How storage helps turn gold mines green

BY RICHARD HEAP: This week, BayWa and Suntrace fired up a 30MW solar plant with a 15.4MWh battery storage system at the Fekola gold mine in Mali in west Africa. The project is set to be 100% operational by the end of June and replace three of six heavy fuel oil generators that help Fekola … Continue reading →

What do Biden’s EV plans mean for storage?

BY ALEX CURTIS: Joe Biden has been named US president-elect. President Trump may not like it, and has shown he’s willing to fight in court. But Trump has to pull a rabbit out of his ‘Keep America Great’ hat to stop Biden being inaugurated in January. Strange things can happen of … Continue reading →

Scatec secures $1.2bn SN Power for storage sprint

Scatec's 53MW Los Prados solar project in Honduras (Pic source: Scatec Solar) BY RICHARD HEAP: Norwegian operator Scatec Solar wants to leapfrog its European rivals by expanding in hydro, storage and wind. Soon it won’t be solely solar. What happened On Friday 16th … Continue reading →

Are car makers going to save the world?

BY RICHARD HEAP: In my neighbourhood, there are a few things that arouse passions of the locals: bike thefts, planning applications, student house parties that don’t follow social distance rules. All of these will set the residents’ WhatsApp group on fire. But nothing gets the … Continue reading →

Can we use old coal mines for energy storage?

BY RICHARD HEAP: Renewable energy is doing its best to put coal mines out of action. But the need for energy storage could give these shafts a new lease of lease of life. That’s the hope of Scottish firm Gravitricity, which wants to use disused mine shafts for utility-scale … Continue reading →