Long-duration energy storage

Pioneering grid battery nudges California closer to 24/7 clean energy

The Tumbleweed installation just went online in Kern County. It can store clean energy and discharge it for eight hours straight, a harbinger of what’s to come.

By Julian Spector . 8 June 2026

Overhead view of a lot with white battery chargers in row amid a scrubby landscape — The Tumbleweed project’s surroundings resemble Texas: The arid, scrubby terrain that once hosted oil extraction has become a hot spot for wind, solar, and batteries. (Rev Renewables)

Batteries

The world is installing grid batteries at a blistering pace

A total of 112 gigawatts of batteries were deployed around the world in 2025 — 10 times the amount added just four years prior.

By Dan McCarthy . 15 May 2026
Long-duration energy storage

US battery startup builds factory in China after nixing Kentucky plant

With $300M in new funds, EnerVenue says China is in fact the best spot to scale its NASA-inspired tech — making the firm an outlier as peers grow U.S. manufacturing.

By Julian Spector . 29 April 2026
Long-duration energy storage

A new thermal battery could help this Minnesota campus electrify heat

Cache Energy’s pilot project harnesses excess wind power from UMN Morris’ two turbines to heat a carpentry shop and could be expanded across campus.

By Brian Martucci, MinnPost . 22 April 2026
Batteries

Crusoe taps not one but two novel battery technologies for AI buildout

The developer signed a huge deal for Form Energy’s iron-air tech and will build more modular data centers powered by Redwood Materials' second-life EV batteries.

By Julian Spector . 25 March 2026
Batteries

PJM’s power-starved grid will finally get a big battery this year

Elevate Renewables just acquired a major energy storage project near Virginia’s “Data Center Alley” and plans to get it running by this summer.

By Julian Spector . 15 January 2026
Long-duration energy storage

A novel long-duration storage project is coming to the California desert

Hydrostor’s 4-gigawatt-hour project received state approval last month. Construction could start this year — so long as the startup can nail down more customers.

By Julian Spector . 8 January 2026
Hydrogen

This hydrogen microgrid is the first of its kind. Is it a good idea?

Energy Vault, Plug Power, and PG&E partnered on a project that replaces diesel generators with fuel cells to provide backup power for a small town in California.

By Julian Spector . 11 August 2025
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

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
Batteries

Could this 1980s battery design unlock long-term clean energy storage?

Utility Southern Co. will install Inlyte's iron-salt long-duration battery, tech the startup has updated for the era of renewables and data center demand.

By Julian Spector . 7 May 2025