Siemens and AES have officially launched a new joint venture, Fluence Energy, aimed at capturing opportunities in the global energy storage sector.
Fluence Energy will combine the two companies’ expertise and technology in energy storage and will embark on an “aggressive expansion” of sales globally, backed by the financial support of its two parent companies.
AES and Siemens said that they received final government and regulatory approvals for the joint venture at the start of January. They believe that their financial stability and ability to implement industrial-grade solutions gives them the edge over smaller technology start-up firms currently active in the energy storage market.
They have also announced a partnership between Fluence and Siemens Financial Services to provide customers with leasing and project finance solutions, and a sales partnership with Siemens’ global sales force to market energy storage systems around the world.
Fluence’s first project will be for the supply of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage plant, a 100 MW/400 MWh installation in Long Beach, California, USA. It will also be involved in a number of other projects, including a 40 MW storage project for San Diego Gas & Electric, a microgrid project for Enel on the Mediterranean island of Ventotene, and six energy storage projects being installed across Germany, providing key frequency regulation (primary control resource) services for grid stabilisation.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the global energy storage market is growing and is projected to reach $100 billion by 2030. Sam Wilkinson, senior research manager at IHS Markit, a business intelligence firm, believes that “the companies best positioned for success will require a proven track record, technology expertise, a global service network, and an ability to serve a broad set of energy storage applications”.
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