Connected Energy, a U.K. company that turns used electric vehicle battery packs into stationary energy storage has secured a £3 million (US$4.1 million) investment from Macquarie Group and French utility ENGIE. The investment provides the company with working capital to realize growth plans in the U.K. and Europe.
Connected Energy’s E-STOR product uses second life Renault EV batteries to provide grid services.
Last June, Renault reached an agreement with London-based Powervault for the reuse of Renault’s EV batteries in a residential solar+storage trial. The batteries were included in 50 trial units.
Powervault said at the time that EV batteries have a lifetime of between eight to 10 years, and their reuse in a home battery system can extend the useful battery life up to 10 years.
The provision of energy storage to support grid stability and create a charging network for electric vehicles will be a major theme in power infrastructure over the coming years