Honeywell and ESS Tech, Inc. Collaborate to Accelerate Commercial Deployment of Iron Flow Battery Energy Storage Systems
This press release may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) today announced a strategic collaboration with ESS Tech, Inc. (ESS) (NYSE: GWH) to advance technology development and market adoption of iron flow battery (IFB) energy storage systems. Honeywell has made an investment in ESS as part of this collaboration.
The relationship builds upon each company’s development of energy storage systems, and brings together ESS’ market-leading, patented IFB design with Honeywell’s advanced materials and energy systems expertise.
“The demand for long-duration energy storage represents a compelling market opportunity within the energy transition and the combination of Honeywell and ESS technology can accelerate decarbonization for the commercial, industrial and utility sectors,” said Bryan Glover, chief growth officer, Honeywell Performance Materials and Technology (PMT) group. “Our strategic collaboration with ESS will accelerate Honeywell’s ability to bring comprehensive solutions to our customers while working to advance long-duration energy storage across all industries requiring expansive energy storage.”
“Today, we are creating superior technology in the critical long-duration energy storage industry,” said Eric Dresselhuys, CEO of ESS. “Combining ESS’ innovative technology and deployment experience with Honeywell’s storage and control system expertise will enable us to drive the clean energy transition and deliver value to our customers, shareholders and communities.”
Iron flow batteries are not designed to be moved. ESS’s models fit into shipping containers and are filled with water. They are designed to provide back-up power for approximately 6 hours but potentially double that. With long duration and 20,000 cycles these are long-term designs that can plug into existing infrastructure.
The challenge is the technology is not proprietary and several others are attempting to differentiate on their software. The biggest challenge for all of these kinds of companies is getting to commercial reality without going bust first.
Taking in an outside investor like Honeywell, which has its own iron flow business, is a smart move. ESS is firming within its base. The primary value is the software that optimises charging and selling electricity and peak demand times.
Fluence is another energy storage company which focuses on its software interface. The share is firming from the region of the 200-day MA.