#7 Energy Storage News & Views

Welcome to the 7th edition of my Energy Storage News & Views, a bi-weekly newsletter where I will be sharing the latest developments in the world of Energy Storage and an update on things here in the Energy Storage and Grid practice at Hyperion Executive Search.

Once again, it's been an eventful couple of weeks for me and the Energy Storage and Grid team at Hyperion Executive Search.

Firstly, I write this on the eve of my 3 year anniversary working for Hyperion. It's been a remarkable first 3 years with the company so far - I came in with a lot of Executive Search experience but as a relative "rookie" in Energy Storage but thankfully joined a brilliant, supportive team who helped me to adapt and learn very quickly.

I've loved the adventure of building out our Energy Storage team and market coverage and I've relished being put out of my comfort zone, whether it be podcast appearances, event speaking gigs, our working on C-level engagements for wonderful startups and scaleups, no day has been the same and it's been a thoroughly enjoyable ride so far. I can't wait to see where we can go in the next 3 years!

This past fortnight, we've continued to progress a number of our ongoing search mandates including two successful placements, as you can see later on in this newsletter as well as plenty of new conversations with exciting energy Storage and Grid companies looking to grow. On this theme, I recently visited Utrecht, Netherlands with our CEO David Hunt, where we met with some exciting new companies looking to grow. One of the perks of the job is having the opportunity to visit new places and Utrecht was very picturesque and a bit quieter than the busy Amsterdam!

As we enter June, we turn our attention to events season, with some our team at this week's Ecosummit event for the investment and startup community, where some of our existing clients and VC partners are in attendance as well as plenty more. It's an event Hyperion has been involved in for several years and one we now sponsor.

In 2 weeks, I'll be attending INTERSOLAR / EES Europe event in Munich (June 19-21). It's an extra special one this year (not just because Germany host the Euros in the football) but also because the European leg of the Korean InterBattery show will also be at the same venue - I'm excited to check out this new area!

Intersolar / EES Europe is a regular one for me and the Hyperion team - thousands of industry contacts gathered together with an increasing energy storage presence each year I've been. I'm excited to spend 3 days networking with new and existing clients - if you're going to be in attendance, do get in touch to book a meeting but also look out for the red Adidas Gazelles walking around the event (we'll need them as it's usually 20,000+ steps per day!)

I'm sure there will be lots of content from the event in the next edition!

Recruitment News

We made some successful placements in the past fortnight, firstly a Senior Sales and BD Lead for a battery analytics software client in Germany and the second a Head of BESS Delivery for a UK independent power generation and storage SME client. Two great additions to exciting clients!

Generally we're seeing a lot of hiring within the SaaS / AI domain with increasing attention on commercial talent for emerging market opportunities with regions like Germany, Benelux, Central Eastern Europe, and Italy being a core focus for our clients.

We've seen a slow down on the hardware / materials side, with less engineering and production related opportunities in the battery value chain, but a surge in project delivery and commercial management roles in Grid/Utility BESS across the continent.

Here are some of our key assignments...

Industry News

Ireland's first 4-hour BESS Project

There's a longer duration BESS project planned for Cushaling, from Fluence and Statkraft. Whereas most projects in Ireland have been between 0.5 and 2 hour durations [tied to DS3 market opportunities], this project will be 4 hours enable DER providers to better balance demand constraints and reduce curtailment charges - it also opens the door into new trading markets like the Integrated Single Electricity Market (ISEM). This is expected to become a trend across wider GB, with 2+ hour BESS being developed in a merchant context, looking at developments from a portfolio perspective rather than a single asset outlook, a shift from historical investment strategies.

Europe passes Net-Zero Industry Act

The EU introduced the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) to boost regional clean energy manufacturing. This act will ensure certain non-price pre-qualification criteria and award criteria (relating to business conduct, cyber and data security, and delivery feasibility and time etc) will be adhered to; there will be limitations on single country supply of key net zero products; and improved permitting times for construction and manufacturing projects (1GW+).

This act should simplify permits, improve market access for clean tech, and strengthen the clean energy workforce. The goal is to make the EU a leader in clean energy production by 2040.

