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A 30MW / 30MWh battery energy storage system at the Ballarat substation in the Australian state of Victoria supplied by Fluence and commissioned in 2018. The company’s order book, average project size and range of solutions they have grown rapidly since then. Image: Fluence / Ausnet.
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has agreed to invest in energy storage solutions provider Fluence in a transaction that values the technology company at more than $ 1 billion.
The Qatar Investment Authority has committed to investing $ 125 million in Fluence through a private placement transaction. Meanwhile, current co-owners of Fluence, energy asset developer AES Corporation and engineering giant Siemens will hold about 44% of the shares in the energy storage company after the transaction, which remains subject to conditions of closure, including regulatory approval.
Valuation of shares at $ 125 million for around 12% owned by Fluence means that, as noted by a source close to the company, the energy storage provider has become a ‘unicorn’, also known as a startup. private with a value of a billion dollars or more. , so called due to the rarity of this phenomenon.
Fluence emailed Energy-Storage.news with the announcement in late 2020, with a press release signed by the respective AES headquarters in Arlington, Virginia (USA), Siemens in Munich, Germany and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) in Doha, Qatar.
Fluence will use the investment to “further accelerate the development of its product offerings,” the company said, with a focus on digital products, while also using the funds to increase the deployment of its existing products in “more markets globally. “.
The company had a great year in 2020, appointed new CEO Manuel Pérez Dubuc in April and then launched the sixth generation of its energy storage solutions product range in June, which it claimed is more modular and ‘stackable’ than ever. , allowing for easy and quick deployment.
At launch, Fluence announced that it had already received 800MW / 2,300MWh in orders from a variety of clients, including leading project developers in the US and 500MW + to a yet undisclosed client in Southeast Asia. It was also revealed that several projects already completed or under construction around the world were supplied by Fluence equipment and systems, including some of the first large-scale grid-connected battery storage projects in European territories such as Ireland, Switzerland and Belgium, as well as the supply of a 112MW / 560MWh battery storage project currently underway in Chile.
The company also completed the acquisition at the end of this year of American company Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS), a pioneering partner in the energy storage industry that provides energy market bidding software and digital optimization backed by artificial intelligence (AI). for energy storage and renewable energy assets.
“We are proud to partner with Fluence, which is at the forefront of the global drive to provide energy storage solutions. We believe that energy storage will play a key role in delivering cleaner, more sustainable and resilient power grids around the world, ”said QIA CEO Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud.
“This investment further reinforces our commitment to responsible investment for a low-carbon future.”
QIA was one of six founding members of the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund initiative in 2018, which calls for incorporating “climate change considerations” into decision-making, to encourage companies to address climate issues to promote climate change. creating value and integrating climate change. -Risks and opportunities related to investment management.
With that membership having grown to 33 members with more than $ 30 trillion in assets – funds from France, Italy, Spain, India and five others announced their decision to join the initiative’s most recent summit in November – the QIA investment. at Fluence he stands alongside that growing focus on green technologies and economic opportunities to address climate change.
Commenting on the investment, AES CEO and President Andres Gluski and Siemens Smart Infrastructure CEO Matthias Rebellius discussed the growth potential in the energy storage market and the role of energy storage as a component. vital of the transition to modern, low-carbon technology. energy sources and infrastructure.
