We talk to Elli Group, the EV infrastructure and utility arm of automotive OEM Volkswagen, about its new second life energy storage and energy trading ventures.

Germany and US residential battery storage and VPP provider sonnen’s network of batteries in Germany has reached 250MWh, and will hit 1GWh in the next few years, it said.

Second life energy storage firm Stabl has raised €15 million, while its CEO told Energy-Storage.news the second life market will “struggle with the deteriorating performance of their systems in the coming years”.

An energy storage news roundup from Germany, including 10MWh-plus projects from Tesvolt and Wirsol Roof Solutions and a €5 million fundraise by second life firm Voltfang.

Li-Cycle, a North America-based company focused on lithium-ion battery recycling, has opened a black mass production facility in Germany.

Germany-based flow battery company VoltStorage has been granted a venture debt loan of €30 million (US$33 million) by the European Investment Bank (EIB), guaranteed by the European Commission.

Utility and network operators RheinEnergie and Bayernwerk have respectively started building and commissioned 7MWh battery storage projects in Germany.

Projects using novel, non-lithium battery technology have been progressed by organic flow battery firm CMBlu, liquid metal battery firm Ambri, and the NAS battery division of NGK Insulators.

System integrator Eco Stor is planning to build a 300MW/600MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, one of the largest projects in Europe.

Europe saw an 83% increase in residential battery installations in 2022, according to research firm LCP-Delta.