Hard rock caverns beneath the ground will store compressed air at Hydrostor’s large-scale A-CAES projects. Image: Hydrostor.

Advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) company Hydrostor is waiting to hear if one of its proposed large-scale projects in California will get approved to supply electricity.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) said last week that Hydrostor’s Application for Certification (AFC) for its Gem Energy Storage Center, a 500MW/4,000MWh facility which would be built in Kern County, is complete.

An AFC is required as part of the standard licensing process for all power plants of over 50MW within the Commission’s jurisdiction. Project proposals need to meet criteria of providing adequate information to enable decision-making.

The application for the US$975 million Gem project had been filed by Hydrostor late last year, as reported by Energy-Storage.news in December 2021. The company claimed Gem could be online by 2026, creating up to 700 jobs during construction and about 40 full-time jobs once operational.

With the CEC having found the AFC to be complete, executive director Drew Bohan recommended that the 12-month timeline for a decision to be made on it should begin. Four commissioners voted unanimously to begin that process at a meeting held 13 July, with one commissioner absent and none against the approval.

Canada-headquartered Hydrostor has developed a technology which it claims greatly improves the efficiency of using compressed air to store energy in vast underground caverns.

A-CAES also eliminates fossil fuel use associated with legacy compressed air plants, CEO Curtis VanWalleghem explained in an interview with Energy-Storage.news earlier this year. The world’s 400MW of existing compressed air plants, two facilities, one in the US and the other in Germany, use thermal generation to pre-heat air for expansion as they discharge their stored energy.

Instead, Hydrostor’s technology utilises a thermal management system which heats up water during the compression process. The hot water is then used in the later step of expanding the air. The innovation boosts the round-trip efficiency of compressed air from about 40% at legacy plants to 65% for advanced compressed air energy storage.

The company not only holds the keys to the technology which it could supply to others or license, but has also taken on the role of developing projects in key territories.

Hydrostor has been able to attract the backing of investors including Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which has committed to up to US$250 million investment, based on whether the energy storage company can make progress on its 1.1GW/8.7GWh of projects in development.

According to research group Mercom Capital, Hydrostor was the biggest recipient of VC funding in the energy storage space in Q1 2022 thanks to the Goldman Sachs investment and was bolstered with a further US$25 million commitment from a Canadian pension fund in April.

In addition to the 4GWh Gem project, Hydrostor has also filed an AFC for another California project, the 400MW/3,200MWh Pecho Energy Storage Center in San Luis Obispo County.

CEO VanWalleghem said that in California, Hydrostor is developing plants with eight hours storage duration to meet the profile of facilities that supply capacity into California’s CAISO wholesale market under resource adequacy (RA) contract structures – through which load-serving entities like investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and community choice aggregators (CCAs) are ordered to make procurements to ensure their customers’ lights stay on.

However, the A-CAES technology is scalable to much longer durations: one case in point is Hydrostor’s other gigawatt-hour scale project in development at Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia.

Silver City Energy Storage Center in Broken Hill would be a 200MW/1,500MWh A-CAES plant that would participate in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM). It was recently selected by regional grid operator Transgrid as the preferred option among a number of proposals as offering the highest net benefit to consumers and integrating the most renewable energy capacity to the network cost-effectively.

The California Energy Commission’s hearing office is set to hold a potential information hearing and site visit for the Gem Energy Storage Center project on 11 August.

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Mark Birk

A group of leading organizations from across Missouri is joining Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corp., to bring more clean energy to the state. These organizations are committing to clean energy by choosing to purchase up to 100% of their total energy use from renewable generation sources. To meet these organizations’ renewable energy goals, Ameren Missouri created the Renewable Solutions program. The program would be served by a 150 MW solar facility being acquired by Ameren Missouri.

“We know that reaching our goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045 will take innovative solutions and partnerships,” says Mark Birk, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri. “This creative partnership with local businesses and organizations is just one of the ways that we’re working to increase the amount of clean energy on the grid while still maintaining the affordability and reliability our customers expect.”

The solar facility, in White County, Ill., is being developed by Invenergy, a developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy solutions. This facility, which Ameren Missouri previously announced an agreement to acquire, is expected to produce the energy equivalent to powering nearly 27,500 homes annually. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and could begin serving customers as soon as 2024.

“As we advance our plans to grow renewable energy generation, locating projects in Missouri and surrounding states is necessary to maintain the reliability our customers expect and the resiliency necessary for the grid,” Birk continues.

