Siemens and the AES Corporation announced their agreement to form a new global energy storage technology and services company, under the name Fluence. The company will empower customers around the world to better navigate the fragmented but rapidly growing energy-storage sector and meet their pressing needs for scalable, flexible, and cost-competitive energy storage solutions.
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.
The joint venture will bring together AES’ 10 years of industry-defining experience deploying energy storage in seven countries, with over a century of Siemens’ energy technology leadership and its global sales presence in more than 160 countries. Fluence will combine the proven AES Advancion and Siemens Siestorage energy storage platforms with expanded services and power storage offerings.
“As the energy storage market expands, customers face the challenge of finding a trusted technology partner with an appropriate portfolio and a profound knowledge of the power sector,” said Ralf Christian, CEO of Siemens’ Energy Management Division. “Fluence will fill this major gap in the market. With the global reach of an experienced international sales force, as well as Siemens’ leading technology platform Siestorage at its disposal, Fluence will be perfectly equipped to serve this very interesting market.”
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 the calendar year 2017, subject to regulatory and other approvals.
Fluence will operate independently of its parent companies, combining the robust capabilities and expertise from Siemens’ battery-based energy storage solutions group under the Energy Management Division with AES’ subsidiary, AES Energy Storage.
“Over the past 10 years, AES has become a global leader in utility-scale, battery-based energy storage. Today AES’ Advancion platform is present in seven countries with more than 200 MW of energy storage deployed, including the largest installed system of its kind in the world,” said Andrés Gluski, AES President and CEO. “Partnering with Siemens to form Fluence will offer both large and small customers the full gamut of proven, state-of-the-art energy storage solutions in over 160 countries. This 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 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 the cost-effective integration of renewable electricity generation.
The AES Advancion and Siemens Siestorage technology platforms each support a multitude of energy storage applications, together representing an industry-leading suite of choices for customers. 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.
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.
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