Augwind Energy plans to construct the world’s first commercial-scale AirBattery in Germany, using its Hydraulic Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) technology to deliver grid-scale energy storage for weeks or even months.
Designed to address seasonal gaps in renewable output – such as Germany’s notorious Dunkelflautes – the system stores excess energy by compressing air into underground salt caverns and later releases it to generate electricity. A single cavern can store 3–8GWh, and Augwind’s pilot in Israel has already achieved 47% AC-to-AC round-trip efficiency, with commercial systems expected to exceed 60%.
The German facility, set for commissioning between 2027 and 2028, will use a mined salt cavern as a low-cost, high-capacity reservoir. The project aims to demonstrate the scalability and economic viability of long-duration storage as Europe pushes past 50% renewable energy penetration.
Or Yogev, founder and CEO of Augwind, said, “This is more than a project; it’s a milestone for achieving net zero. With the AirBattery, we’re introducing a storage solution that finally matches the scale and rhythm of renewable energy. Germany’s redundant salt caverns, industrial leadership, and climate ambition make it the perfect launchpad for our first commercial deployment. Our goal is to become Europe’s preferred partner for multiweek storage solutions. With this German launch, we are proving that long term energy storage to balance the grid is not only technically feasible, but it’s economically sound.”
Image: Augwind Energy will build the world’s first commercial-scale AirBattery in Germany
