The World Bank reports that Eskom’s large-scale battery energy storage initiative, which will involve the installation of  battery energy storage systems (BESS) across up to eight sites, is being treated as a “flagship” initiative by the global development finance institution, which has committed $1-billion to support the deployment of battery technologies globally. In August, Eskom called for bids for the design and construction of a BESS to be installed at the Skaapvlei substation at Vredendal, in the Western Cape, where the group’s 100 MW Sere wind farm is already located. The system should have a minimum power capacity of 80 MW and an energy capacity of 320 MWh.