Alongside that desynchronisation, Kuhi touched on what the firm is hoping to achieve with its first project, the drivers behind Estonia’s grid-scale energy storage market, and more.
Grid-scale energy storage projects are being deployed in other Baltic nations Lithuania and Latvia. Latvia’s transmission system operator (TSO) AST selected Rolls-Royce Solutions for 80MW/160MWh of projects while Fluence has already deployed 200MW/200MWh of storage-as-transmission BESS for Lithuania’s TSO Litgrid.
Energy-Storage.news: What changes in the electricity sector in Estonia are driving the need for energy storage?
Kristjan Kuhi: Estonia and the whole Baltic region is currently rapidly increasing its renewable energy production. The more production of non-dispatchable renewable energy we have on the market, the more the electricity system will need storage to keep prices stable.
So ideally, the development of renewable energy production and energy storage development should go hand in hand.
In addition, the transition to a 15-minute balancing period and the desynchronisation of the Baltic electricity system from the Russian grid will increase the need for storage.
Can you provide an update on the decoupling from Russia and synchronising with the European system?
The desynchronisation from BRELL network is planned for February 2025. The Baltic TSO’s can give a more detailed overview of this plan.
In this project, Eesti Energia is definitely a key player with our dispatchable production capacities which can help to maintain the stability of the Baltic electricity system.
Can you explain your 25MW/50MWh BESS project: why it was launched and what it will be used for?
Eesti Energia will build the company’s first large-scale storage system at the Auvere industrial complex later this year to balance the fluctuations in electricity prices caused by the growth in renewable energy production and to support the stability of the electrical system. This is a pilot project to make sure the solution is suitable both in Estonia and the company’s other retail markets.
Estonia and the Baltics is scheduled to be decoupled from the Russian electricity system in 2025, after which the Baltic electricity grids will have to manage their own frequencies. Storage solutions will help to ensure that the electricity system is operational, i.e. that the balance between consumption and generation and frequency is guaranteed.
As batteries are able to react very quickly to changes in the electricity system, they are ideal assets for ensuring such ‘system services’.
Why did the initial procurement fail to secure a supplier, and how was the second structured differently to be successful?
Since it is our first storage project, we initially mis-evaluated some of the requirements in the first procurement. However, thanks to the feedback from the market, we were quickly able to make adjustments.
Why was LG chosen and when will the project come online?
LG’s proposed project was most suitable for Eesti Energia regarding the technology and its cost.
Can we have an update on your pumped hydro energy storage project?
The pumped hydroelectric power plant project is currently at the pre-study stage, where work continues to develop a commercially viable and technically feasible solution.
What other BESS projects are we likely to see in Estonia in the near future?
The 25MW/50MWh BESS project is a pilot project, which means that we want to convince ourselves that it is possible to design similar storage facilities outside Estonia, i.e. in Eesti Energia’s other home markets in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Future storage plans will depend primarily on the outcome of this large-scale energy storage system, but as things stand, the announced storage device will not be the last.

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The company, founded in 2005, required “significant” equity investment to enable its plans, including the construction of a factory in Queensland, to scale up manufacturing and develop its newest generation of hybrid flow batteries.
Despite receiving commitments from state and federal governments in Australia to support the plans, it was unable to match that investment as required, leading to it entering administration and appointing Richard Hughes and David Orr from consultancy Deloitte as Voluntary Administrators.
In an interview with Energy-Storage.news Premium, to be published later this week, Richard Hughes, a licensed liquidator, said that although he was only appointed to the case last Friday, he is “pretty encouraged by the early interest we’ve had.”
“We’ve got quite a number of parties that approached us, unsolicited, already and we’re only on about business day four. I’m encouraged by the early interest for sure, and we think that there definitely could be parties that come through and do something,” Hughes said.
Trading in the company’s shares remains suspended on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), while the administration process effectively protects Redflow and its subsidiaries from creditors.
The Deloitte administrators’ aim is to get concrete proposals for a deed of company arrangement, which is “essentially a contract between the company and its creditors to resolve how those [creditors’] claims will be dealt with in a restructured Redflow.”
Hughes and Orr hope to be able to take a suitable deed of company arrangement to creditors in around a month’s time, with creditors then set to vote to approve it, or not.
“At the moment, I’m calling for people who are interested in essentially leading a proposal like that, or sponsoring a proposal like that, to come forward and have a look and let us know what they would like to do,” Hughes said.
All options could be considered, from investment that injects capital into the company in return for equity, to potential new ownership that could set a new management direction for Redflow, the administrator said, under Australian administration rules, which according to the Deloitte consultant are fairly flexible.  

