Connected Energy has secured grid connection for one of Europe’s largest second-life battery energy storage deployments, a 100 MWh project in Région Centre-Val de Loire.
The UK-based company has established an office in Bordeaux to capitalise on the major opportunity for second-life BESS in this market. The company expects to commission its first large scale site by 2027 with several smaller projects expected to be operational before then.
Rob Moore, chief Business Development officer at Connected Energy, commented: “France has huge untapped potential for second-life BESS. It has available grid capacity and growing renewable generation which BESS can optimise, as well as other grid stability needs arising from its ageing nuclear fleet and interconnections with renewable-rich European neighbours. There is a vibrant market for energy storage developments and – critically – a strong energy trading market, making the business case for second-life BESS even more attractive.”
Connected Energy intends to develop a portfolio of BESS sites and aims to have a number of them developed by 2030, deploying around 1GWh of second-life batteries. The team will focus on delivering a pipeline of projects that it projects will grow in line with second-life battery availability.
Founded in 2010, Connected Energy has considerable expertise in delivering second-life BESS, with installations across Europe. A second-life BESS repurposes batteries that have reached the end of life in an electric vehicle (EV) and Connected Energy works with a range of EV and battery OEMs to help them monetise the remaining value in the batteries. This significantly extends the batteries’ working life and provides an additional revenue stream, making EV batteries more sustainable and more cost effective.
Expanding into France builds on Connected Energy’s strong relationships in the country – one of its investors is the French multinational utility company, Engie. Connected Energy also has a long-standing collaboration with Renault and recently signed a battery supply deal with Forsee Power. In this instance, the two companies are jointly developing containerised battery blocks that can be ‘plugged into’ large scale BESS systems alongside other battery types.
