French fossil fuel company ENGIE has bought an 80% stake in US battery storage company Green Charge Networks (Green Charge).
The deal brings together ENGIE’s renewable energy network in the US with California-based Green Charge, which has deployed or is constructing 48 MWh of commercial and public sector battery storage projects in the US.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the pairing will target the commercial, industrial and public sector markets.
The deal is the second instance this week of an oil and gas energy firm buying into the energy storage sector after battery company Saft was sold to fellow French company Total.
The desire to tap into the growing energy storage market will be no surprise to those who saw a report by GTM Research/Energy Storage Association, which showed the US deployed 221MW/ 161MWh of storage during 2015, up from 65MW/ 86MWh in 2014. Read the full report here.
“With Green Charge, ENGIE immediately gains a strong position in the growing battery storage market in the US,” said Frank Demaille, President and CEO of the North American business unit of ENGIE.
“The company’s stand-alone battery and solar plus battery solutions complement our existing offer.
“This acquisition will also reinforce ENGIE’s strengths and skills in the activities of decentralized energy management, off-grid solutions, and power reliability, which are identified as areas for growth for the company around the world.”
William Kriegel, chairman of Green Charge, said, “ENGIE has the capabilities to propel Green Charge forward in its next stage of growth in the emerging global energy storage marketplace.”
