Batteries

Long-duration energy storage

Used EV batteries could upend the race for long-duration storage

Redwood Materials says second-life batteries are the cheapest form of long-duration storage. If true, battery startups are in trouble — and renewables are in luck.

By Julian Spector . 6 August 2025
Energy storage

A pioneering ‘second-life’ battery startup begins major Texas expansion

Armed with lessons from five years of hooking up used EV batteries to the grid in California, B2U is making a 100-MWh foray into Texas’ volatile energy market.

By Julian Spector . 29 July 2025
Virtual power plants

As rooftop solar gets hammered, virtual power plants offer a way forward

VPPs built out of home solar and battery systems could bolster the overtaxed power grid, lower energy costs for consumers, and help invigorate a struggling industry.

By Jeff St. John . 28 July 2025
Clean energy

A heat wave hit New England's grid. Clean energy saved the day.

On the hottest day this year, behind-the-meter solar panels and a growing network of batteries helped prevent blackouts and saved consumers millions of dollars.

By Sarah Shemkus . 8 July 2025
Energy storage

Redwood Materials built record grid storage project using old EV batteries

The EV battery recycler determined it could make good money by repurposing old battery packs for the grid, and found an eager data center customer.

By Julian Spector . 2 July 2025
Energy storage

LG opens massive Michigan factory to make LFP batteries for the grid

The $1.4 billion investment onshores production of a popular battery chemistry that had been almost exclusively made in China, amid tariff and tax policy uncertainty.

By Julian Spector . 25 June 2025
Energy storage

Could the Senate budget throw a lifeline to energy storage?

Grid batteries have surged since they got their own tax credit in 2023. The Senate could spare grid storage projects while cutting incentives for wind and solar.

By Julian Spector . 19 June 2025
Energy storage

PG&E defers restart of huge grid battery next to Moss Landing fire site

The Elkhorn plant almost got back online in time to help California’s grid handle summer heat. But malfunctions in one of its Tesla batteries gummed up the plans.

By Julian Spector . 2 June 2025
Recycling renewables

Li-Cycle’s quest to recycle lithium-ion batteries ends in bankruptcy

The startup halted construction of a major plant in New York and never recovered. Its collapse is one of many setbacks plaguing the nascent battery recycling sector.

By Julian Spector . 28 May 2025
Energy storage

Amid tariff uncertainty, US grid battery industry faces an uphill climb

Domestic battery manufacturing and deployments have been growing fast — but Trump’s tariff wars and looming budget cuts threaten to derail progress.

By Jeff St. John . 13 May 2025