Monday, 13 July 2026

A modeled scenario from the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology (Fraunhofer IEE) estimates that a larger fleet of battery storage and greater grid flexibility could trim roughly EUR 3.9 billion a year from costs borne by German electricity consumers and the federal budget.

The work was commissioned by three trade bodies: the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar), and the German Wind Energy Association (BWE).

In the central case, the modelers set 20 GW of battery power capacity running for four hours, an energy volume of 80 GWh. Applied across the window from January 2025 through the end of May 2026, that build-out would generate EUR 5.6 billion in economic savings.

Swapping the four-hour systems for two-hour units lowers the payoff but does not erase it. That configuration still yields about EUR 2.5 billion in yearly savings over the same window, the study found.

The extra capacity also reshapes the market picture. It would shrink stretches of negative wholesale power prices by almost 70% and pare renewable curtailment by roughly 3.3 TWh, close to 55%.

On the financing side, the researchers said the added storage would lower the risks tied to Germany's renewable support scheme by about 75% for solar, nearly 55% for onshore wind, and close to 60% for offshore wind.

The three associations pressed the government to quicken grid connection approvals, permit multi-use operation of battery systems, and open congestion management and redispatch services more widely to storage assets.

US virtual power plants (VPPs) reached 37.5 GW in 2025, driven by electric vehicles and batteries, according to Electrek.

California's VPP program is offering a $6,000 rebate for new home batteries, Electrek reported. Tesla's California VPP compensates Powerwall owners $2 per kWh contributed to the grid during emergency load reduction events, with homeowners expected to earn between $10 and $60 per event.

Tesla's California VPPs surpassed 100 MW in capacity last year, and the company also began building significant VPPs in Texas, according to Fred Lambert of Electrek. Tesla paid out $9.9 million to Powerwall customers in 2024, Electrek reported.

The Powerwall is being produced at nearly 700,000 units per year, according to Electrek.

Residential adoption of storage has climbed sharply. The attachment rate, the share of home solar owners adding a battery, grew from 6% in Q1 2020 to 25% in Q1 2024, according to Wood Mackenzie.

NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd. (NTPC REL) has launched a tender for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services covering a 300 MW/1,200 MWh battery energy storage system in Rajasthan, according to ESS News.

The project will connect to the interstate transmission system at NTPC REL's Nokhra solar plant in Rajasthan, ESS News reported.

The tender scope includes an annual maintenance contract under a service-level agreement running for a period of 15 years, according to ESS News.

The battery system must have a design life of 25 years from the date of commissioning, ESS News reported.

The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) has extended a USD 30 million senior secured corporate loan to Hassan Allam Utilities, with the bulk earmarked for the Minya project in Egypt, ESS News reported.

The two sides characterize Minya as a 1,000 MW solar array coupled with a 660 MWh battery energy storage system. The naming and scale diverge across disclosures: Infinity Power's project listing sizes the plant at 1,200 MWp of solar with 600 MWh of storage and calls the asset Nefer Minya, according to ESS News.

Infinity Power Holding holds 51% of the project, with the remaining 49% held by HAU Energy, according to Infinity Power.

The new commitment follows a USD 40 million project development facility that EAAIF arranged for Hassan Allam Utilities in December 2024, backing a 2.3 GW pipeline of renewable projects in Egypt, ESS News reported.

Martijn Proos, co-head of emerging market alternative credit at Ninety One, which manages EAAIF, tied the deal to "Egypt's transition to localized renewable power".

Egypt drew 89% of its electricity from fossil fuels in 2024, according to Ember.

A University of Cambridge-led research team found that keeping lithium-ion batteries under constant pressure could double their lifespan, according to electrive. The findings were published in the journal Nature Energy under the title 'The interplay between stack pressure, mechanical expansion and degradation pathways in lithium-ion batteries'.

The team compressed a pouch cell using pneumatic bellows, air-filled cushions that acted like a clamp, while a sensor monitored volume changes during the battery's charging and discharging cycles, electrive reported.

The researchers found that bellows pressure must be around 12.5 bar to positively impact battery lifespan, according to electrive. That corresponds to roughly four times the standard value of conventional button cell batteries.

The pressure level matters in both directions. Excess pressure can cause lithium plating to form on the anode, while insufficient pressure can cause the cathode to crack, electrive reported.

A patent has been filed by Cambridge Enterprise, the university's innovation arm. The research was partially supported by the European Research Council, the Faraday Institution, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, according to electrive.

The Caballero battery energy storage system, rated at 100 MW/400 MWh, has been running in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) grid since early 2025, according to Power Magazine.

The project supplies operating performance data at a time when most discussions of battery storage rely on modeled projections rather than actual operating data, Power Magazine reported.

Caballero's first year in the CAISO market gives operators a record of measured output rather than forecast estimates.