The Netherlands-based Elestor, a large-scale electricity storage company, announced on Saturday, July 27, that it raised €30M in a fresh round of funding led by Equinor Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Norwegian energy giant Equinor.
The round also saw participation from the venture capital arm of independent tank storage company Royal Vopak, Dutch impact investor Invest-NL (as co-lead investor), and Somerset Capital Partners, as well as existing shareholders EIT InnoEnergy and Enfuro Ventures.
Guido Dalessi, CEO of Elestor, says, “The investment proves that we have earned the trust and support of this diverse group of highly respected investors. During the investment process, coordinated by Deloitte Corporate Finance as Elestor’s exclusive advisor, the investors have carried out a comprehensive technical and operational due diligence that has validated both our technology and our ability to deliver.”
Capital utilisation
Elestor says that the proceeds will help implement an ultra-rapid growth strategy that will accelerate the commercialisation of its proven hydrogen bromine flow battery technology up to a GW scale manufacturing facility.
Dalessi says, “We are ready to deliver exactly the kind of renewable electricity storage solutions the world is crying out for right now: Long Duration Energy Storage, or LDES. Expansion of Elestor’s production capacity and supply chain management is under control of Hylke van Bennekom (COO, Elestor), who joined the company’s management team in April 2021 through an MBI.”
Cutting the cost of electricity storage
Founded in 2014 by Wiebrand Kout, Elestor claims to have developed flow batteries using hydrogen and bromine as active materials, both available in virtually unlimited quantities.
Additionally, the idea opens up a number of fresh and distinctive integration opportunities with hydrogen infrastructures and electrolysers since the battery produces hydrogen throughout the charging process. Elestor technology, therefore, provides a link between the battery-based and hydrogen-based energy storage worlds.
Elestor says that with the use of this technology, renewable energy generated by solar or wind power plants can be stored in a reliable, scalable, cost-effective, and efficient manner.
According to Elestor, the energy transition will not only aid in the fight against air pollution and climate change, but Elestor and other climate technology firms will also produce economic development, new employment, and financial benefits for investors.
About the investors
Invest-NL is an impact investor dedicated to funding ventures and initiatives that will increase the sustainability and innovation of the Netherlands. Its strategic priority is to accelerate the shift to a carbon-neutral, circular economy.
Jan Pieter Postma, interim CEO of Invest-NL, says, “As the National Promotional Institution of the Netherlands, Invest-NL is enthusiastic to be part of this great consortium of renowned investors. We favour groundbreaking technologies such as Elestor’s hydrogen bromine flow batteries because they hold tremendous potential for scaling up quickly and thus to speed up the Dutch transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular economy.”
With its New Energies, Feedstocks & Sustainability fund, Vopak Ventures aims to support businesses that promote innovative sustainable solutions in fields like flow batteries, green feedstocks, and zero-emission fuels.
Director of Vopak Ventures, Leo Brand, says, “Royal Vopak has worked with Elestor for some time. Our joint ambition is to scale up the electricity storage capacity of flow batteries and then further develop it to industrial scale. Long Duration Energy Storage is part of Vopak’s strategy to accelerate towards the storage and handling of new energies.”
Private equity, venture capital, public equity, and real estate are all areas of activity for Somerset Capital Partners, a family-owned investment company. E-commerce, consumer, energy, mobility, life sciences, food, transportation, and (logistics) real estate are among the important domains.
Joes Daemen, Founder and Managing Partner at Somerset Capital Partners, says, “Elestor’s ability to deliver low-cost, large-scale energy storage sits at the heart of the energy transition that we aim to support across our investment portfolio, which is ranging from battery technology to sustainable and off-grid logistics real estate developments for the future.”
