Norway-based Morrow Batteries has signed an MOU with a Ukraine state body to supply LFP battery cells for shoring up the country’s conflict-stricken grid infrastructure.
Ukraine has been under attack from neighbour Russia since February 2022, and frequently suffers from blackouts and irregular power supply due to continued attacks, Morrow said.
The firm signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine (SAEE) to provide the country with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells from its Norway gigafactory to help it maintain stable power.
Ukraine aims to build a distributed battery energy storage system (BESS) grid, Morrow added.
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Potential deliveries under the MOU may reach gigawatt-hour levels, Morrow said, although the exact volumes are yet to be agreed. Ukraine needs a significant amount of BESS over the next few years for grid stabilising, it added.
“Securing stable power supply is important for Ukraine, and President Zelensky has defined it as a task for the government to establish energy storage facilities in every school and hospital as soon as possible. This underlines the need to build a strong battery value chain in Europe. Access to batteries produced by European vendors is a critical factor for building less vulnerable grids and ensuring batteries for mobile solutions”, said the head of SAEE Anna Zamazeeva.
“We share a great sense of urgency and will do our part in being ready to sign a firm offtake agreement with relevant authorities in Ukraine and are ready to start deliveries of battery cells from the first quarter of 2025”, says CEO Lars Christian Bacher of Morrow Batteries.
The SAEE is Ukraine’s state body responsible for implementing state policy in the areas of energy efficiency, energy saving, renewable energy sources and alternative fuels.
Morrow recently had its first gigafactory inaugurated by Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre this month though will only start full LFP manufacturing later in the year. Energy-Storage.news interviewed its COO Andreas Maier earlier this year about its decision to target the BESS market rather than EVs as most gigafactories are (Premium access).
The global slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) demand, highlighted recently by LG, means that may have been a sound commercial decision. But, it is also a strategic one for Europe and its battery industry, as it can enable the rapid deployment of crucial grid infrastructure like the projects under the MOU with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s first grid-scale BESS came online in 2021, a 2.25MWh system from investor DTEK. The firm has expanded outside of Ukraine too, recently buying a 532MWh BESS project in Poland from developer Colombus Energy.
