#9 Energy Storage News & Views

Welcome to the 9th 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.

So we're well into summer season now (although it hasn't felt like it here in the UK with so much torrential rain) but, it's still been an eventful start to the month and to Quarter 3 of the year.

I write this week's edition on the back of our Hyperion Q3 offsite. Our offsites have been commonplace for the last couple of years and are a chance for us to get together as a team, review performance in Q2 and the first half of 2024, and solidify our vision and strategy for the remainder of the year and into 2025. One of the key pillars of this strategy is the "Rocks" which are fundamental actions and outcomes that we each commit to achieving in each quarter, to enable us to achieve our overall goals. I wrote an article around Rocks earlier this year...

This offsite was a great one with Hristiyana Indzhova joining us for her first, and it was fantastic to see Hrisi contributing some great ideas on how we can get better. We don't know what we don't know so we always value insights from new experienced hires who can help us to continually improve.

Our offsites aren't just about the business, they're also about us being together as a team (well, most of the team) and having some fun and on this one, celebrate the company's 10th birthday with a few drinks and some rather competitive bowling competition!

As mentioned, July marks the 10th birthday of Hyperion Search Ltd and hopefully you've been following the socials from the past fortnight where each of our team shared what working for Hyperion means for us. It's been great to see how passionate our entire team is - we all have our own personal reasons for why we love working in the sector and particularly for Hyperion.

It's testament to the hard work of our Founder and CEO David Hunt , the current team and everyone who has contributed over the 10 year journey. Here's to the next 10 years!

Recruitment News

On the recruitment front, our team continues to partner with our Smart Metering Asset Infrastructure client in Germany. Having recruited the Managing Director mandate recently, attention is now on additional Markets & Industry Director and Business Development Manager mandates. For more information, contact Hristiyana Indzhova and Wolfgang Kick

We also continue our live mandates a Senior Battery Scientist for a nex-gen battery anodes scale-up client, and an International Sales / Commercial Director for a C&I ESS corporate client.

Here are some of our key assignments...

Industry News

Positive start from the new UK Government

Here at Hyperion we're encouraged by the initial commitments being made by the new Labour Government in the UK, including planning reforms, commitments to onshore solar projects as a priority, reversing the ban on onshore wind, and some smart appointments from industry like Chris Stark. From an Energy Storage perspective, a greater focus on renewables rollout will mean storage will be essential, and this can create an ever bigger boom for ESS than there already is. Additionally, some of the work on driving flexibility systems into our energy market mix will mean less reliance on the grid, reduced curtailment costs, and hopefully better grid connection availability for future capacity to be deployed sooner.

Stationary Energy Storage Booming in 2024

Recent research by Rho Motion is showing that battery demand as a whole is growing by 20-25% globally with Stationary ESS showing growth as high as 50% compared to last year. This backs up what we've been hearing amongst our client base so far in 2024. I cover more on this topic in one of the Insights below.

Spanish ESS to replaced retired coal plants?

Spain will launch a competitive auction ('fair transition tender') to allocate 829MW of existing grid capacity for renewable generation and energy storage projects, in Asturias and Galicia, to replace existing retired coal plants. The ESS movement is moving towards commercial viability due to battery costs coming down and increased volatility in the market, with a significant rise in co-located PV and ESS projects expected.

Volytica-Sinovoltaics partnership, and launch of new comprehensive BESS analysis tool

Hyperion client, volytica diagnostics , has partnered with technical compliance and QA service firm Sinovoltaics to develop a BESS analysis service, called BESSential, which offers a 100% pack review down to the cell level, and detects and corrects thermal, electrical, and capacity imbalance issues. More info here

CATL plan to expand their global supply chain footprint

Battery supermajor CATL is making moves to strengthen it's global position, holding discussions with sovereign wealth funds, family offices and Auto OEMs around creating a $1.5 billion fund for it's global supply chain build out, with the bulk focused on Europe.

After the US tariff announcements earlier this year, Europe will be seen as a key market for Chinese battery suppliers but with the EU is also planning some tariffs (not likely to be as extreme as the US) it's looking like we'll see more battery makers targeting acquisitions to enable them to build a local regional footprint. This news from CATL seems to back up that theory given their statement!

LFP production in Europe

There are concerns around European battery manufacturing progress at the moment, but a lot of this is underpinned by companies pivoting from their original cell designs with increased intent to look at LFP cells for both EV and ESS, rather than NCA/NM. Many of the prominent EV OEMs have switched to LFP including Tesla, GM, Ford, BMW.

In Europe, ElevenEs (the first LFP cell manufacturer in the region) are moving towards industrialisation phases of manufacturing as we speak. This month AESC announced plans for an LFP factory in Spain, backed by the Spanish Government, with production due to begin in 2026, and UK based Integrals Power is pushing forward with it's first production facility working alongside the Advanced Propulsion Centre and Innovate UK.

