Electricity storage technology looks set to get a boost with two major companies active in the space forming a strategic partnership. Power and automation giant ABB will form a partnership with major Chinese company BYD to collaborate in battery storage for grid-connected, micro grid, solar and marine storage applications.
The potential and importance of battery storage as a technology of the future is being increasingly recognized by companies and governments worldwide. A partnership, announced today, by ABB and BYD, is the latest evidence of this major trend with the firms bringing together their electric grid and battery expertise, respectively, in a new and potentially disruptive collaborative endeavor.
“We are pleased to build on our achieved joint success and broaden our excellent cooperation with BYD,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer in a statement. “This next step will bring closer together two leading companies with highly complementary expertise and market access for electric energy storage.”
ABB will contribute its experience in grid storage, EV infrastructure and marine systems to the partnership, with BYD leveraging its battery expertise. The companies say that the collaboration will address “worldwide energy storage requirements,” and the size and global nature of both firms gives credence to this sentiment.
The two companies have previously collaborated on a project in China, which involved the rollout of fast EV charging infrastructure for Denza EVs, developed by BYD in partnership with Daimler.
In stating the aims for this latest collaboration, ABB and BYD say that they hope to accelerate the rollout of “new solutions for EV charging, the fast ramp up of renewables with energy storage in off grid and on grid solutions.”
The announcement from ABB comes one day before the company is set to unveil its new ABB Group strategy at its Capital Markets Day in London. pv magazine will be reporting live from the event.
