The UK energy storage sector is forging ahead after a landmark year in 2019 which saw maturing business models further the asset class’ role in the country’s energy system.
In just the past few days, nearly US$500 million has been committed to downstream activity in the battery energy storage space, with AES Distributed Energy raising US$341 million of debt financing and EsVolta US$140 million of borrowing.
Northvolt, the startup which recently netted a US$1 billion equity raise for its initial lithium battery ‘gigafactory’ in Sweden, has said that its ambitions extend deep into the energy storage solutions space, in addition to its involvement with major carmakers.
Virginia lawmakers passed a bill to support the US Commonwealth’s electric grid going 100% “clean” by 2050, which includes an energy storage deployment target of 3.1GW by 2035.
Honeywell is rolling out fire detection and safety technologies for lithium-ion batteries via its Building Technologies business unit, combining it with alternative energy innovation group Nexceris’ gas detection systems.
Multinational chemicals company BASF has furthered its interest in the energy storage industry, partnering on the development of ‘metal-free’ flow battery electrolytes with German startup JenaBatteries.
Manz AG, manufacturing equipment supplier, has signed off on a €20 million (US$21.83 million) deal with “high performance” battery maker AKASOL for planned ‘gigafactories’ in Germany and in the US.