The 10 organizations that have committed to the growth of renewable energy in the region as part of the Renewable Solutions program are Bi-State Development, bioMérieux, Emerson, General Motors, Mastercard, SSM Health and Walmart.

“It’s clear many business customers share our vision of a sustainable energy future and are seeking to power their operations with clean energy,” states Patrick Smith, vice president of economic, community and business development at Ameren Missouri. “We created the Renewable Solutions program as an easy way for these customers to take an active role in reducing carbon emissions across the region.”

Subscribers will receive Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) for their participation, a tangible way to denote their own reduction in emissions. They also will benefit from predictable pricing, and the program will help them avoid the large capital investment required to construct their own solar facilities.

The Renewable Solutions program may be expanded in the future to provide additional options for commercial, industrial and governmental customers.

Small businesses and residential customers looking to increase their own renewable energy usage have several options, including Ameren Missouri’s Community Solar program. Both programs will help Ameren reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045 and the company’s strong interim goals of a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and an 85% reduction by 2040, from 2005 levels. These goals are included in Ameren Missouri’s comprehensive integrated resource plan to safeguard long-term energy reliability and resiliency while also accelerating the company’s planned additions of clean wind and solar generation by 2030.

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NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso

New Jersey has surpassed 4 GW of installed solar power, enough to provide electricity to over 500,000 New Jersey households annually, reports the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). There are now more than 157,000 solar installations statewide, and it is estimated that solar capacity in the state will double in the next four years. This is a critical step on the way to achieving Gov. Murphy’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2050.

“I am thrilled New Jersey has reached this significant 4 GW milestone,” says Joseph L. Fiordaliso, president of New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “New Jersey has been a leader in solar and our solar initiatives are a key part of our clean energy future. Through successful programs like Community Solar, we are ensuring equitable access to clean energy for all New Jerseyans.”

New Jersey will continue to build on the 4 GW milestone by implementing a wide variety of solar programs throughout the rest of 2022.

Following a successful two-year pilot program, board staff is targeting the third quarter of 2022 to issue the permanent program straw proposal for the Community Solar Energy Program. In year one of the pilot program, the board approved 45 applications representing almost 78 MW in solar energy capacity. In year two of the pilot program, the board approved 105 projects representing 165 MW of planned solar energy capacity; when fully developed, projects in both years have the cumulative capacity to serve approximately 24,000 low to moderate income subscribers.

The board continues to advance the development of its Competitive Solar Incentive (CSI) Program for grid supply and large net-metered solar. Staff has issued a straw proposal and has held three public comment sessions. Board staff anticipates launching this program later in 2022.

The board will also be working to develop and implement a dual-use solar pilot program. Staff anticipates issuing a straw proposal later in the year. The board will continue to move forward with its grid modernization proceeding to solicit ideas for potential improvements to enable faster interconnection and higher levels of distributed energy resource (DER) integration. In June, a draft report was presented at a public meeting with recommendations for interconnection reform, and the Board will continue its work aimed at modernizing the grid in the future.

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The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has unveiled a slate of new initiatives and $56 million in funding, including $10 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to spur innovation in solar manufacturing and recycling.

“This administration wants to seize U.S. leadership in solar energy, from manufacturing to recycling, and that means making the right investments to ensure these technologies are made right here at home,” states U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, DOE is able to invest in our nation’s innovators so they can improve manufacturing and strengthen the domestic solar supply chain – lowering energy bills for Americans and businesses and driving toward an equitable clean energy future.”

According to DOE’s Solar Supply Chain Review Report, developing more domestic solar manufacturing can lead to benefits to the climate and environment as well as for American workers, employers and national security, while lowering energy bills for American families. The new programs are designed to drive innovation in solar technology and manufacturing, supporting opportunities for the U.S. to expand production of thin-film modules, which do not rely on foreign-dominated supply chains, as well as supporting newer technologies like perovskite solar cells.

The $29 million FY22 Photovoltaics (PV) Research and Development funding opportunity includes $10 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support projects that increase the reuse and recycling of solar technologies. The funding opportunity also supports projects to develop PV module designs that reduce manufacturing costs, as well as those that advance the manufacturing of PV cells made from perovskites, a family of materials that show potential for durability, high performance and low production costs. 

The FY22 Solar Manufacturing Incubator funding opportunity will provide $27 million for projects aimed at commercializing new technologies that can expand private investment in U.S. solar manufacturing. Funding is available for projects that ready new technologies and manufacturing processes for commercialization and demonstrate solutions that can boost domestic manufacturing of thin-film PV made from cadmium telluride, the second-most common PV technology on the market, behind silicon.

