Three companies, Energy Vault, Richardson Electronics, and Fluence, have made strategic moves to create a secure BESS equipment supply chain.
Energy Vault is partnering with Turkey’s Astor Enerji, Richardson is expanding in Illinois, and Fluence is manufacturing HVAC and chiller equipment in Texas.
These moves follow Energy-Storage.news’ last roundup, which saw three companies announce plans to begin domestically manufacturing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells in the US.
Energy Vault launches partnership with Turkey’s Astor Enerji
US grid-scale energy storage solutions provider Energy Vault and Turkey-based transformer manufacturer Astor Enerji have signed a global strategic agreement to strengthen global supply chains for battery energy storage systems (BESS).
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The agreement will see Energy Vault supplying its B-Vault BESS for Astor Enerji’s four grid-connected PV projects in Romania, for a combined capacity of 2GWh. The projects will also utilise the company’s energy management system (EMS), VaultOS.
Astor Enerji, meanwhile, will provide transformers and high-voltage equipment for more than 1GW of Energy Vault BESS projects in the US, Australia and Europe.
Energy Vault notes that US transformer wait times have stretched from 50 weeks to as long as 127 weeks, emphasising that the agreement with Astor Enrji will provide the company with access to high-quality equipment from a non-foreign entity of concern (FEOC) designated nation.
Energy Vault’s BESS projects are being developed and operated through its wholly owned subsidiary, Asset Vault, which is backed by a US$300 million preferred equity investment announced on 7 August.
The supply chain of transformers has been tightening for some time. At the 2023 RE+ trade show in Las Vegas, system integrators and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors shared how lead times for the equipment had extended from 12 months to 32-36 months, plus time for the procurement cycle.
Energy Vault has also been active in development, closing a US$18 million financing in July for its 57MW/114MWh Cross Trails BESS in Scurry County, Texas.
Later this quarter, the company expects to receive over US$12 million in investment tax credit (ITC) funds as part of a previously agreed ITC sale agreement.
Marco Terruzzin, Chief Revenue Officer at Energy Vault, said of the partnership with Astor Enerji, “Together, we are building the technology and supply chain capacity to meet surging power demand from AI data centres and the rapid adoption of renewable energy. This is how we deliver power abundance and economic growth on a global scale.”
Richardson Electronics to produce BESS in Illinois
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and Richardson Electronics announced on 20 August that Richardson will expand its manufacturing headquarters in La Fox, Illinois.
Richardson manufactures green energy products, power and grid and microwave tubes and more.
With the support of the Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois (REV Illinois) programme, the company will make a capital investment of more than US$8.5 million over the next four years.
Richardson Electronics will invest in equipment and structural upgrades in order to research, develop, and produce BESS at the company’s manufacturing facility.
Notably, Richardson says its technology will demonstrate the viability of long-duration energy storage (LDES), and is being developed for manufacturing, healthcare and critical infrastructure operations.
The company also says it will retain approximately 200 employees and create 54 full-time jobs.
Richardson Electronics received a REV Illinois tax credit as part of the State’s incentive package, recognising the company’s capital investment and commitment to job creation. The agreement also outlines the retention of 190 jobs throughout the entire agreement period.
In 2023, Pritzker welcomed Gotion High-Tech, a China-headquartered manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, to the state. The company is establishing a split production facility in Illinois.
In March of this year, Illinois State Senator Bill Cunningham and Representative Marcus Evans introduced a bill, HB3758, to reduce energy bills and set a 15GW energy storage deployment target.
HB3758 shares many similarities with Senate Bill 3997 (SB3997), introduced by Cunningham in January, which aimed to accelerate energy storage in Illinois.
Both bills seem to be at a standstill. SB3997 was adjourned without a set meeting date in January, and HB3758 was re-referred to the rules committee in March.
Fluence expands US supply chain in Houston, Texas
BESS integrator Fluence, in partnership with climate control specialist Bergstrom, has started production of thermal management systems, including HVAC and chiller equipment, at a new manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas.
The HVAC and chiller equipment will be used for Fluence’s Gridstack Pro BESS solution.
Fluence says the Houston facility “plays a crucial role in the company’s strategy to onshore production of every major product and component of a grid-BESS to the United States.”
While increasing US manufacturing of BESS materials has been an ongoing goal for some time, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) and Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) requirements have made it an ever-present issue for companies like Fluence.
As per the company’s statement, it utilises five manufacturing facilities in partnership with US-based manufacturers to produce a range of products, including battery cells, modules, inverters, enclosures, and control equipment. These collaborations account for over 1,200 manufacturing jobs in 2025.
As reported yesterday (21 August), by Energy-Storage.news, Fluence, along with ACE Engineering, just opened a new automated battery storage manufacturing facility in Vietnam’s Bac Giang Province.
Fluence’s new facility has an annual manufacturing capacity of 35GWh, producing Gridstack Pro and Smartstack energy storage systems using fully automated production processes.
This follows other companies, such as Chinese battery and BESS manufacturer, CATL, moving manufacturing capacity to Southeast Asia. CATL broke ground on its battery manufacturing facility in West Java, Indonesia, in July.
Fluence also recently shared its financial results for Q3 2025, reporting a quarterly revenue of US$602.5 million, up 24.7% year-on-year from US$483 million.
According to the company’s latest results, delays in ramping up domestic manufacturing capabilities will push back the generation of approximately US$100 million in revenue until early next year.
The company stated it experienced “some typical ramp-up issues” putting in place its Arizona production lines.
Speaking on the Houston facility, Peter Williams, Fluence’s Chief Product and Supply Chain Officer, said, “This expansion helps accelerate our progress toward increasing US-based production and strengthening a resilient supply chain, and we believe it positions us to maximise domestic content in the solutions we deliver.”
