Saturday, 26 September 2026

Three grid-scale battery storage facilities in Nova Scotia, each rated at 50 MW and 200 MWh with four-hour duration, are now operational, according to SaltWire. One of the sites is in White Rock, with the other two located in Bridgewater and Waverley.

The White Rock facility began operating on Sept. 3 after performance testing and commissioning in August, McLellan told SaltWire.

McLellan said the sites are transmission connected, and their main purpose is to draw renewable energy from the transmission grid and feed it back as needed. He added that the batteries could also serve as a backup in the event of a power outage.

The Tennessee Valley Authority logged 12 all-time power demand peaks for fall months during September, according to reporting by WHOPAM.

A heat dome pushed temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across the Tennessee Valley in September, driving electricity demand to unprecedented levels and forcing the utility to break multiple regional power records.

TVA delivered more than 30,000 MW of electricity on 17 separate days during the month, WHOPAM reported, with the utility crediting its diverse energy mix for meeting the sustained load.

The Department of Energy has launched a $5.25 billion grid program covering 26 states, combining $1.9 billion in direct federal funding with $3.3 billion in utility matching contributions, according to reporting by WIBC on the agency's new SPARK initiative.

The wider federal package will rebuild more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines and roll out grid-enhancing technologies across close to 21,000 miles, per Ideastream. WIBC reports the plan leans on high-capacity conductors, smart sensors and advanced software to lift transmission capacity by 2,000 to 4,000 MW.

In Ohio, the federal government said at a Columbus event that it will put $130 million toward upgrading existing transmission lines, matched by an equal amount of private investment from companies including FirstEnergy and American Electric Power, according to Ideastream.

The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) unveiled a dedicated "BESS for C&I" initiative at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, targeting the commercial and industrial storage segment, according to Scoopearth.

Commercial and industrial battery storage capacity in India has climbed from 40 MWh to 650 MWh and is projected to approach 4 GWh by FY2027, Scoopearth reported.

The platform will run monthly sessions starting October 2026, convening industry participants, developers and policymakers to work through deployment, economics and best practices.

Zhejiang province will allow independent grid-side storage projects to trade in its electricity spot market, according to ESS News.

The notice came from provincial regulators and the Zhejiang office of China’s National Energy Administration.

An attached project list covers 40 projects with 2.54 GW of power capacity and 5.1 GWh of energy capacity.

Of those, 28 projects totaling 2.13 GW and 4.27 GWh are commercially operating and centrally dispatched. They are eligible for the energy and frequency-regulation markets.

San Francisco approved the final environmental impact report for its proposed acquisition of the local PG&E power grid despite the utility's appeals, according to Event Registry.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors also unanimously rejected a PG&E maneuver to delay the takeover effort, Event Registry reported.

PG&E must publish its estimate of the value of its San Francisco assets by Oct. 20.

San Francisco valued the utility's infrastructure at USD 3.4 billion in April, according to Event Registry.

GridStor secured USD 220 million in financing for its 100 MW/400 MWh White Tank battery energy storage project in Arizona, Event Registry reported.

ING Capital, KeyBank and Zions Capital Markets arranged the financing.

The Maricopa County project is expected to enter service in the first half of 2027.

The facility will operate under a 20-year tolling agreement with Arizona Public Service, which serves approximately 1.4 million homes and businesses, according to Event Registry.

Egyptian and Cypriot officials reviewed progress on an electricity interconnection project intended to connect Egypt’s power grid with the European electricity network, SEE News reported.

The talks also covered increasing renewable energy’s share in the electricity mix, promoting joint clean-energy investments and strengthening both countries’ grids to carry additional generation capacity, according to SEE News.

The Cypriot government considers the project important, while its ambassador cited its economic benefits and role in strengthening ties with Egypt, Egypt Gazette reported.

Hyundai Motor Group launched a South Korean pilot project to reuse retired electric-vehicle batteries for stationary storage at fast-charging stations, according to Event Registry.

Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution are testing a used battery energy storage system with E-GMP vehicle batteries at fast-charging sites. The first installation in Hwaseong, South Korea, has 200 kWh of storage capacity, Event Registry reported.

Event Registry also reported that Factorial and SK On will jointly assess the technical feasibility and manufacturing considerations for Factorial's FEST solid-state battery technologies.

Their memorandum of understanding is non-binding except for certain customary binding provisions.

GRIDCo completed a 4-kilometre, 161-kilovolt transmission line connecting a solar power project in Yendi to the Tamale-Yendi transmission network, according to Event Registry.

The project is expected to facilitate the integration of the 50 MW Yendi Solar Farm into Ghana's national transmission system, Event Registry reported.

GRIDCo said its in-house technical teams executed the entire project, making it the company's longest internally completed transmission line project to date.

The company also integrated a 66-megavolt-ampere transformer into the transmission system as part of the project, according to Event Registry.

Allentown-based PPL Electric Utilities will receive up to USD 71.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for a power-grid upgrade, the Associated Press reported.

The utility will modernize about 30 miles of high-voltage transmission line serving the Susquehanna Valley, Greater Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania, according to Pennsylvania Capital-Star.

PPL said the upgrades will improve reliability and help meet the region's growing energy needs.