Thursday, 1 October 2026

India's cabinet approved a renewable energy program valued at INR 1.86 trillion, or USD 19.42 billion, to upgrade existing grids and add storage capacity, according to the country's information minister cited by Investing.com.

The package includes an INR 1.36 trillion plan to strengthen transmission systems within Indian states, according to a government statement reported by Investing.com. That transmission work will enable the evacuation of up to 135 GW of clean energy.

India also announced an INR 500 billion incentive plan to install 50 GWh of battery energy storage systems, according to Investing.com.

Nigeria's Federal Government is establishing a standing Off-Grid Coordination Secretariat to track commitments and risks, convene working groups and develop shared market intelligence, according to Business Post and Sweet Crude Reports.

The push follows calls from renewable-energy stakeholders for stronger coordination among government agencies, state governments, development partners and private-sector operators to curb project duplication, reduce waste and accelerate investment in the country's off-grid electricity market, Business Post reported.

Poor coordination has become a major challenge in the power sector, resulting in overlapping projects and inefficient use of scarce financial resources, according to REA chief executive Abba Abubakar Aliyu.

The secretariat will track commitments and risks, convene issue-based working groups and develop shared market intelligence, Sweet Crude Reports said.

Aliyu said a centralised sector-data platform would help stakeholders identify existing projects, prevent duplication and establish where new interventions are required.

A fire broke out on Sept. 18 at the Vistra battery energy storage facility in Moss Landing, according to TPG Online Daily. Authorities issued a shelter-in-place warning for residents near the facility.

The fire burned in the same facility damaged by the Jan. 16, 2025 fire, where cleanup and removal of lithium-ion batteries had been underway under oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of Sept. 23.

Delhi's Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) electricity losses fell from about 50% in 2002 to under 10% by the mid-2010s and to roughly 5% today, according to top10.dev.

The metric combines line loss with billing and collection failure.

The decline did not come from falling demand. Delhi's peak electricity load nearly tripled over the same period, from approximately 2.9 GW to more than 8 GW, according to top10.dev.

The Republic of Korea announced a power grid innovation plan intended to raise renewable energy capacity to over 100 GW by 2030, according to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment on Sept. 29.

The plan, presented at a Cabinet meeting, aims to redesign the power grid system to accommodate the higher renewable capacity target.

In Guangdong, renewable energy capacity surpassed coal power capacity for the first time, according to a progress report on building its new energy system.

India's cabinet approved a 1.86 trillion rupee (USD 19.42 billion) renewable energy programme to improve existing grids and add storage, the country's information minister said on Wednesday, according to MarketScreener.

A 1.36 trillion rupee scheme within the programme will strengthen the transmission system within states to enable evacuation of up to 135 GW of clean energy, the government said in a statement.

The country also announced a 500 billion rupee incentive scheme to install 50 GWh of battery energy storage systems, according to MarketScreener. The measure addresses a lack of adequate storage to save clean energy generated during the day.

Antora Energy has agreed to deliver a 5.8 GWh multi-day thermal energy storage project for Pratt Energy in Kansas, according to ESS News.

The storage will be deployed at Pratt Energy's biorefinery in Pratt, Kansas. Antora will supply energy to Pratt Energy under a long-term heat offtake agreement.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners led third-party equity financing for the thermal battery project, ESS News reported. Grok Ventures and University Pension Plan Ontario also participated in the financing.

Hensel Phelps, Sustainability Partners and the State of Hawai'i Department of Transportation (HDOT) have broken ground on two microgrid projects in Hawaii, according to Solar Builder.

The projects sit on O'ahu and Kaua'i, Solar Builder reported. Each combines solar canopies, battery storage systems and EV charging stations.

Officials expect the two microgrids to generate 2.2 MWh of renewable energy daily, according to Solar Builder. The projects will include two 1 MW battery systems.

European cell production will be sufficient by 2027 to cover all demand for funded company cars and a significant portion of demand for funded private cars, according to a study reported by electrive.

By 2030, both funded company cars and funded private cars could have enough European battery cells, provided that projects with a medium probability of implementation are completed, the study said.

For the Made in EU requirements, electrive reported, the production location of battery cells matters rather than the manufacturer's country of origin.

South Korea will swap fixed caps on grid connections for a system built around curtailable access, battery storage and competitive allocation of connection rights, a shift the government ties to a target of more than 100 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, according to pv magazine.

The redesigned regime lets a project hook up past the normal hosting limit of a grid section, accepting that its output gets trimmed whenever local generation runs ahead of what the network can carry, pv magazine reported.

In the Honam region, the rule change alone is estimated to open room for 2.6 GW of extra solar without any new grid construction, according to pv magazine.

Storage sits at the center of the near-term plan. By 2030, the energy ministry aims to link 3 GW of additional solar in saturated areas through storage on distribution networks, plus another 1.6 GW through storage sited at substations, pv magazine reported.

Revised connection studies, according to the ministry, should clear the way for 20 GW of additional renewable capacity across the country by 2030.

Taken together, the ministry projects national transmission-level hosting capacity climbing from 119 GW to 171 GW by 2030, with distribution-level capacity rising from 84 GW to 110 GW, pv magazine reported.

Spanish research center CIC energiGUNE completed 10,000 charge-discharge cycles on an iron-lead redox flow battery, according to ESS News and PV Magazine.

The design draws on abundant materials and targets several-hour stationary electricity storage. Its single-electrolyte-loop design aims to simplify conventional flow battery architecture while cutting system costs and dependence on critical raw materials.

The researchers plan to develop kilowatt-scale modules next, combining simulation, system design and experimental validation.

Juniper Green Energy added 100 MWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity at its Bikaner-II project in Rajasthan, India, according to ESS News. The expansion brings the site's commissioned storage capacity to 201 MWh.

The additional capacity was commissioned through the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Juniper Green Cosmic, within the project's existing grid connectivity, ESS News reported.

Juniper Green said recently issued regulatory clarity from the Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd. allows storage capacity to be added without increasing the grid connectivity quantum, ensuring fuller use of existing transmission infrastructure.

The added capacity will initially operate on a merchant basis, letting Juniper Green participate in India's energy storage market and capture value from demand for flexibility and grid balancing.

Two solar projects in Chile now owned by Colombia's Promigas won environmental approval for a combined 2.22 GWh of battery storage, according to ESS News.

The two solar-plus-storage projects carry a combined declared investment of USD 569 million, ESS News reported.

One of the projects, Pampino, sits in Chile's Tarapacá region and pairs 170 MW of solar capacity with 1,020 MWh of storage, according to ESS News.

The second, Monterrico Solar, is located in Chile's Ñuble region and combines 248.73 MWp of solar with a 200 MW/1,200 MWh lithium-ion battery providing six hours of storage, ESS News reported.

Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has set annual capacity reserve auctions for the second halves of 2027, 2028 and 2029, with battery storage listed among the eligible technologies, pending system studies, ESS News reported.

Alongside electrochemical batteries, the auctions can draw on hydraulic energy storage, hydropower and thermal plants.

Each auction hinges on annual assessments from the Energy Research Office (EPE) and the National Electric System Operator (ONS), which have an April 30 deadline to file their findings with the MME, according to ESS News.