Lithium-ion OEM Envision Energy will deploy a 120MW/240MWh BESS in France for IPP Kallista Energy, using LFP battery cells from gigafactory subsidiary AESC, which has a gigafactory nearby.
Kallista has selected Envision Energy as engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) provider for its 2-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Saleux, in the northern Hauts-de-France region of France.
Envision will provide 44 DC BESS units and 22 AC power conversion system (PCS) units. Kallista will use the BESS to provide frequency regulation services in the reserve markets of French transmission system operator (TSO) RTE.
“We must move beyond the misconception that electricity cannot be stored, in order to accelerate the deployment of renewables and the shift away from fossil fuels. Our group is working on other projects like Saleux to keep up the momentum,” said Frédéric Roche, president of Kallista Energy Group.
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Kallista has developed the project and is also funding construction, which starts this month (June 2025) and is set to conclude in late 2026. Envision Energy will maintain the system under a minimum 14-year long-term service agreement (LTSA) as well as provide end-of-life solutions for the battery cells once they reach the end of their useful life.
The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells will be supplied by Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC), initially set up by automotive conglomerate Nissan but now majority-owned by Envision, which owns around 80% with Nissan retaining a c.20% stake.
AESC has gigafactories across the world, including in France in the nearby Doaui commune, also in Hauts-de-France, which started manufacturing this month. The facility is around 1.5 hours’ drive from the BESS project.
The announcement didn’t specify that AESC would supply the batteries from that gigafactory, however. Most gigafactories in Europe are primarily serving the electric vehicle (EV) market.
AESC has also made announcements about supplying other BESS manufacturers and system integrators, namely Fluence and Nidec. We recently explored cell-BESS manufacturer relationships in an ESN Premium article, published last week.
The grid-scale BESS market in France has accelerated in the past 12 months as falling BESS and battery prices converge with ancillary service and energy trading opportunities to strengthen the business case.
Earlier this month, Acacia, Green Tower and Eren Industries announced plans to deploy 500MW while late 2024 saw projects commissioned, acquired and broken ground on by GazelEnergie and Q Energy, Alpiq and TagEnergy respectively.
