Siemens and AES to form global energy storage technology joint venture: Fluence

Siemens AG and The AES Corporation are forming a new global energy storage technology and services company under the name Fluence. The joint venture will bring together AES’ experience deploying energy storage in seven countries with Siemens’ energy technology leadership and its global sales presence in more than 160 countries.

Fluence will operate independently of its parent companies, combining the capabilities and expertise from Siemens’ battery-based energy storage solutions group under the Energy Management division with AES’ subsidiary, AES Energy Storage. AES and Siemens are currently ranked among the leading energy storage integrators worldwide by Navigant Research. Together, the two companies have deployed or have been awarded 48 projects totaling 463 MW of battery-based energy storage across 13 countries, including the world’s largest lithium-ion battery-based energy storage project near San Diego, California.

Siemens and AES will have joint control of the company with each holding a 50% stake. Fluence’s global headquarters will be located in the Washington, DC area with additional offices located in Erlangen, Germany and select cities worldwide. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2017, subject to regulatory and other approvals.

The grid-connected energy storage sector is expected to expand from a total installed capacity of three gigawatts (GW) at the end of 2016 to 28 GW by 2022 according to IHS Markit, which is equivalent to the power used by 18.6 million households. By incorporating energy storage across the electric power network, utilities and communities around the world will optimize their infrastructure investments, increase network flexibility and resiliency, and accelerate cost-effective integration of renewable electricity generation.

The AES Advancion (earlier post) and Siemens Siestorage (earlier post) technology platforms each support a multitude of energy storage applications. (Both companies have worked with LG Chem.) Siemens brings its experience in microgrid and islanding applications, renewable hybrid technology, black-start capability, and consumer peak shaving, building on its intimate knowledge of customer power needs as a leading global original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

AES brings its deep expertise in utility-scale battery-based energy storage solutions for flexible peaking capacity, ancillary services such as frequency regulation, transmission and distribution reliability, and renewable integration applications dating back a decade and representing several of the largest energy storage installations in the world.