Siemens and AES recently announced an agreement to form a new global energy storage technology and services company under the name Fluence. The joint venture will combine AES' experience deploying energy storage with Siemens' energy technology leadership and global sales presence.
Siemens and AES will have joint control of the company, with each holding a 50 percent stake. Fluence's global headquarters will be in the Washington, D.C., area with additional offices located in Erlangen, Germany and select cities worldwide. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory and other approvals.
"As the energy storage market expands, customers face the challenge of finding a trusted technology partner with an appropriate portfolio and a profound knowledge of the power sector," said Ralf Christian, CEO of Siemens' Energy Management Division. "Fluence will fill this major gap in the market."
Fluence will operate independently of its parent companies, combining the capabilities and expertise from Siemens' battery-based energy storage solutions group with AES' subsidiary, AES Energy Storage.
"Partnering with Siemens to form Fluence will offer both large and small customers the full gamut of proven, state-of-the-art energy storage solutions in over 160 countries," said Andrés Gluski, AES president and CEO. "This will accelerate the integration of renewables into the energy network of tomorrow."
The grid-connected energy storage sector is expected to expand from a total installed capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) at the end of 2016 to 28 GW by 2022, which is equivalent to the power used by 18.6 million households.
For more information, visit www.fluenceenergy.com.