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Volkswagen and Elli deploy second life BESS and target V2G energy market activity

The second life BESS will essentially be a testing ground for the digital energy trading platform, which in future will integrate Volkswagen/Elli’s fleet of EVs via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-home (V2H) technologies. Elli provides charging infrastructure and retail energy products to B2C and B2B customers.

Asked what it would take for these technologies to scale up, Ingo Müller, head of energy solutions at Elli Group, said: “From a technology perspective we are already there with V2G. It’s proven that you can use EV batteries to earn money via FCR (frequency control reserve) or intraday trading. The main issue right now is a regulatory one.”

“The smart meter rollout is still relatively low in Germany, for example, and to scale up V2G you need a larger share of users actively using a smart meter. In some other markets the penetration is higher and people are already taking advantage of flexibility products.”

“We also need better energy products to be sold to the customer. We need tariffs which both provide a relative amount of safety on what the bulk of your energy supply will cost, while also allowing you to earn from the flexibility of your smart appliances like your heat pump and your EV battery.”

Retail energy markets are generally not well-shaped to allow for the ‘prosumer’ model – where consumers generate as well as consume energy – which V2G/V2H entails, partially as a legacy of their past domination by larger power plants.

Volkswagen and Elli also plan to deploy more second life BESS but Muller said the scale it could achieve there is not yet clear as the technology is still relatively new, but that being a company involved in the entire lifecycle of a battery positions Volkswagen well within the space.

“There still isn’t a broad insight into the health of the batteries that are going to come back from the EV market. We will see them in the coming years and then know what we can do with them,” Müller added.

The launch of the BESS and trading business comes nearly a year after Volkswagen and Elli announced a collaboration with Elia Group, which owns one of Germany’s four large transmission system operators (TSOs), looking into the potential of V2G technology.

Volkswagen has also used BESS to increase the capacity and optimisation of its charging parks, including one in Saxony commisioned last year with a 570kWh system made up of pre-production models of its ID.3 and ID.4 compact EV.

Telyon Secures Investment from Greenbacker Capital

Telyon, a Connecticut based renewable energy development firm, has finalized a strategic investment that will fuel continued growth and execution capabilities of its current and future pipeline of projects across the country. As part of the deal, Telyon has sold a significant minority stake of the company to a New York City-based private equity fund affiliated with Greenbacker Capital Management.

“This investment allows Telyon to grow exponentially in the coming years, expand our platform’s reach and continue to meet the complex and ever-changing renewable needs of our customers,” says Andrew Chester, CEO of Telyon. “Most importantly, this investment fosters our collective goal to substantially contribute to a sustainable future.”

Telyon was launched in early 2020 by a group of renewable energy industry veterans, and specializes in the origination, financing, construction, and ongoing operations and maintenance of onsite solar, community solar, battery storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure projects across the United States. With current activity across 21 states and a focus on Fortune 500 companies and MUSH market offtakers, the company has over 400 MW of near-term development opportunities and over 1.2 GW of identified pipeline.

“We are excited to partner with the talented and experienced team at Telyon, an organization who shares our view that the U.S. is entering a period of increasing demand for high-quality C&I solar solutions,” says Rahul Bhalodia, managing director of Greenbacker. “We believe Telyon is well-placed to capture a significant share of that growth.”

The clean energy transition has seen substantial growth in recent years, most notably due to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Chester continued, “This investment will immediately allow Telyon to grow headcount, increase brand awareness and execute on an exciting and rapidly growing pipeline of work, primarily with large Fortune 500 brands.”

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) served as financial advisor to Telyon on the process, with legal support provided by Hogan Lovells. Locke Lord advised Greenbacker.

Photo by Chelsea on Unsplash.

‘Breakthrough year’ for battery storage at European smart energy solutions provider Alfen

Although its EV segment business has been hit by “challenging market conditions,” for energy storage systems (ESS), the signs are that 2023 is a “breakthrough year” for Alfen, CEO Marco Roeleveld said. Its Smart Grid Systems segment, which provides key electrical infrastructure equipment such as transformers, is also enjoying a “step change” in growth, according to the CEO.

Alfen netted total revenues of €223.9 million (US$243.07 million) for H1 2023, which was a 9% increase year-on-year from H1 2022. While EV charging revenues declined 36%, and Smart Grid revenues rose by 20%, energy storage revenues leapt by over 500%, from €9.4 million in H1 2022, to €58.8 million in the first half of this year.

Its energy storage system segment has a backlog of orders worth more than €170 million, with the company claiming more than half of those orders will be fulfilled during the second half of 2023.

The company has been gearing up to capitalise on battery storage market success. It noted that a not-inconsiderable 48% drop in its adjusted EBITDA margin, from 18.1% of €37.3 million revenue in H1 2022 to 9.4% of revenues totalling €21.1 million was largely attributable to a revenue mix shift from EV charging to ESS, which has lower gross margins.

Gross margin across the business lines decreased for this reason also, from 35.3% in the first half of 2022 to 30.5% in the more recent period. Gross margin for the energy storage segment was 19%, in the lower end of guidance previously offered by the company of 15% to 30%.

Energy-Storage.news has reported on several of the ongoing or recently contracted ESS projects Alfen identified as half-year highlights, such as a 30MW/68MWh project in the Netherlands – thought to be the country’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) project to date – with developer SemperPower.

Others include a large-scale BESS at a wind farm in Finland (30MW output, capacity not yet disclosed), Centrica’s first BESS project in Belgium (24MW/54MWh), and a number of projects in Sweden including four totalling 70MW with distribution network operator (DNO) Ellevio Group.

