Siemens and AES Corp have signed an agreement to form a new global energy storage technology and services company under the name Fluence. The joint venture is declared as bringing together AES' ten years experience in deploying energy storage in seven countries with Siemens' energy technology leadership and its global sales presence. It will combine the AES Advancion and Siemens Siestorage energy storage platforms.
Siemens and AES will have joint control of the company with each holding a 50 % stake. Its headquarters will be located in the Washington, DC area with additional offices located in Erlangen, Germany and other cities worldwide. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to regulatory and other approvals.
Fluence will operate independently of its parent companies which 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 totalling 463 MW of battery-based energy storage across 13 countries, including whay is currently the world's largest lithium-ion battery-based energy storage project near San Diego, California.
The expectation is that the partnership will offer a wide range of energy storage solutions that will “accelerate the integration of renewables into the energy network of tomorrow."
The grid-connected energy storage sector is expected to expand from a total installed capacity of 3 GW at the end of 2016 to 28 GW by 2022 according to IHS Markit.
