US energy storage player ESS has expanded its operations into Europe to meet demand in the region for the company’s long duration energy storage (LDES) systems.
ESS is scheduled to begin European deployment of its long-duration batteries during the second half of 2022.
The European region is expected to require up to 20TWh of long-duration energy storage if it is to meet UN climate change goals of Grid Net-Zero by 2040.
With the transition to renewable energy set to accelerate following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the use of LDES will also reduce the dependency of European countries on gas-powered generation of electricity.
ESS’ market expansion in Europe includes the appointment of Alan Greenshields as director of Europe, to oversee customer adoption and deployment of the company’s LDES solutions.
Greenshields brings over 25 years of experience to ESS in senior executive roles and has held several board-level positions at battery technology companies.
The European region has shown strong demand for LDES solutions to support solar and wind energy sources, and transition grids away from fossil fuels.
As an indication of this demand, ESS has already announced customer orders from ENEL in Spain for the delivery 17 ESS Energy Warehouse iron flow battery systems, providing a combined capacity of 8.5MWh, which will be used to support an EU-backed solar farm and provide resilience for the local power grid.
ESS’s long-duration batteries are manufactured using iron, salt, and water, and offer customers, safe, low-cost, and sustainable energy storage.
“Based on our success in the US, it makes sense to bring our technology to the European market where demand is so strong,” says Eric Dresselhuys, CEO of ESS.
“LDES technologies are the only way we can combat the devasting effects of climate change. We are deploying solutions today that will help the European region to simultaneously accelerate the transition to sustainable energy sources and achieve its energy security goals.”