SVOLT withdraws plans for a 2nd battery site in Germany

SVOLT has shelved cancelled plans to open a second battery plant in Brandenburg, Germany due to volatility in the automotive sector as a whole, and instead will position it's focus towards ESS. It will however push on with it's battery site in Saarland, Germany, despite several delays. The news has been a blow for the Brandenburg region, amongst ongoing speculation that auto OEM Porsche is also rumoured to be reviewing the decision to build a battery Gigafactory located there too, due to fluctuating market conditions such as oversupply concerns due to weakening demand in Germany.

SoLiTHOR achieving significant performance milestones inSolid State Batteries

Belgian startup SoLiTHOR published some impressive performance improvement milestones this past week, as they achieved 500 cycles for their first generation solid state lithium metal prototype cell. Along with this, these prototype cells demonstrated significant energy density (785Wh/L and 318Wh/kg at stack level) and maintained high capacity levels (<7% losses). This gives confidence to future EV and Aerospace OEM customers looking for high performance, long lasting batteries.

A significant breakthrough indeed, particularly for a European startup given the news this week that China will commit a further $830M into their own solid state R&D programs and the US startup space continues to drive innovations.

Aggreko commits $200M in mobile BESS

Aggreko has increased its global investment in their mobile BESS-as-a-service business to around $200M. This will mean a large European fleet of varying-sized BESS removing upfront cost barriers to many customers wanting to go green. This is a great business model offering flexibility and agility to customers' changing needs and allows a "dip your toe in" approach for customers looking to transition to green.

Deals

Although investment has been rather tight for energy storage startups and scaleups, there is some growing confidence in economic upturn. As you can see in the Deals section below, we're starting to see more higher value tickets being landed and more in UK and Europe, which is encouraging given the US dominance so far this year.

Verkor - €1.3 billion (Debt) - Secured from sixteen commercial banks and 3 public banks, to further finance its Gigafactory plant in northern France, with production set to begin in 2025.

Ore Energy - €10 million (Seed) - To further mature their iron-air energy storage technology, particularly focused on longer-durations. The funding will also help them go one step further towards building their first commercial-scale factory.

Newton Energy Solutions - €2.5 million (Early VC) - To quickly commercialise their Thermal Energy Storage solutions, and expand the focus on large residential and utility building customers.

Powall - €3 million (Series A) - To accelerate the development of their nano coating technology, that can be used for longer-lasting batteries, on the back of their already commercially available industrial pilot production unit for active battery materials.”

Reactive Technologies - ￡25M (Series D) - To further enhance their delivery at scale, expand globally, and build the the team and internal operations.

Bedrock Materials - $9 million (Seed) - To further develop their sodium-ion battery technology and scale-up their R&D and pilot facilities in Chicago, USA.

Zenobe Energy - ￡410 million (Debt Finance) - To add further funding to their EV Financing platform to support the deployment of over 2,000 electric bus vehicles across the UK and Ireland by 2026, removing battery risk by taking on the responsibility and risk associated with EV batteries, including performance, replacement and repurposing in second-life applications.

Quidnet Energy - $10 million (Late VC) - To help scale up its geopressured energy storage concept and create 300 MW of geomechanical energy storage projects across Texas, USA.

BANIQL $1.6 million (Seed) - To develop a prototype facility for their sustainable nickel refining technology, expand its R&D and engineering teams, and support general operations.

Insights

The new US Tariffs? What does this mean?! Monumental news from the US this past few days.? The Biden Administration's dramatic new measure to significantly increase tariffs on EV batteries and parts produced in and imported from China has got a lot of people talking!? Tariffs...?Read more

International Battery Companies "Choose France".? All eyes will be on France this summer as the Olympics come to Paris and it's not only on the sporting scene that France is grabbing the headlines.? We're continuing to see a wave of announcements on international companies investing in...?Read more .?

Inflation Reduction Act - or more of a Marshall Plan 2.0 for the US? The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was designed in 2022 to accelerate the development of climate friendly green technologies in the US.? Billions in subsidies are being paid to companies that manufacture battery storage systems and solar...?Read more

Focus H2 investments on the Demand Side.? Some pretty stark findings in this analysis by BloombergNEF.? Governments around the world are set to miss their combined 2030 clean hydrogen targets by half, primarily due to a lack of demand off-take. Only 12% of announced clean H2...?Read more .?

Remember, if you're heading to Intersolar / EES Europe and want to meet, get in touch to organise a meet up!