ESS Inc, a U.S. leading manufacturer of long-duration batteries, announced this Thursday it entered into an agreement with SB Energy; a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp, to deploy up to 2-gigawatts of battery energy capacity to the U.S. grid.
Firstly, the agreement establishes a framework through 2026. It represents both companies’ commitment to the advancement of renewable energy and the decarbonization of the grid.
Moreover, related to the agreement, the companies have already deployed the first battery energy storage system. The solution was for a location in Davis, California, and will begin commercial operations in October, 2021.
However, both companies intend to expand and complement their portfolios in Texas and California. Those are two of the fastest-growing markets for long-duration storage in the U.S. Particularly, ESS will deploy its state-of-the-art battery technology.
In fact, ESS’ batteries are iron, salt, and also water-based. Consequently, the systems help increase the grid resiliency while eliminating the risk of the batteries catching fire; particularly in wildfire-prone areas such as California.
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Moreover, about the companies’ capabilities in this matter, Rich Hossfeld, Co-CEO at SB Energy and ESS Board Member, said. “ESS’s unique ability to manufacture and ship batteries using iron, salt, and also water is a game-changer, enabling SB Energy to offer our customers safe, sustainable and low-cost energy storage today.”
He also remarked. “SB Energy is excited to continue its partnership with ESS and deploy the company’s domestically manufactured batteries into the vast and rapidly growing market for energy storage.”
On the other hand, Eric Dresselhuys, ESS CEO, also said. “The energy transition will require massive amounts of storage capacity in the coming years and we are focused on scaling up our manufacturing capacity to help meet that demand. We are fortunate to have such great partners as SB Energy and Breakthrough Energy Ventures and look forward to a long and expanding partnership.”
Finally, this agreement is another milestone for ESS and its growth in recent months. In fact, ESS recently announced that it had closed an order with Enel Green Power España to deliver 17 ESS Energy Warehouse battery systems with a combined capacity of 8.5 MWh. Moreover, it also announced it is going public after a merger with ACON S2 Acquisition Corp.
