A second life energy storage assembly plant has opened in Germany, amidst a rapid fall in battery prices which could threaten the economics of repurposing EV batteries into stationary units.

Developer Monsson Group and system integrator Prime Batteries Technology have inaugurated a 6MW/24MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Romania, the country’s largest.

Europe’s response to the US’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been a big talking point at Giga Europe, and one panellist said the simplicity of the IRA has been key to its success.

Saft, arguably one of the pioneers of large-scale battery storage in the US, is putting efforts into regaining a presence in that market.

Some companies which were previously considering Europe for lithium-ion gigafactory projects are now looking to the US instead, executives working in site selection and design told Energy-Storage.news.