DOE also announced $18 million in funding through the Technology Commercialization Fund for seven proposed National Laboratory projects designed to tackle commercialization challenges DOE-funded technologies face.

DOE is also issuing a request for information on challenges and opportunities for vehicle-integrated PV, which would enable solar energy to provide power to vehicles, including cars, recreational vehicles, trains, boats and planes. The solar and transportation industries and other stakeholders are encouraged to submit feedback by August 22 at 5 p.m. ET.

In addition, DOE announced $8 million will go to seven small solar companies to perform research and development in concentrating solar-thermal power, power electronics and solar-powered water technologies.

Image: Mariana Proença on Unsplash

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Rendering of the project with cutaway showing the salt caverns underneath. Image: Advanced Clean Energy Storage I/Mitsubishi Power Americas.

Mitsubishi Power Americas has selected software and engineering firm Emerson Electric to automate the ACES Delta project in Utah, billed as the world’s biggest green hydrogen project development.

Mitsibushi Power said it will leverage Emerson’s hydrogen production experience and automation software expertise at the site to increase safety, decrease costs and simplify maintenance across the life cycle of the facility.

The news comes a few weeks after oil and gas major Chevron pulled out of the green hydrogen project, whose developers claim is the biggest in-construction globally.

According to a company brochure, Emerson provides solutions across the hydrogen fuel value chain, including electrolysers, fuelling stations and fuel cells, measurement, control & electrical solutions, and consulting, project, lifecycle and educational services.

Michael Ducker, senior vice president of Hydrogen Infrastructure for Mitsubishi Power Americas and president of Advanced Clean Energy Storage I (ACES), commented:

“Emerson’s hydrogen expertise and digitally connected architecture design will help shorten time to start up, while also developing a safe, reliable and easily scalable transmission system to meet our goals for renewable energy production and storage.”

ACES will convert renewable energy through 220MW of electrolysers to produce up to 100 tons of green hydrogen a day. The facility will have storage for 300GWh of energy in two salt caverns. The main use case for the stored hydrogen is to provide an alternative to natural gas to the nearby 840MW Intermountain Power Project combined cycle plant.

Mitsubishi Power claimed the battery storage capacity across the United States is just 2GWh via lithium-ion batteries although that is clearly an outdated or inaccurate figure, with recent figures from the Energy Information Administration saying there was 4.6GW of battery storage online as of the end of 2021. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) alone has a little over 3GW connected as of May 31, 2022. The vast majority of battery storage online is lithium-ion.

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U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is releasing $18.4 million through the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) for seven national laboratory projects with the goal of getting more clean energy technologies to the marketplace. The selected national laboratories will address barriers, gaps and root causes of commercialization challenges for emerging clean energy technologies.

“Accelerating how quickly we get novel technologies to the marketplace will allow us to deploy the clean energy sources needed to combat climate change, lower energy costs and keep us on course to reaching President Biden’s decarbonization goals,” says U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE’s national laboratories are stepping up to address the urgent need to develop solutions for expedited clean energy technology commercialization – from the time a product is researched, developed and patented to its widespread use.”

New clean energy technologies are critical to meeting the nation’s climate goals, but they face unique barriers to commercialization. Selected lab projects will use a holistic approach to identifying and addressing common barriers that clean energy technology companies face when working to successfully commercialize a product.

TCF, established by Congress through the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and reauthorized by the Energy Act of 2020, provides new flexibilities to promote promising energy technologies. On February 15, 2022, nine DOE program offices subsequently issued the Core Laboratory Infrastructure for Commercialization, a call for national laboratories to develop infrastructure for clean energy technology commercialization.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will develop promising lab technologies and cultivate a pool of diverse talents and connections between industry and national labs in collaboration with four other labs and funds cost-shared by partners in California, Massachusetts and New York.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory will stand up a prize to provide flexible funding and targeted commercialization assistance to teams at different levels of technical and commercial readiness levels in collaboration with five other labs and funds cost-shared by partners in California.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will develop a Visual Intellectual Property Search (VIPS) for both patents and software, made available on the DOE’s Lab Partnering Service webpage, in collaboration with eight other labs and funds cost-shared by partners in California. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will standardize technology transfer workflows to accelerate the transition of lab-developed technologies to the market in collaboration with five other labs and funds cost-shared by partners in Arizona and California.

