goes off the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) grid of the state’s southwestern regions.

That means they will likely be supplying firmed capacity from the growing share of renewable energy on the grid into the Wholesale Electricity Market of Western Australia, rather than the type of pure play merchant business model more commonly seen in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM), which covers most of the rest of the country moving east and southwards.

WA’s coal plants are earmarked for decommissioning by 2030, and leveraging the high shares of rooftop solar PV in the state, as well as adding new large-scale wind resources through funding in the budget, are considered key to this – with storage and transmission as enablers.

Another contender for ‘Australia’s biggest BESS’

The flagship project of the two is a 500MW/2,000MWh BESS at Collie, a historic seat of Australia’s coal industry. The handover from coal to cleaner energy sources has been coming for some time, and private entities including French independent power producer (IPP) Neoen have proposed their own BESS projects for Collie too.

The Western Australia government said the system it will fund will be operational before the end of 2025. As things stand, it would be Australia’s biggest BESS to date, although given the recent frequency of announcements and the Commonwealth government’s plan to launch large-scale dispatchable renewables tenders, it could well be joined by similar-sized or even bigger projects in the pipeline by then.

Current holder of the title is the 300MW/450MWh Victorian Big Battery, while the biggest project committed to is the Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales, which will be at least 1,400MWh.

The state will also fund a 200MW/800MWh BESS at Kwinana, just south of Perth. That would join a 100MW/200MWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) BESS already completed and close to reaching commercial operations, which is being delivered by state-owned energy company Synergy and BESS equipment supplier-system integrator NHOA.

Energy-Storage.news has reached out to Synergy to enquire if the Western Australian government’s energy company will be playing a leading role in either project. Synergy owns the existing coal-fired plant at Collie, which will be retired in 2027.

The news today is perhaps not a major surprise – the WA government has funded feasibility studies for battery installations in Collie and elsewhere in the state, although statements issued previously laid expectations that such a project would be more in the range of 600MWh to 800MWh.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 1st Energy Storage Summit Asia, 11-12 July 2023 in Singapore. The event will help give clarity on this nascent, yet quickly growing market, bringing together a community of credible independent generators, policymakers, banks, funds, off-takers and technology providers. For more information, go to the website.

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Terabase Energy, a company that provides digital and automation solutions for solar power plants, is launching Terafab, an automated, digital field factory for solar construction.

Terafab says it uses a modern factory approach, increasing installation productivity by a factor of 2x over traditional methods. The Terafab system combines a digital twin of the project site, advanced supply chain and inventory management systems, an onsite wireless digital command center, a field-deployed automated assembly line, and specialized installation rovers into a seamless 24/7 operation.

The company says Terafab’s key benefits include the following:

Faster construction: High-throughput, 24/7 operation and modularity enable rapid ramp-ups and higher solar field construction speeds, reducing project schedules;

Improved worker health and safety: Terafab eliminates the physical safety risk of construction workers needing to lift solar panels and steel structures by utilizing automation on a climate-controlled assembly line;

Alleviation of labor shortages: Terafab increases labor productivity by 2x, addressing the solar industry’s current labor shortages;

Reduced construction cost: Terafab’s installation efficiency and time savings lower overall project costs, enabling a lower levelized cost of energy;

Scalability: The modular design can be replicated and deployed quickly.

“We successfully field-tested Terafab last year, building 10 MW of a 400 MW site in Texas,” says Matt Campbell, CEO and co-founder of Terabase Energy. “[This] launch is the next step forward to rapid commercial scale-up.”

“Not only does our partnership with Terabase bring advanced installation technology to our next-generation Series 7 solar module, but it also enables a closed-loop packaging recycling system,” adds Nick Strevel, vice president, product, at First Solar.

Terabase recently opened its Woodland, Calif., Terafab manufacturing facility – a “factory to make factories,” the company says. The Woodland facility is currently manufacturing the first gigawatt  of Terafab assembly lines with a capacity to build more than 10 GW of Terafabs per year.

The Terafab system will be commercially deployed on several projects starting this year.

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Adjusted EBITDA loss was US$24.8 million, around half of the year prior’s and CEO Julian Nebreda said the company expected to be adjusted EBITDA positive in the final quarter of this fiscal year.

That is earlier than previously guided for (2024). Fluence is raising its fiscal guidance for the full-year 2023, from US$1.6-1.8 billion in revenues to US$1.85-2.05 billion, around 13-15%. It similarly raised its guidance from US$1.4-1.7 billion previously in the preceding quarter.

In an earnings call, CEO Julian Nebreda said that the increase in forecast revenues was largely thanks to the “overall machine working better”, including battery production, supply chain, and de-risking its deliveries to customers.

The company’s share price jumped 12% to 22.44 USD as the markets opened today (11 May), the first period of trading after the results which were post-close yesterday. However, the price has since fallen back down to 20.28 USD at the time of writing over the course of today, cancelling out most of that boost.

New CEO Nebreda was brought in to ensure the company’s growth continued in a more profitable manner by focusing on higher-margin projects, according to an analyst interviewed by Energy-Storage.news at the time of Nebreda’s appointment. The company then all-but-confirmed this in its response to this suggestion from James West, analyst at investment banking advisory firm Evercore.

This looks to be the case, with the 78% growth in Q1 and now 104% in Q2 impressive but still much lower than the 250% seen in Q2 2022, and the increasing profitability. Nebreda said a key to this was segmenting its customer base. The fall in lithium carbonate pricing and a more liquid market for batteries has also helped, he said.

He also confirmed that some projects are still being delayed specifically as companies wait for IRS guidance around the 10% domestic content adder to the standalone investment tax credit (ITC), for which IRS guidance is expected during the current quarter.

Fluence has also revealed that it secured another energy-storage-as-transmission project, receiving a binding 200MW award, its third in the segment after ones in Germany and Lithuania, though it didn’t reveal where the third came from.

Fluence also appears to be reducing its exposure to projects it is deploying for or with AES Corporation and Siemens, the firms which founded it and controlling shareholders together. Revenue from ‘related parties’ fell from 72% of revenues in Q1 2022 and Q2 2022 combined, to 39% in Q1 2023 and Q1 2023 combined.

See a table of the company’s deployments, contracted backlog and pipeline of activity for the recent period, taken from the its quarterly presentation.

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