Growing interest in flow batteries has helped ESS attract investment from backers including BASF. Pic: ESS.
By Jason Deign
ESS Inc, the Oregon, US-based flow battery manufacturer, this week announced USD$13m in new funding from investors including the global chemical industry leader BASF.
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An ESS all-iron flow battery at the Stone Edge Farm advanced microgrid, in Sonoma County, California. Pic: ESS.
By Jason Deign
Portland, Oregon, USA-based flow battery maker ESS has brought in a company growth strategy master to chair its board of directors.
The all-iron flow battery manufacturer last week announced its chairman would be David Lazovsky, the former president and CEO of Intermolecular, which supports advanced materials.
The appointment comes seven months after the addition of Michael Niggli, former president and chief operating officer of San Diego Gas & Electric, to the ESS board.
Lazovsky founded NASDAQ-listed Intermolecular in 2004 and served as the company’s president and chief executive until to October 2014.
As president and CEO, Lazovsky led Intermolecular from early-stage start-up to a high-growth public company, said ESS in a press release.
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Utility veteran Michael Niggli’s decision to join the board of flow battery maker ESS is a vote of confidence for long-duration storage. Pic: ESS.
By Jason Deign
An executive appointment last month has signalled increasing confidence in the ability of flow batteries to tap into the promising market for long-duration energy storage.
Michael R Niggli, the former president and chief operating officer of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), joined the board of all-iron flow battery maker ESS Inc. amid a growing focus on storage applications exceeding four hours of duration.
“As the renewable energy trend continues to reach penetration levels of 25% to 35% and potentially well beyond, it’s evident that the impact on local distribution networks, and the entire grid, is going to be pretty profound,” Niggli told Energy Storage Report.
“That suggests there is a growing need for need for medium and long-duration storage.”
Electrical energy storage’s current focus on short-duration applications, such as frequency response, is partly a consequence of the still relatively low penetration of renewables in most grids and a need for ancillary services.
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