The Winners Are Set to Be Announced for the Energy Storage Awards!

Energy Storage Awards, 21 November 2024, Hilton London Bankside

Volvo Group buys bankrupt Proterra; Volvo Penta providing EV charging BESS

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Volvo Group has acquired the US battery pack company Proterra out of bankruptcy, while its power solutions arm Volvo Penta is providing its BESS sub-system for EV charging infrastructure solutions.

Volvo Group, which mainly provides large vehicles, construction equipment and power solutions across various industries, won an auction for the business and assets of Proterra Inc and Proterra Operating Company Inc for US$210 million.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Proterra is a US-based provider of battery packs for industry, electric buses and EV charging infrastructure and is in a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, with the transaction expected to close in 2024. Volvo Group will inherit a development centre for battery modules and packs in California and an assembly factory in South Carolina.

The announcement coincided with one from Volvo Group’s power solutions subsidiary Volvo Penta, that it was providing its BESS sub-system to to companies providing EV charging infrastructure-integrated BESS solutions.

That includes a partnership with TecnoGen, part of diesel powered generators manufacturer Bruno Generators Group, whereby the pair will collaborate to support charging infrastructure for electric heavy vehicles. An example solution is pictured above.

Energy-Storage.news interviewed Penta’s VP product management for its Industrial Business Prabhakaran Sundaramurthi in May, shortly after it announced the launch of its BESS sub-system.

A sub-system comprises the battery system, battery management, monitoring, thermal management, power distribution box and cabling and technical integration expertise but not an energy management system (EMS), SCADA platform (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) or container design.

The sub-system uses the battery technology that Penta has developed in-house for its electrification solutions, and with Volvo Penta being a relatively small part of Volvo Group (4% of revenues in 2022) it is not clear whether any of the integration of Proterra will affect or benefit its BESS activity. Some 86% of Volvo Group’s revenues last were were from the sale of trucks and construction equipment.

Another subsidiary of Volvo Group, Volvo Energy, has made forays into second life energy storage. In September it signed a letter of intent to jointly develop a BESS using batteries from Volvo’s vehicle line with UK firm Connected Energy. 

Proterra was among the companies that had holdings with Silicon Valley Bank before the institution’s untimely demise earlier this year, although all deposits were protected by the US government.

Rolls-Royce launches BESS-integrated EV charging

Penta’s move into EV charging-integrated BESS came at the same time as one from Rolls-Royce Holdings, which has supplied three mtu EnergyPacks to system integrator Eigen Energy for Shell EV charging stations in Singapore (mtu is a brand and subsidiary of Rolls-Royce).

The BESS units will help integrate electricity from PV systems in to the charging patterns while also offsetting peak energy loads, as well as providing electricity back to the grid when needed.

It’s important to note that both Volvo Group and Rolls-Royce Holdings are entirely separate companies from those which manufacture and sell the consumer vehicle products which have their respective brand names. Volvo Group sold Volvo Cars in the 1990s while Rolls-Royce vehicles have been manufactured and sold by BMW since 1998.

Rolls-Royce Holdings develops and delivers complex power and propulsion solutions for industries across air, land and sea. The company has been delivering BESS solutions for several years now through its Power Systems division, including mtu.

Last year it announced it was deploying a 63MWh BESS in the Netherlands, the then-largest announced project in the country until a 68MWh one was announced by system integrator Alfen.

Energy-Storage.news reported on Volvo Cars’ (now listed independently on the Stockholm Nasdaq) own foray into the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) space last week.

18 March 2025
Austin, Texas
The Energy Storage Summit USA is the only place where you are guaranteed to meet all the most important investors, developers, IPPs, RTOs and ISOs, policymakers, utilities, energy buyers, service providers, consultancies and technology providers in one room, to ensure that your deals get done as efficiently as possible. Book your ticket today to join us in 2025!
18 March 2025
Sydney, Australia
As we move into 2025, Australia is seeing real movement in emerging as a global ‘green’ superpower, with energy storage at the heart of this. This Summit will explore in-depth the ‘exponential growth of a unique market’, providing a meeting place for investors and developers’ appetite to do business. The second edition will shine a greater spotlight on behind-the-meter developments, with the distribution network being responsible for a large capacity of total energy storage in Australia. Understanding connection issues, the urgency of transitioning to net zero, optimal financial structures, and the industry developments in 2025 and beyond.
27 May 2025
London, UK
At the time of writing, Europe had had its most successful year in terms of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with a record 7.8GW of renewable energy contracts signed. As we gather in May 2024 for the third edition of the Renewable Energy Revenues Summit, the energy landscape continues to evolve rapidly, influenced by the beating drum of climate change, volatility around power prices and the need to decarbonise power procurement as well as generation.

Read Next

November 7, 2024
NYSE-listed battery startup Freyr has pivoted strategy and acquired a 5GW solar module facility in Texas, US, from Chinese firm Trina Solar, the same day that Donald Trump was declared to have won the presidential election (6 November).
November 5, 2024
The US government’s launch of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, with a staggering $7 billion investment, marks a critical moment for the green hydrogen industry.
November 1, 2024
A double-header of large-scale solar and storage project news from Arizona, US, with PPAs between Recurrent Energy and utility APS, and developer Avantus selling a co-located project to D. E. Shaw.
November 1, 2024
A company that makes 3D-printed concrete anchors and foundations for marine energy projects has been awarded US government funding for its subsea pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) technology.
October 31, 2024
System integrator Stem Inc has seen huge falls in quarterly revenue and bookings as it shifts its business model away from BESS hardware solutions towards higher-margin software and service offerings.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter