General Electric Co. said it will supply its 41-MW battery storage system to British energy storage operator Arenko, underscoring the conglomerate's desire to expand its renewables segment in the face of changing power markets. The battery storage facility will be located somewhere in the United Kingdom
The battery sector in the U.K. could rocket from 60 MW in 2016 to 12,000 MW by the end of 2021, according to a December 2017 paper from U.K. Renewable Energy Association and a group of British politicians. GE and Arenko's plan for large-scale deployment will address "the ever-changing needs of a modern energy system," Mirko Molinari, global commercial and marketing executive for GE Power's energy storage division, said in a statement.
GE has been expanding its renewable energy division while the company looks for ways to mitigate declining traditional power markets' effects. GE Power's operating profits fell 88% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2017 to $260 million. Meanwhile, GE Renewable Energy reported $203 million in profits in that same period, a 25% year-over-year increase, but the division is nowhere near big enough to compensate for GE Power's financial performance.
Miners finish their shift at a coal mine in China's Shanxi province. Though demand for coal has been declining, it will still supply 55% of China's energy demand in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. |
In China
Datong Coal Mine Group Co. Ltd. and Shanxi Shentou Power Corp. are among the companies that will invest a combined 6 billion yuan, or $956.1 million, to form the joint venture, Reuters reported. The joint venture will also focus on building an electricity transmission system between Shanxi and Jiangsu provinces, the second-biggest coal mining province and the second-biggest electricity consumer.
The joint venture comes as the country grapples with government plans to reduce its carbon footprint while consolidating the state-owned coal industry and providing enough electricity to the grid. Toward the end of 2017, residents in China's rural provinces suffered from a heating crisis, leading to the government halting its ban on coal burning.
Tesla Inc. will install 5-kW rooftop solar systems and 13.5-kWh Tesla batteries in 50,000 homes in South Australia
The virtual plant is designed to help Tesla prove to the regional government that it could solve its energy crisis. In November 2017, the company finished a 100-MW/129-MWh lithium-ion battery system at Neoen SAS' Hornsdale Wind Farm as part of its efforts to help meet peak summer demand.
Elsewhere
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