Sandia National Laboratories will create a strong regional clean energy commercialization ecosystem in New Mexico for manufacturing in collaboration with six other labs and funds cost-shared by partners in Arizona, California, Minnesota and New Mexico.

Sandia National Laboratories will also engage the diverse startup community at a new, larger scale in order to increase the number of startups around DOE lab technologies in collaboration with 13 other labs and funds cost-shared by partners in Alaska, California, District of Columbia, New Mexico and Virginia.

Sandia National Laboratories will also establish a collaborative approach for moving the semiconductor sector and next generation microelectronics from the lab to the market in collaboration with four other labs and funds cost-shared by partners in Arizona, California, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, New York and North Carolina.

“I authored the legislation that established this revamped version of the Technology Commercialization Fund at the Department of Energy,” comments U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (NM). “I am thrilled that these awards will empower our national labs – including Sandia in New Mexico – to build strong partnerships with local private sector startup companies and grow commercialization and manufacturing ecosystems around promising clean energy technologies developed by Department of Energy researchers.”

“New Mexico’s National Laboratories play a central role in strengthening our nation’s scientific leadership and our economy,” states U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (NM). “In Congress, I’m proud to have championed and led bipartisan initiatives in the House and Senate competition packages to support the lab’s research and development efforts in the industries of the future; to modernize our lab’s infrastructure; and to accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies. This announcement of over $18 million in investments in our labs from the DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund represents a key investment in the United States’ STEM workforce, its long-term economic competitiveness, and a better quality of life for New Mexicans and all Americans.”

DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) coordinates the TCF and plays a role in strengthening DOE’s commercialization partnerships. OTT coordinated with the following DOE program offices to make funding available for 2022: the Office of Nuclear Energy; the Office of Electricity; and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Building Technologies Office, Geothermal Technologies Office, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, Solar Energy Technologies Office, Water Power Technologies Office, and Wind Energy Technologies Office.

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G&W Electric’s headquarter factory in Illinois. Image: G&W Electric.

Vanadium redox flow battery company CellCube and power electronics company G&W Electric have launched a microgrid solution for the US market, starting with a project at the latter’s HQ in Illinois, US.

CellCube (official name Enerox GmbH) and G&W Electric have signed a partnership agreement to offer a new and integrated microgrid solution to the US market. G&W Electric has added CellCube’s Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFBs) as a key technology to its microgrid solution portfolio and has become a ‘Value Added Reseller’ for CellCube’s energy storage systems.

The partnership has been initiated through a microgrid project G&E Electric has built at its own headquarters in Bolingbrook, Illinois, with a bi-facial solar PV array of 6,000 panels coupled to a 2MW/8MWh system provided by CellCube.

G&W began work on the project in August 2021 which also includes a 1.3MVA flywheel. Energy-Storage.news previously reported that CellCube may have been the provider of the flow battery solution for the project and yesterday’s announcement confirmed it.

CEO Alexander Schoenfeldt told Energy-Storage.news: “Commercial & industrial customers are recognising that longer durations support their need better to cover the numerous peaks over the day instead of using a one- or two-hour battery. In addition, they have an increased appetite to capitalise on the volatility in the market by capturing those peak prices and increase their own project IRR – longer duration storage is then a critical path.”

The microgrid will cover multiple use cases including ‘islanding’ capability, peak load shaving, sub cycle backup power for critical asset protection and will actively participate in utility Commonwealth Edison’s demand response program by isolating itself from the grid to help reduce peak load demand.

It will also participate in the ancillary service and energy trading markets run by grid operator PJM, which covers a handful of states in the eastern US. It will provide Frequency Regulation through PJM Interconnection, which helps ensure the grid remains stable at 60Hz.

The 2MW/8MWh VRFB is also capable of operating at up to 150% of its nominal power (so 3MW) for two hours to catch peak power prices in the PJM energy market.

G&W launched the project after its operations were completely shut down due to grid outages a few years ago.

“Power outages in some regions in the US are more likely than in central Europe, and big industrial companies want a solution for that. A resilient microgrid for multiple hours saves them a couple of hundred thousand in each case of an outage or even a flicker taking place,” Schoenfeldt said.

John Mueller, chairman and owner of G&W Electric said: “CellCube’s long duration battery technology unlocks huge value for G&W Electric with the lowest total lifecycle cost of any technology in the market. For us, it is an obvious step to partner with the market leader of Long-Duration Energy Storage.”