Downturn in Materials Profits

The short-term outlook for battery materials is looking a little challenging, with growth in demand stuttering and in some companies' cases reversing. I wrote a piece on battery demand this week, which you can see in Insights below. Two materials giants have hit the headlines.

Firstly, Umicore has been forced to adjust their EBITDA projections to approx. breakeven for their Battery Cathode Materials divisions, as they expect volumes to potentially drop from 2023 levels, with demand for EV batteries dropping in 2024. It's important to note that they are still fully committed in this long-term business, despite the short-term challenges. Additionally, BASF have announced further "critical reviews" will be taken before committing to their significant multibillion investment in cathode materials manufacturing plant, on the back of some slow demand months for EV batteries.

Deals

It's been a rather quiet couple of weeks on the deal announcements front, but good to see a mix of technologies being funded across batteries, LDES, and Grid/Utilities digitalisation.

Hydrogenious LOHC - €72.5 million (Grant) - For its Green Hydrogen Blue Danube project, which is recognised as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), with 70% Federal Government funding and 30% Bavarian State funding. Starting in 2028, Hydrogenious' LOHC ReleasePLANT will eventually supply up to 1,800 tonnes of green hydrogen to off takers in the Bavarian industrial area.

Heimdall Power - €22.9 million (Series B) - To grow it's international team, further invest in technology development, and scale to be a world-leader within grid-enhancing Technologies.

Smartville Inc - $10 million (DOE Grant) - To further demonstrate their LDES solution from repurposed / retired EV batteries, as part of a 5-year SMART project in conjunction with the DOE in the US.

epilot GmbH - €10 million (Growth equity) - To significantly expand it's 100 person team, to develop new products (utilities SaaS) and solutions for the platform and extend its AI capabilities.

AM Batteries - $2.23 million (Grant) - To fund their new Customer Success Center with a pilot manufacturing line for validating materials and electrode performance in their dry li-ion electrode technology.

Orus Energy - €2.2 million (Pre-seed) - To help further scale-up the energy flexibility platform startup

Peak Energy - $55M (Series A) - To fund the scale-up of manufacturing of their sodium-ion batteries as the company plans to deliver its first systems in 2025 and open a full-scale production facility in 2027.

Sector Insights

Soaring Demand for Batteries in 2024.? Insightful research findings from RhoMotion in this article, showing that in 2024, battery demand (lithium, lead, and zinc) has been soaring and by the end of the year demand is expected to grow by 20-25% across all end use markets and surpassing...?Read more.?

UK ranked in the the top 3 BESS markets.? The UK has been ranked the 3rd most attractive BESS market in the world by the EY Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI), with only China and the USA (no shocks there) ahead of it. Australia, Germany, and Italy make up the top... Read more.

Glasto going Electric! Love this piece around BESS replacing traditional diesel gen-sets at Glastonbury a couple of weeks ago (shout out to Multi Source Power /Ecotricity). As an energy storage “nerd”, I'm fully sold on the benefits of batteries, as most of you reading...?Read more

Sodium Batteries for LDES becoming a viable option.? For some time now, sodium-ion batteries have been talked about as a new technology to complement the dominant lithium-ion batteries. Benefits include lower costs due to sodium being a highly abundant material, improved safety due to less issues...?Read more

New reform pledges are an encouraging sign for UK Renewables and Energy Storage.? Its not even a week since a new Labour Government was voted in here in the UK, but there are already some encouraging signs for renewable energy developments, outlined by new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. These centre around planning.? A...?Read more.?

Despite conflicting news - Mercedes invest further into domestic battery technology research capabilities.? In 2024, Mercedes-Benz will invest €14 billion research and development and in its plants – and a significant proportion will be channelled into the development of batteries and electric drive systems. This is interesting insofar as there has been...?Read more.?

Electric trucks are a reality - on European roads! It is the next frontier for electric vehicles - the question whether batteries are really practical for heavy duty vehicles. Well, a battery-powered Mercedes-Benz eActros truck unit has proved its readiness for work in the UK by completing a...?Read more

Recruitment and Business Insights

Growth is great, but don't forget about Retention.? As an executive search firm, naturally our focus is on recruitment of great new talent, but that doesn't mean the process ends when the candidate starts on their first day. The real value in our approach is the long-term care we have for our...?Read more.?

CVC the way to go for your early fundraising? As many of you will know, we (Hyperion) support post-investment cleantech startups and scaleups to recruit their senior and executive teams. Therefore, we take an active interest in investment patterns and trends that impact our clients.? In...?Read more

The next edition will come on the eve of a pretty monumental and super exciting personal event for me, as I get married to my amazing fiancé Shell down in Cornwall. Anticipation (and some nerves) are building ahead of the big day but I can't wait!!

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Another edition coming soon!

David