ESS is an Oregon-based company that manufactures flow batteries that rely on simple, abundant, and inexpensive materials — iron, salt, and water. The secret sauce is the membrane that separates the positively charged liquid from the negatively charged liquid. Last year, ESS entered into an agreement to supply SB Energy, a division of SoftBank, with 2 GWh of flow batteries by 2026. That was a big deal for the fledgling company, but because SoftBank is also an investor in the company, it wasn’t really a sign of full-fledged acceptance from the utility industry.
Last week, that changed when ESS and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District announced that ESS would supply SMUD with flow batteries with a total capacity of 200 MW/2 GWh beginning next year. The utility plans to be a zero emissions energy supplier by 2030 — one of the most aggressive carbon reduction plans in the…
ESS Flow Battery To Supply 200MW/2GWh Of Energy Storage To California Utility