The Bolinbrook project and partnership with G&W is a good guide to CellCube’s short-term target market while utility-scale projects will come later, as Schoenfeldt explained:

“Taking into account the limitations in the supply chain we are looking into the microgrid market demand initially while preparing for large front-of-meter projects in the next years.”

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Central District Commissioner Brent Bailey

The Mississippi Public Service Commission in a bipartisan vote has approved amendments to the former Net Metering and Interconnection Rules, now referred to as the Net Renewable Generation Rules. The newly adopted rules include policies that look to increase solar adoption across the board, enhancing grid reliability and economic development, in addition to improving access to solar for low- and middle-income residents.

Net generation is a billing practice that allows property owners with distributed generation (DG) capacity from solar panels or wind turbines to sell their excess generation capacity back to the grid in the form of credits. This docket was opened in January 2021, pursuant to the reopener directive of the original December 2015 Order Adopting Net Metering, in order to contemplate necessary revisions to the Rules.

After opening the docket, multiple parties filed written comments, which were reviewed by the commission and incorporated into a draft rule that was published both in this docket and with the Secretary of State in January of this year. Additional written comments were solicited and reviewed, and a public hearing was conducted immediately following the open meeting on March 1. After carefully considering all of the written comments, as well as the testimony presented at the public hearing, commission staff have prepared a Final Order Amending the Rules.

The names of the rules and terminology throughout the rules were amended to reference Net Renewable Generation as opposed to Net Metering. These changes were made to better reflect the type of distributed generation program made available under the rules, which is not traditional net metering, but rather a more general compensation program for behind-the-meter distributed generation.

The order retains the 2.5 cents/kWh Distributed Generation Benefits Adder, but grandfathers it in for a period of 25 years. The low-income benefits adders is likewise grandfathered in for 25 years.

Eligibility for the low-income benefits adder has been expanded to include customers with annual household incomes of up to 250% of the federal poverty level.

The rule now includes meter aggregation provisions, which allow customers with multiple meters to use the energy generated by one distributed generation (DG) system to offset their usage on all eligible meters. To be eligible for aggregation, all meters must be located on the same premises or within the service area of the customers’ current electrical provider.

DG customers are no longer required to transfer RECs to their utilities as a condition of receiving the 2.5 cents per kWh Distributed Generation Benefits Adder; however, if a customer elects to receive an up-front rebate, that customer may be required to transfer their RECs as a condition of receiving the rebate.

The definition of net generation has been revised to note that special metering requirements are obviated with the use of advanced metering infrastructure / smart meters. The rule now expressly states that battery storage systems shall not affect the total nameplate capacity of a customer’s DG system. System capacity limits under the rule will now be measured in terms of alternating current rather than direct current.

The previous hard 3% participation cap has been modified and increased. Now, utilities may seek commission approval to refuse additional DG customers if and when participation reaches 4% of the utility’s total system peak demand.

Similarly, rather than including a mandatory reopener provision, the rule now permits the commission to exercise its discretion in deciding whether to reopen the rulemaking for additional changes at the earliest of either 5 years from the date of this order, or the point at which total net distributed generation capacity reaches 4% of the utilities’ system peak demand.

In addition to these amendments to the Rules themselves, the Order sets forth provisions instructing the utilities to make separate filings for the approval of Solar-for-Schools programs and up-front rebates for distributed generation systems. This initiative will give public schools an opportunity to grow energy savings, reinvest in academic programs, and make students aware of these new technologies.

“It is my honor to serve as Commissioner during the final adoption of the Net Renewable Generation Rules,” states Central District Commissioner Brent Bailey. “These new rules will make Mississippi open to business to clean energy technology developers, manufacturers, and installers, and will help boost low-income opportunities allowing Mississippians to experience the cost-saving benefits of solar energy. It has been my pleasure to work with customers, utilities, renewable energy businesses, clean energy advocates, other stakeholders and my colleagues to improve our MPSC distributed generation policy. This policy standardizes the opportunities for individuals and businesses to invest in distributed energy resources to offset all or a portion of their overall energy use with electricity generated from on-site resources.”

“I am proud to have worked over the past 18 months to remove market barriers for consumers who want to generate their own electricity,” states Northern District Commissioner Brandon Presley. “This well-balanced rule will allow for real opportunities for the creation of good paying blue collar jobs in the solar industry. Mississippians grow their own food and fix their own vehicles and deserve to have the chance to generate their own electricity and save themselves money. This balanced, measured approach by the PSC opens the door of opportunity.”

