BESS Industry Buzz: Beijing’s manufacturing ban, ‘responsible’ data centre policy, LDES economics and more
AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication
Reuters reports that China has paused approvals for new energy‑storage manufacturing projects, a move linked to a recent sales tax on lithium‑ion cells and the country’s first decline in storage deployments. Energy‑tech investor Volta Energy Technologies’ James Frith believes the pause aims to avoid a price war similar to those seen in solar and EV cells. Meanwhile, industry voices highlight four distinct sodium‑ion chemistries—layered oxides, NFPP, NVPF and Prussian‑Blue Analogues—each targeting different applications from EVs to grid storage, but facing varied manufacturing hurdles. In the United States, Massachusetts introduced a framework obligating data centres over 25 MW to fund clean energy and grid upgrades, praised by former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Australia’s Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales has resumed full output after a transformer failure, successfully completing a 700 MW System Integrity Protection Scheme test. India’s Central Electricity Authority has proposed a rule requiring new solar and wind farms to include storage equal to at least 10 % of capacity for two hours, embedding storage in renewable project design.
💡 Why It Matters
- · China’s manufacturing pause could reshape global battery pricing dynamics, while Massachusetts’ data‑centre rules set a precedent for utility cost allocation that may influence other jurisdictions.
