Utility E.ON invests in Greensmith to ‘extend energy storage activities’

Greensmith's innovative software will help E.ON expand its storage activities. Credit: Greensmith
Germany-based utility E.ON has invested in US energy storage software, systems and service company Greensmith, bringing the storage specialist’s Series C round of growth financing to US$18.3 million.

This round of financing also included a US$5 million investment from another utility, the US-based investor-owned firm American Electric Power.

Last year E.ON split into two entities, recognising the competition that renewables now pose to incumbent energy technologies, with one E.ON arm continuing with its conventional fossil fuel-based generation and the other focusing on renewable energy.

The utility has already played a role in energy storage. For example, in August, construction began on a 5MW device, billed as the world’s first modular large-scale battery storage system, in which E.ON was heavily involved.

Greensmith, has evangelised its belief that software and energy management form a critical part of the energy storage sector. In an interview with PV Tech Storage earlier this year, Greensmith CEO John Jung explained the company's "technology agnostic" approach. The company will use the new financing to advance its GEMS energy storage software platform that helps aggregate storage systems together. The financing will also be used to expand Greensmith’s commercial and technology delivery operations and to accelerate its pipeline.

While Greensmith says it was involved in the delivery of more than one third of all energy storage capacity in the US in 2014 and continues to service that market including frequency regulation projects in the PJM service area, the financing will aid its expansion into the European market.

Susana Quintana-Plaza, senior vice president, Technology and Innovation E.ON SE, said: “Greensmith's innovative software and extensive experience in both battery and PCS integration and control will enable us to extend our energy storage activities and to provide better solutions to our customers.”

This article has been amended to reflect that Greensmith was involved in the delivery of approximately one-third of new energy storage capacity in the US in 2014 - not "to date" as was originally published.