“Also, under our Solar-for-Schools program, school districts will have the opportunity to maximize the value of their lands and see savings that can be passed on to taxpayers and hopefully lighten the onerous costs borne by parents and teachers for such things as classroom supplies,” adds Presley.

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Powin is the fifth-largest battery energy storage system integrator in the world. Image: Powin.

System integrator Powin Energy has raised US$135 million from its existing shareholders Trilantic and Energy Impact Partners and new investor GIC, just weeks after a Samsung subsidiary took a minority stake.

Singaporean wealth fund GIC joins Trilantic Energy Partners North America, Energy Impact Partners (EIP) and recent investor Samsung Venture Investment Corporation. Powin Energy said the investment will help its continued growth and international expansion.

“We are grateful for this investment from GIC, Trilantic North America, and EIP. We appreciate the vote of confidence and believe that it demonstrates both the market leadership position of our business and our customers’ trust in us to change the way they generate, transmit, and distribute electricity,” said Geoff Brown, CEO of Powin.

Trilantic and EIP acquired controlling stakes in the global system integrator less than 18 months ago.

Evercore served as financial advisor to Powin for this transaction and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel. Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to GIC in relation to the transaction.

The news comes just weeks after Powin Energy sold a minority stake to Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC), the investment arm of the large South Korea-headquartered conglomerate.

That deal was characterised as having been done by SVIC on behalf of Samsung C&T, its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm. Samsung C&T has designated Powin as a preferred storage provider and will bid for new projects with the Oregon-headquartered firm as the BESS hardware and software provider.

The investment by GIC, Trilantic and EIP is not the only recent transaction in the sector that has come at an unexpected time, just a year and a half after the latter two invested and a few weeks after a SVIC’s investment.

European gigafactory company Northvolt recently raised over US$1 billion whilst also discussing an IPO within the next two years, while ‘CO2 battery’ company Energy Dome raised US$11 million in between its recent series A and an upcoming series B.

Powin was the fifth-largest system integrator globally in 2021 according to IHS Markit’s ranking, which gave it a 5% share of projects deployed. It has developed over 2GW of BESS projects to-date and has a total pipeline of some 10GWh.

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Lithium-ion gigafactory company Northvolt’s energy storage system (ESS) assembly factory in Poland has won a share of €1.8 billion (US$1.8 billion) in EU grant funding, along with a battery recycling plant in north France.

Northvolt’s ‘NorthSTOR PLUS’ ESS assembly plant in Gdańsk will assemble ESS solutions using the company’s batteries, which it claims will be the greenest in the world. It will have an initial output of 5GWh per year and the company is already investing US$200 million of its own money in the facility.

The EU money is from the third round of its Innovation Fund and grants will go towards energy-intensive industries like cement, chemicals and refineries, hydrogen, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage infrastructure, and manufacturing of key components for energy storage and renewables.

The Innovation Fund has €38 billion to spend until 2030 and aims to invest in the next generation of low-carbon technologies and give EU companies a first-mover advantage. The exact amount that’s gone to each project in this round has not been revealed while a straight split would equate to €105 million each.

The winning projects were evaluated by independent experts based on their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional technologies while being sufficiently mature for deployment, and other selection criteria included potential for scalability and cost-effectiveness.

Northvolt’s projects’ description in EU documentation said the Poland plant will result a cost reduction of 16,9-18,8% per kWh for the end-customer. It will use high-nickel nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells that it says have a higher energy-density than incumbent cells in the market today.

Over 90% of the components and equipment used in production will be sourced from the European supply chain.

Another energy storage company amongst the 17 winners was the ReLieVe lithium-ion battery recycling plant project in Dunkirk, north France, launched by mining and metallurgy company ERAMET. It will produce and refine black mass into materials for injection back into the battery supply chain.

Sweden-based Northvolt recently raised a US$1.1 billion convertible debt facility from a dozen investors to finance its expansion, amidst what it told Energy-Storage.news was a “cautious capital market”. Two months ago, its recycling plant in Norway started operations.

In related news, an ESS production plant in Turkey recently gained regulator approval for the first stage of investment in the project. Kontrolmatik’s Pomega production plant, previously reported on by Energy-Storage.news, has been accepted as a priority investment by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.

It has received its regional investment incentive certificate which means it can kick on with the first phase of investment in the site totalling 917 million Lira (US$52 million).

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