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Global consumption of lead-acid batteries is leading to an increased demand for lead. A study by the International Lead Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) suggests that lead demand will increase 5% for the year 2013 and a further 4.6% in 2014.

French electric car battery maker Blue Solutions is entering the stock market with shares priced at €14.50, placing the company’s value at €418 m ($575.6 million); A move made by the company to raise awareness of its technology.

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Power-One, part of the ABB Group, is introducing a residential energy storage solution for the UK market. The energy storage system, called Renewable Energy Accumulator and Conversion Technology (REACT), will be available in 2014.

It will feature a 4.6kW single-phase grid connected Power-One inverter and a 2kWh lithium-ion battery.

The system is for use with home PV panels to capitalise on energy storage as feed-in tariffs are reduced over the coming years.

"PV energy has to be available upon demand, since its feed-in to the grid is no longer worthwhile," Paolo Casini, VP of Marketing, said.

"With REACT we enable homeowners and landlords to adjust energy production and consumption with their needs, helping them to increase self-consumption and save money on their energy bills with the energy storage solution."

The car to be used in Formula-E, the race series that will promote zero-carbon electric driving, has been unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Spark-Renault SRT_01E will be driven by the 20 competing teams in the inaugural series of the competition, beginning September 2014.

McLaren Electronics Systems is providing the electric motor, gearbox and electronics, while Williams Advanced Engineering is responsible for the design and supply of the 200kW batteries and BMS for the zero-carbon cars.

Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal of Williams, said: "Williams has a track record in developing hybrid technologies and the team at Williams Advanced Engineering is working hard to develop a battery system that is reliable and makes for excellent racing."

As with traditional Formula One, the promoters hope the e-motorsport will accelerate technological developments for electric cars. Each race will take place on a city circuit to best simulate driving conditions for passenger e-cars.

Alejandro Agag, CEO of Championship promoter Formula E Holdings, said: “With Formula E being an open championship, the series gives manufacturers the opportunity to showcase their electrical energy innovations.”

Following the first series teams are encouraged to design and build their own cars to promote electric drivetrain technology that will in turn benefit universal e-mobility. For this end, Formula E has dictated batteries cannot be swapped during the race to prevent companies designing evermore-efficient swapping systems that will have no value in passenger vehicles. 

E.ON Energy has deployed Europe’s first smart local energy system on the small German island of Pellworm in the North Sea.

The system is a platform for testing and refining localised storage of renewably sourced electricity, as well as the operation of a smart grid.

E.ON worked alongside Schleswig-Holstein Netz to install an energy-storage system with data links between customers' electricity meters and the island's wind and solar power plants to harness the maximum amount of locally produced energy possible.

Surplus electricity can be stored in large-scale lithium-ion and redox flow batteries, which are integrated into the regional power grid, as well as in small-scale storage devices at customers' homes for use at times when generation is low.

The project aims to address the problem of intermittency with renewables by balancing output for localised use. The €10 million project received funding from several federal German ministries as part of the Federal Energy Storage Initiative.