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The company, founded in 2005, required “significant” equity investment to enable its plans, including the construction of a factory in Queensland, to scale up manufacturing and develop its newest generation of hybrid flow batteries.
Despite receiving commitments from state and federal governments in Australia to support the plans, it was unable to match that investment as required, leading to it entering administration and appointing Richard Hughes and David Orr from consultancy Deloitte as Voluntary Administrators.
In an interview with Energy-Storage.news Premium, to be published later this week, Richard Hughes, a licensed liquidator, said that although he was only appointed to the case last Friday, he is “pretty encouraged by the early interest we’ve had.”
“We’ve got quite a number of parties that approached us, unsolicited, already and we’re only on about business day four. I’m encouraged by the early interest for sure, and we think that there definitely could be parties that come through and do something,” Hughes said.
Trading in the company’s shares remains suspended on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), while the administration process effectively protects Redflow and its subsidiaries from creditors.
The Deloitte administrators’ aim is to get concrete proposals for a deed of company arrangement, which is “essentially a contract between the company and its creditors to resolve how those [creditors’] claims will be dealt with in a restructured Redflow.”
Hughes and Orr hope to be able to take a suitable deed of company arrangement to creditors in around a month’s time, with creditors then set to vote to approve it, or not.
“At the moment, I’m calling for people who are interested in essentially leading a proposal like that, or sponsoring a proposal like that, to come forward and have a look and let us know what they would like to do,” Hughes said.
All options could be considered, from investment that injects capital into the company in return for equity, to potential new ownership that could set a new management direction for Redflow, the administrator said, under Australian administration rules, which according to the Deloitte consultant are fairly flexible.  

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Construction on the Western Downs Battery started in late 2023. It will provide essential services to help balance the grid network and is being built adjacent to a 460MWp ground-mount solar PV power plant, with these making up Neoen’s Western Downs Green power Hub.
Neoen hopes the stage one BESS will come online in early 2025 during the Australian summer. The stage two BESS is expected to be operational in July 2026. The combined capacity will reach 540MW/1,080MWh.
Neoen, AGL’s first virtual battery agreement
Readers of Energy-Storage.news will be aware that this is the second agreement the two companies signed, the first formalising in 2022.
The initial agreement pertained to 70MW/140MWh power and energy from the 100MW/200MWh Capital Battery project located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Under the terms of the first deal, AGL can virtually charge or discharge energy over the five-minute settlement (5MS) trading intervals in the National Electricity Market (NEM). This will help the utility address the increasing difference between times of abundant solar generation and energy demand, as well as the peak demand periods in the evening.
It is unknown specifically what this second agreement will be used for. However, AGL’s chief operating officer, Markus Brokhof, said it will “increase the number of tools we [AGL] can use to support our customers’ needs while also supporting electricity supply into the grid”.
“Virtual battery agreements provide flexibility within our firming portfolio without the requirement to build, operate, and maintain the physical battery,” Brokhof added.
Neoen registers 400MWh BESS as a bidirectional unit
In other news, Neoen last week (21 August) registered its 200MW/400MWh Blyth grid-forming BESS as a bidirectional unit, becoming the second to do so on the Market Management System.
The bidirectional unit can charge and discharge energy to support the grid and provide ancillary services, enhancing overall system flexibility.
The BESS will deliver energy generated by a Neoen-owned wind farm in Goyder, about 60km away, to mining and resources company BHP. This wind farm is part of Neoen’s hybrid renewable energy facility development called Goyder South Renewables Zone. It will eventually comprise 1200MW of wind power, 600MW of solar PV, and 900MW of battery energy storage.

