Fluence, a Siemens and AES company, today unveiled its sixth-generation energy storage technology stack combining factory-built hardware, advanced software and data-driven intelligence. Drawing on more than 12 years of industry leadership and innovation, the new technology is changing the way energy storage systems are built and operated — making them simpler, safer, faster and more cost-effective to deploy at scale.
The technology stack creates the foundation for three purpose-built systems, Gridstack, Sunstack and Edgestack that are configured for grid, renewable and commercial & industrial (C&I) applications, respectively, while easily addressing the need for larger systems and larger fleets of systems. Fluence has already been selected by leading customers such as Enel, LS Power, sPower and Siemens for 800 megawatts, 2300 megawatt-hours, of projects using the new technology.
“Energy storage applications require highly flexible systems that can be tailored to specific markets and customer needs,” said Fluence CTO Brett Galura. “Until now, customers were forced to choose between custom-built solutions or inflexible, vertically integrated products. This sixth-generation technology combines our proprietary dataset – among the industry’s largest – and our deep industry experience to deliver unparalleled intelligence and flexibility, while adding the benefits of mass production to standardize safety features and significantly reduce the time and cost needed to deploy energy storage. Over the past decade, Fluence has reduced the total cost of energy storage systems by 90 percent; our new technology stack focuses on driving down the non-battery costs of energy storage systems by up to 25 percent, while empowering gigawatt-sized deployments.”
Fluence’s new technology stack includes three components:
- Fluence IQ: Digital intelligence engines use data and machine learning to improve system decision-making, manage battery degradation, reduce operating costs and optimize energy market dispatch.
- Fluence Operating System (OS): Built on a decade of digital control system development, the fully integrated operating platform combines comprehensive controls, system visibility and asset management to improve asset performance at a single site or across entire fleets.
- Fluence Cube: The factory-assembled building block is 4-5x more modular than traditional systems and incorporates the latest technologies for rapid installation and scale, consistent operations & maintenance and improved quality control.
Fluence Cube, OS and IQ incorporate enhanced safety features to meet the most stringent safety standards, such as NFPA 855 and UL 9540A. Together, they provide the foundation for three pre-configured energy storage systems optimized for specific market segments and project needs:
- Gridstack: A utility-scale system designed for the most demanding grid applications (such as T&D enhancement, frequency regulation and capacity peak power), with industry-leading reliability and safety.
- Sunstack: A PV-optimized, co-located system designed to improve and expand the capabilities of solar generation with firm renewable energy delivery and additional grid services.
- Edgestack: A commercial & industrial system designed to support 500+ kW applications with rapid deployment and minimum footprint to reduce demand charges and provide critical power.
Major global power suppliers and industrial customers have already committed to deploy Fluence’s sixth-generation technology in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. Siemens is delivering Gridstack and Edgestack for customers in Germany, Portugal and Finland.
“Battery storage is a rapidly growing segment and crucial for the energy transition. For the cost-efficient and fast execution of projects in the area of distributed energy, microgrids and eMobility infrastructure, the productization and modularization of storage technologies are decisive. With the new stack & OS approach, Fluence has a unique system providing cutting-edge safety,” said Jean-Christoph Heyne, Global Head of Future Grids, Siemens AG.
“Cost-competitive technologies, aggressive emissions targets and increased need for grid reliability and resilience are driving global utility and C&I demand for energy storage, which BloombergNEF predicts will attract more than $560 billion in investment by 2040,” said Fluence CEO Manuel Perez Dubuc. “What separates our carbon-intensive past from a sustainable future is market inflection. With the introduction of our next-generation design, Fluence is helping drive that inflection, making it more cost-effective, faster and safer to replace smokestacks with tech stacks that provide communities around the world with cleaner, more resilient energy systems.”
