Elestor, a large-scale Dutch electricity storage company, has secured a €30 million investment from a consortium spearheaded by Norwegian energy giant Equinor’s corporate venture capital arm.
The consortium also includes the venture capital arm of the world’s leading independent tank storage company Royal Vopak, Dutch impact investor Invest-NL and Somerset Capital Partners, as well as existing shareholders EIT InnoEnergy and Enfuro Ventures.
Guido Dalessi, the CEO of Elestor, commented: “The investment proves that we have earned the trust and support of this diverse group of highly respected investors. During the investment process, coordinated by Deloitte Corporate Finance as Elestor’s exclusive advisor, the investors have completed a comprehensive technical and operational due diligence that has validated our technology and our ability to deliver.”
Elestor has been ranked as one of the ten most innovative companies in the Netherlands and is now poised to implement an ultra-rapid growth strategy that will accelerate the commercialisation of its proven hydrogen bromine flow battery technology to a GW scale production facility, a truly unprecedented development.
Dalessi explained: “We are ready to deliver the kind of renewable electricity storage solutions the world is crying out for right now: Long Duration Energy Storage, or LDES. Expansion of Elestor’s production capacity and supply chain management is under control of Hylke van Bennekom (COO, Elestor), who joined the company’s management team in April 2021 through an MBI.”
Groundbreaking flow battery technology
Elestor has pioneered flow batteries that employ hydrogen and bromine as active materials, which are both available in virtually unlimited quantities. In addition, due to the battery generating hydrogen during the charging process, the concept introduces several new and unique possibilities for integrating hydrogen infrastructures and electrolysers.
The Elestor electricity storage technology fuses the two worlds of energy storage. It can store renewable energy produced by wind farms or by solar power plants in a way that is both cost-effective and efficient, robust, and scalable.
Gareth Burns, the head of Equinor Ventures, said: “Technologies providing long-term energy storage at scale will play an important role in satisfying the growing need to stabilise power markets. We look forward to working together with Elestor.”
Investing in companies and projects contributing to the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular economy is the cornerstone of Invest-NL’s strategy. Both hydrogen and energy storage facilities, such as batteries, are integrated into their execution.
“As the National Promotional Institution of the Netherlands, Invest-NL is enthusiastic about being part of this great consortium of renowned investors. We favour groundbreaking technologies such as Elestor’s hydrogen bromine flow batteries because they hold tremendous potential for scaling up quickly and thus to speed up the Dutch transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular economy,” said Jan Pieter Postma, interim CEO, Invest-NL.
Boosting economic growth
The energy transition will forge many fresh opportunities beyond combatting climate change and air pollution, creating new jobs, delivering economic growth and generating financial returns for investors.
Joes Daemen, Founder and Managing Partner, Somerset Capital Partners, commented: “Elestor’s ability to deliver low-cost, large-scale energy storage sits at the heart of the energy transition that we aim to support across our investment portfolio, which ranges from battery technology to sustainable and off-grid logistics real estate developments for the future.”
“Royal Vopak has worked with Elestor for some time. Our joint ambition is to scale up the electricity storage capacity of flow batteries and then further develop it to an industrial scale. Long Duration Energy Storage is part of Vopak’s strategy to accelerate towards the storage and handling of new energies,” said Leo Brand, Director of Vopak Ventures.
“Cost-effective storage of clean energy is paramount to the energy transition. I believe the technology Elestor developed is an elegant solution to the challenge of large-scale electricity storage. As an investor, I’m always thrilled when a group company can make the jump to the next growth phase. Congratulations to Guido and the Elestor team for securing this investment round, and let’s move on to our common goal: Clean Energy for Everyone,” concluded Kees Koolen, Founder and CEO of Koolen Industries.
