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ABB will deliver five turnkey 34.5/69kV substations including 12 step-up power transformers rated at 33MVA, air and gas-insulated switchgear, medium-voltage reclosers, and distribution transformers. The company will also supply and install 60km of 69kV overhead transmission lines to connect a 290MW wind farm to the national electricity grid that is currently under construction in the northeastern state of Bahia. According to ABB, Brazil currently has around 600MW of wind power capacity, with another 450MW under construction.

This paper examines both the potential of and barriers to grid-scale energy storage playing a substantive role in transitioning to an efficient, reliable and cost-effective power system with a high penetration of renewable energy sources. Grid-scale storage is a term that describes a number of different technologies with a wide range of characteristics. This versatility leads to the use of storage to perform a number of grid-services. We first enumerate these services, with an emphasize on those that are best suited to mitigate the effects of uncertainty and variability associated with intermittent, non-dispatchable renewable energy sources. We then provide an overview of the current methods to evaluate grid-integrated storage, summarize key findings, and highlight ongoing challenges to large-scale adoption of grid-scale energy storage. We focus on one particular area that is critical to both the efficient use of energy storage in the power grid and its long-term economic viability: the conflict between the technical benefits of this resource, which can provide both power and energy related grid-services (in some cases simultaneously), and the economic challenges of compensating these services within the current market structures. We then examine recent progress in addressing these issues through regulatory changes and other initiatives designed to mitigate previous market failures. This discussion is followed by some remarks about ongoing regulatory and market design challenges. The paper closes with a summary of the ideas presented and a discussion of critical research needs.

Ukraine seeks to reduce its current dependency on gas imports. To address the issue, a number of initiatives are being taken which are aimed at boosting energy efficiency, introducing energy saving technologies and renewable energy resources. The feed-in tariffs effective since April 2009, rank among the highest in Europe, which considering the saturated European market, makes Ukraine especially luring for the foreign investors in the field. As forecasted by the government, in the next 3-4 years Ukraine will be able to attract about 3 billion dollars of private investments for the development of renewable energy production.

The JRC has published a study mapping the potential of renewable energy sources in Africa. The report analyses the continent's current energy consumption and assesses potential of renewable energy sources - solar, wind, biomass and hydropower - and their cost efficiency and environmental sustainability.

ALDE MEP Fiona Hall (UK, Liberal Democrats), who took part in the negotiations with Member States on the Energy Efficiency Directive on behalf of the Liberals and Democrats, has welcomed the deal brokered last night. Commenting on the deal, she said: "Although the text in Article 6 on the energy efficiency obligation schemes is not as strong as the Parliament wanted, it is an important achievement that for the first time ever Member States will have to have a long term strategy with policy and measures in place for dealing with the energy efficiency of their buildings. "In addition, the Parliament secured an early review of the deal in 2016 including of the exemptions that currently weaken Article 6. "Thanks to the changes insisted upon by the Parliament, the directive will now achieve 17% of the 20% energy efficiency savings needed by 2020 - as compared to less than 15% before last night.