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Construction on the Western Downs Battery started in late 2023. It will provide essential services to help balance the grid network and is being built adjacent to a 460MWp ground-mount solar PV power plant, with these making up Neoen’s Western Downs Green power Hub.
Neoen hopes the stage one BESS will come online in early 2025 during the Australian summer. The stage two BESS is expected to be operational in July 2026. The combined capacity will reach 540MW/1,080MWh.
Neoen, AGL’s first virtual battery agreement
Readers of Energy-Storage.news will be aware that this is the second agreement the two companies signed, the first formalising in 2022.
The initial agreement pertained to 70MW/140MWh power and energy from the 100MW/200MWh Capital Battery project located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Under the terms of the first deal, AGL can virtually charge or discharge energy over the five-minute settlement (5MS) trading intervals in the National Electricity Market (NEM). This will help the utility address the increasing difference between times of abundant solar generation and energy demand, as well as the peak demand periods in the evening.
It is unknown specifically what this second agreement will be used for. However, AGL’s chief operating officer, Markus Brokhof, said it will “increase the number of tools we [AGL] can use to support our customers’ needs while also supporting electricity supply into the grid”.
“Virtual battery agreements provide flexibility within our firming portfolio without the requirement to build, operate, and maintain the physical battery,” Brokhof added.
Neoen registers 400MWh BESS as a bidirectional unit
In other news, Neoen last week (21 August) registered its 200MW/400MWh Blyth grid-forming BESS as a bidirectional unit, becoming the second to do so on the Market Management System.
The bidirectional unit can charge and discharge energy to support the grid and provide ancillary services, enhancing overall system flexibility.
The BESS will deliver energy generated by a Neoen-owned wind farm in Goyder, about 60km away, to mining and resources company BHP. This wind farm is part of Neoen’s hybrid renewable energy facility development called Goyder South Renewables Zone. It will eventually comprise 1200MW of wind power, 600MW of solar PV, and 900MW of battery energy storage.

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Construction on the Western Downs Battery started in late 2023. It will provide essential services to help balance the grid network and is being built adjacent to a 460MWp ground-mount solar PV power plant, with these making up Neoen’s Western Downs Green power Hub.
Neoen hopes the stage one BESS will come online in early 2025 during the Australian summer. The stage two BESS is expected to be operational in July 2026. The combined capacity will reach 540MW/1,080MWh.
Neoen, AGL’s first virtual battery agreement
Readers of Energy-Storage.news will be aware that this is the second agreement the two companies signed, the first formalising in 2022.
The initial agreement pertained to 70MW/140MWh power and energy from the 100MW/200MWh Capital Battery project located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Under the terms of the first deal, AGL can virtually charge or discharge energy over the five-minute settlement (5MS) trading intervals in the National Electricity Market (NEM). This will help the utility address the increasing difference between times of abundant solar generation and energy demand, as well as the peak demand periods in the evening.
It is unknown specifically what this second agreement will be used for. However, AGL’s chief operating officer, Markus Brokhof, said it will “increase the number of tools we [AGL] can use to support our customers’ needs while also supporting electricity supply into the grid”.
“Virtual battery agreements provide flexibility within our firming portfolio without the requirement to build, operate, and maintain the physical battery,” Brokhof added.
Neoen registers 400MWh BESS as a bidirectional unit
In other news, Neoen last week (21 August) registered its 200MW/400MWh Blyth grid-forming BESS as a bidirectional unit, becoming the second to do so on the Market Management System.
The bidirectional unit can charge and discharge energy to support the grid and provide ancillary services, enhancing overall system flexibility.
The BESS will deliver energy generated by a Neoen-owned wind farm in Goyder, about 60km away, to mining and resources company BHP. This wind farm is part of Neoen’s hybrid renewable energy facility development called Goyder South Renewables Zone. It will eventually comprise 1200MW of wind power, 600MW of solar PV, and 900MW of battery energy storage.

