Ask anyone in the industry of renewable energy and energy management largely and they'll tell you that energy storage will be one of the most important stories of the next decade. As utility-scale and household-size batteries (among other storage technologies) become increasingly affordable and efficient, they will be used as tools to smooth out the daily generation, the intermittency of renewables on the grid, and open up the possibilities for smart technology to allow two-way grid systems and distributed generation to flourish.

Because of the importance that energy storage technologies has to the coming decade in the utility industry, periodically checking in on the innovations and technological breakthroughs is a useful exercise. Here's a roundup of some recent news and reports in that regard:

'Leapfrogging' the grid: Hybrid lithium-flow in action at a remote Thai village microgrid

Typical lithium-ion batteries are the main energy storage technology being developed and deployed, but this story highlights how some developing economies are 'leapfrogging' past the traditional grid structure and harnessing energy storage technologies that couple with renewable energy and microgrids to tap into later at night or other times when its needed.

Up until now, people in Ban Pha Dan had to rely on candles and oil lamps for light at night or resort to four-wheel-drives carting in diesel for generators to generate electricity. The lack of electricity also resulted in a lack of road lighting, which made it difficult to travel at night. In a project backed by the Thai Government, Ban Pha Dan is using solar cells to generate power and a high-performance hybrid battery system, including Redflow ZBM2 zinc-bromine flow batteries and lithium batteries, to store and deliver energy for a village that is separated from the national electricity distribution network

Make Carnot Batteries with Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage in ex-Coal Plants

Another example where technological development is going in a new direction and breaking from the pack, researchers in Germany are investigating the idea of retrofitting coal power stations to be batteries for utility-scale energy storage instead. The idea is that these Carnot Batteries would store energy as molten salt thermal energy, which can not only store and deploy a large amount of energy to the grid when it's needed, but also provide assistance and financial incentive to close up coal plants at a faster rate.

DynaPower debuts next-generation energy storage system

This article from Solar Builder Magazine notes that the long-standing energy storage provider, Dynapower, is poised to debut its next generation of energy storage technology that will be both "fully integrated behind-the-meter and front-of the meter," with an eye towards commercial and industrial, utility, and solar+ storage applications. Seeking to push the industry forward, they've lowered the cost and focused on improving the reliability.