For those projects, Alfen is deploying its containerised BESS solution, TheBattery Elements, but the company also recently launched a new iteration of its mobile battery storage product called TheBatteryMobile, putting 720kWh of storage capacity into a 10ft container on wheels.

Company can ‘outperform’ European market on ESS, CEO claims

Alfen, which operates under an ‘asset-light’ business model, said it is maintaining higher stock levels of equipment relative to its battery storage segment in anticipation of growing demand and to fulfil its backlog in H2 2023. Key equipment it is putting down payments on include inverters, batteries and containers for both TheBattery Elements and TheBattery Mobile.

Based on challenges in the EV market and destocking in its EV charging sales channels, earlier this month Alfen lowered its revenue guidance for the year, from a previously guided €540 – €600 million to €490 – €520 million.

However, the company expects “sequential increases in revenues” for its EV segment from the fourth quarter of this year, Marco Roeleveld said, adding that “Alfen’s financial position continues to be strong and healthy at a time when other players in the EV Charging market are declaring insolvency or forced to raise capital”.

The CEO attributed this to the company’s diversified approach, with energy storage the standout performer.

“2023 is really the breakthrough year for energy storage for Alfen,” Roeleveld said.

“With our stationary and mobile battery solutions, we are well positioned for continued strong growth, underpinning our confidence that we can outperform the European market in 2023.”

Maldives launches tender seeking 40MWh BESS and EMS across 18 islands

The country continues to seek renewable capacity in order to reduce its reliance on diesel, and launched two programmes in 2014 working towards increasing its renewable capacity across its more than 1,000 islands. The first one was Preparing Outer Islands for Sustainable Energy Development (POISED) – supported by the ADB – to introduce solar photovoltaic battery-based hybrid systems in outer islands. The second, Accelerating Sustainable Private Investments in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) which is supported by the World Bank, aims to mobilise private sector investments in solar photovoltaic in the greater Male region.

Following the work done with the ASPIRE programme, the country launched several tenders, financed by the World Bank similar to this latest one. In 2021 the country sought 40MW/40MWh of BESS across several regions, which appears to have been dropped, but was then reopened again last year, still seeking 40MWh of BESS.

Contracts will cover design, supply and installation of BESS and EMS.

In order to be eligible to participate in the current tender, bidders require the following qualifications:

Minimum average annual turnover of US$47.25 million calculated as total certified payments received for contracts in progress or completed, within the last three years.

Participation as a contractor, joint venture partner, or subcontractor, in at least two contracts that have been satisfactorily and substantially completed within the last five years and that are similar to the proposed contract, where the value of the bidder’s participation under each contract exceeds US$25.2 million.

Deadline for applications to submit a bid has been set for 10 October 2023, however interested bidders will be required to register first with the South Asian island nation’s Ministry of Finance between 20 August and 08 October 2023 with a payment of US$100 and then fill the bidding document.

Bidders awarded will be required to complete the project in 360 days.

For more information regarding the bidding process as well as the documentation to submit a bid is available on the Ministry of Finance’s website here.

Solar+Storage Project Arriving at Dulles International Airport

Officials from Dominion Energy and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) have broken ground on the Dulles Solar and Storage project at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

Once completed, it will be the largest renewable energy project ever developed at a United States airport. It will generate up to 100 MW of solar energy and store up to 50 MW of power, enough energy to power more than 37,000 Virginia homes at peak output. All the energy produced will serve Dominion Energy Virginia customers.

By pairing emissions-free renewables with the growing benefits of energy storage, the project is an important part of Dominion Energy’s “all-of-the-above” strategy to reliably serve customers with increasingly clean energy.

“This is an exciting moment for the future of clean, reliable energy, not only for Virginia but for the entire nation,” says Bob Blue, Chair, president and CEO of Dominion Energy. “Thanks to our strong partnership with MWAA, millions of travelers flying in and out of Dulles every year will see this powerful symbol of the clean energy transition.”

Adds Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.): “I’m hopeful this partnership will serve as a model for future renewable energy projects across the country, paving the way for a greener, energy-independent future.”

The partnership includes a first-of-its-kind lease agreement that will further advance renewables and electric vehicles at Dulles. Instead of annual lease payments to MWAA, Dominion Energy will develop two 1-MW solar carports that will partially power Dulles facilities. It will also provide 18 electric transit buses, 50 electric fleet vehicles and electric vehicle charging stations for Dulles operations.

The project will be developed across 835 acres located in the southwest corner of the airport. Construction will begin later this year and is expected to be complete by late 2026.

In addition to renewable energy and clean transportation, the project will bring significant economic benefits to Loudoun County and the broader region. Construction of the project will support more than 300 jobs and $200 million in economic activity.

Artist rendering courtesy of Dominion Energy.

Leaders in patent activity for non-electrochemical energy storage technologies

However, patent protection for other energy storage technologies is on the rise. The patent databases around the world are open for public inspection and insights into levels of activity and who is making patent filings can be found.

The patent system itself is built on the premise that an innovator is rewarded with a time-limited monopoly in exchange for sharing, in detail, how the invention is made. Therefore, a wealth of information, company activity statistics and trends are there to investigate.

Compressed air and liquified air storage

Compressed Air storage has been gaining investment and looking at the patent databases, Kobe Steel and General Electric lead the innovation leader board in terms of patent applications filed. The number of applications filed per year increased sharply around 2008 driven in part by filings by General Electric. The number filed per year has now levelled off at around 140 patent applications per year.