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The 9.4 MW solar farm, which includes two co-located solar arrays made up of more than 17,000 solar modules, represents a unique repurposing of acreage that was previously developed as a golf course. (Photo: Nexamp)

Nexamp and TurningPoint Energy (TPE) have completed a 9.4 MW solar farm in Warren, R.I., which includes two co-located solar arrays made up of 17,000 solar modules on acreage previously developed as a golf course. 

TPE developed the project, and Nexamp built, owns and operates it. Construction began in 2022, with power delivered to the grid for the first time last month. Located in the Rhode Island Energy service territory, it is part of Rhode Island’s Virtual Net Metering program, exclusively serving schools, non-profits and municipalities.

“This is our largest solar project in Rhode Island to date, adding to our rapidly growing national solar portfolio and extending our longstanding relationship with TPE as a valued development partner,” says Jenn DeLaney, vice president of Channel Operations at Nexamp. 

“Each project we build, whether we develop it ourselves or work with partners, represents a long-term commitment to the host community and an opportunity to make renewable energy more widely available to all. We are pleased to bring the benefits of solar to important local organizations with this latest project in Warren.”

This solar project is slated to provide energy savings to 15 area non-profit organizations, schools, cities and towns that have signed an energy sales agreement with Nexamp and get their power from Rhode Island Energy. 

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Josh Goldberg

Sunstone Credit has financed a $5 million, 2.8 MW project portfolio for King Energy, an energy solutions provider for commercial multi-tenant properties. 

The project financed installation of solar systems serving 60 tenants across seven retail shopping centers in California, including locations in Reedley, Stockton, San Mateo, Bakersfield and Half Moon Bay. 

“This project is unique because it makes solar energy accessible to businesses that might not be able to afford it otherwise,” says Josh Goldberg, Sunstone Credit co-founder and CEO. 

“Our financing, coupled with King Energy’s ability to offer property owners and their tenants discounted solar energy services and consolidated payments, democratizes access to solar while driving a clean, green future for all.”

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A Chaberton Energy’s completed community solar projects (Source: PR Newswire)

Chaberton Energy has commenced construction on Lime Kiln, a 2.9 MW community solar project located in Fulton, Howard County, Md. 

The project was developed by Chaberton and is owned and operated by Pivot Energy. It will be part of the Maryland Community Solar program.

“This is another big win for clean energy and for equitable access to renewable energy in our home state of Maryland,” says Mike Doniger, Chaberton co-founder and chief operating officer. “This is a great example of how community solar can work for local residents, and I can’t wait to see this project power up.”

The Lime Kiln project will use 15 acres on a 57-acre tract of land and is expected to include local pollinators. It is slated to be operational next year.

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Groundbreaking at Rock Cut Solar Project in Rockford, Ill. (Source: GlobeNewswire)

Summit Ridge Energy and Trajectory Energy Partners have broken ground at the Rock Cut Solar project in Rockford, Ill. 

The project, owned and operated by Summit Ridge, is a 6.2 MW community-driven community solar (CDCS) project developed by Trajectory Energy Partners and expected to be operational by the second half of next year.

As a CDCS project, Rock Cut Solar aims to establish a partnership with Rockford and Winnebago County. Part of the project is the Rock Cut Solar Partnership, made up of a team of local community members who were engaged in the development of Rock Cut Solar.  

Included in the partnership are two organizations slated to act as long-term collaborators on the project: Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity and Get Connected 815, both of which address housing and employment issues in Rockford and Winnebago County. Rock Cut Solar will continue to support these two organizations once in operation. 

This collaboration marks the companies’ thirteenth project together aimed at delivering utility savings to Illinois communities. 

“We’re thrilled to break ground on the Rock Cut Solar project,” says Mark Raeder, Summit Ridge Energy principal.  

“It’s a unique project that shows how transformative sustainable energy solutions can be, especially when its community is united in a shared vision and goal. This project is a perfect example of Summit Ridge’s commitment to community-driven solar initiatives, which provide clean energy to communities that could otherwise be left out of the clean energy revolution. Equally important, we’re able to create local jobs and reduce utility costs for residents through projects like these. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.” 

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