Battery developer Elestor completes €30 million investment with consortium led by Equinor Ventures
Dutch company Elestor, technology developer of large-scale electricity storage, has received an investment of €30 million completed from a consortium led by the corporate venture capital arm of Norwegian energy giant Equinor.
In addition to Equinor Ventures, the consortium includes the venture capital arm of the world's largest independent tank storage company Vopak, Dutch impact investor Invest-NL (as co-lead investor), Somerset Capital Partners, and existing shareholders EIT InnoEnergy and Enfuro Ventures.
"With the completion of this investment, Elestor has explicitly gained the confidence and support of this group of top investors. In the investment process, coordinated by Deloitte Corporate Finance as Elestor's exclusive advisor, Elestor went through a series of in-depth technical and operational due diligence processes, confirming both Elestor's technology and operational capabilities," said Guido Dalessi, CEO, Elestor.
Elestor, which was named 1 of the 10 most innovative companies in the Netherlands* in 2021, is now ready to implement an ultra-fast growth strategy that will accelerate the commercialization of the hydrogen bromide flow battery, up to and including a GW-scale production facility.
"We are poised to provide exactly the type of renewable energy storage solutions that the world is now crying out for: long-term energy storage, also known as Long Duration Energy Storage or LDES. Elestor's expansion of production capacity and supply chain management will be led by Hylke van Bennekom (COO, Elestor), who joined the Elestor executive team in April 2021 under an MBI." says Dalessi.
Breakthrough technology
Elestor, founded in 2014 by Wiebrand Kout (CTO), has developed an innovative flow battery that uses hydrogen and bromine as active materials, both available in virtually unlimited quantities. In addition, because the battery generates hydrogen during the charging process, the concept introduces several new and unique opportunities for integration with hydrogen infrastructures and electrolysers. In this way, the Elestor technology integrates the 2 worlds of energy storage: through batteries and in the form of hydrogen.
The technology makes it possible to store renewable energy produced by wind or solar farms, for example, in a way that is cheap and efficient as well as robust and scalable.
"Technologies that can store energy long term, on a large scale, and at low cost, will increasingly play an important role in fulfilling the need to stabilize energy markets. We look forward to working with Elestor," said Gareth Burns, Vice President of Equinor Ventures.
Investing in companies and projects that contribute to the energy transition for a carbon-free and circular economy is the cornerstone of Invest-NL's strategy. Both hydrogen and energy storage methods, such as batteries, are integral to achieving that goal.
"As the National Promotional Institution (NPI) of the Netherlands, Invest-NL is enthusiastically part of this fine consortium of international investors. We are pleased to invest in pioneering technologies such as Elestor's hydrogen bromide flow battery, as they have enormous potential for rapid scale-up and can thus accelerate the Dutch transition to a carbon-neutral and circular economy," said Leo Holwerda, Chief Investment Officer of Invest-NL.
Economic benefits
The energy transition will not merely combat climate change and air pollution: Elestor, and other climate tech companies, will create new jobs, bring economic growth and generate financial returns for investors.
"Elestor's ability to deliver low-cost, large-scale energy storage solution is critical to the energy transition we are supporting across our investment portfolio, ranging from battery technology to the development of sustainable and off-grid logistics real estate," said Joes Daemen, Founder and Managing Partner, Somerset Capital Partners.
Investors also welcome the partnership with Vopak, an expert in storage and handling of energy and chemicals.
"Vopak has been working closely with Elestor for some time. It is our joint ambition to increase the storage capacity of flow batteries, and then take it to industrial scale. Long Duration Energy Storage is part of Vopak's strategy for the storage and handling of new energy types," said Leo Brand, Director Vopak Ventures.
Elestor continues to contribute to net success of a previous investor, Koolen Industries, which provides integrated solutions ranging from power generation to complete end-user solutions.
"The cost-effective storage of clean energy is critical to the energy transition. The technology developed by Elestor is an elegant solution to the challenges surrounding large-scale electricity storage. As an investor, I always love it when a group company is able to move to the next phase of growth. Congratulations to Guido and the Elestor team for completing this investment ! Let's fast forward to our common goal: Clean energy for all," said Kees Koolen, founder and CEO, Koolen Industries.
