ESS, an NYSE-listed long-duration iron flow battery developer, has signed an agreement with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the sixth-largest, not-for-profit electric service provider in the US, to provide up to 200 MW / 2 GWh of long-duration energy storage (LDES) solutions.

Under this agreement, ESS will be providing energy warehouses and energy centers to integrate with the SMUD electric grid starting from 2023, which SMUD will deploy in support of its 2030 Zero Carbon Plan. The addition of 2 GWh of storage, coupled with renewable energy sources, is equivalent to removing 284,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year and will power up to 60,000 homes for 10 hours.

Furthermore, ESS plans to set up battery system assembly, operations and maintenance support, and project delivery facilities in Sacramento. SMUD and ESS will also jointly establish a Center of Excellence to increase knowledge on LDES technology and expand the potential workforce in partnership with higher education institutions.

Analyst QuickTake: ESS has had an active year so far, with the company recording revenues for the first time in Q2 2022 and then partnering with ESI in August 2022 to distribute and manufacture iron flow batteries using ESS technology in Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania. The company also announced its plans to expand into Europe in March 2022, with deployments set to begin in late 2022.