AQUABATTERY opens new office, R&D and production facility as seed funding round kicks off
On April 20, AQUABATTERY, a Dutch battery innovator, opened its new office, R&D and manufacturing facility in Alphen aan den Rijn. The new facility will be instrumental for the climate tech company to build the world's most sustainable, safe and affordable long-term energy storage (LDES) to enable a 100% sustainable energy system.
The opening of the new office also marks the start of AQUABATTERY's seed funding round to finance product development and commercialization through 2025.
In Alphen aan den Rijn, AQUABATTERY is tripling the floor space for development and production activities. There, AQUABATTERY expects to develop 10 large-scale storage systems by 2025, with a total storage capacity of 5 MWh. The company has 13 employees and plans to recruit another seven for technical and commercial positions in the coming year. Speaking at the opening ceremony was Gert van den Ham, Alderman for Energy and Sustainability of the Municipality of Alphen. During the opening ceremony, he expressed his delight at the arrival of AQUABATTERY to his municipality and emphasized the key role batteries can play in solving grid congestion.
Jiajun Cen, CEO and co-founder, said AQUABATTERY's new saltwater storage technology "offers a sustainable, safe and affordable alternative to polluting mainstream batteries." In particular, AQUABATTERY is well suited to store energy on a large scale for periods longer than eight hours, which is crucial to absorb excess solar and wind production during times of sunny or windy days, and to buffer green electricity for times when not enough renewable electricity is available.
AQUABATTERY's saltwater technology enables 100% renewable electricity grid, "not relying on critical resources, such as cobalt or lithium, to build large-scale batteries," explains Emil Goosen, COO and co-founder. The battery uses locally available and environmentally friendly materials such as kitchen salt and water, which are also reusable. By doing so, AQUABATTERY contributes to a sustainable and safe battery value chain for the energy security and resilience of the Netherlands and Europe.
Kees van de Kerk, the president of Flow Batteries Europe, a technology association, also mentioned at the opening that sustainable energy storage systems such as from AQUABATTERY are essential to manage the imbalance between energy production and off-take. Deploying these batteries is in many cases cheaper than grid expansion and also contributes to our energy security.
Founded in 2014, AQUABATTERY was named one of the top 100 most innovative SMEs in the Netherlands by the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in 2021. The climate tech company was nominated by the World Energy Storage Forum for the Battery Innovation Award 2023, to be presented in Rotterdam on May 9. The company is supported by the European Innovation Council and partners with TU Delft, Imperial College London, Pure Water Group and Wetsus European Centre of excellence for sustainable water technology.
