Volvo Partners Up in Battery Storage for Green Electricity

Volvo’s specialist commercial engine manufacturing wing, Volvo Penta, has announced a battery storage partnership aimed at improving international grid infrastructure anticipating increased demand from BEVs.

The company, recently also transitioning into a battery energy storage (BESS) subsystem supplier, has unveiled a partnership with Utility Innovation Group (UIG). The two companies are collaborating to enhance power grid reliability and resiliency through battery energy storage and integration hoping to make the best use of the grid’s renewable wind and solar power.

Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, UIG is focused on the growth of decentralized and utility systems, helping power companies and major energy users build a more sustainable and resilient grid. It hopes to exploit Volvo Penta’s configurable and scalable battery energy storage subsystem enabling excess energy, currently often wasted by wind and solar production methods, to be preserved until demand increases.

Darren Tasker, vice-president industrial, Volvo Penta North America, said: “While Volvo Penta provides the subsystem to the battery energy storage, our partners have deep grid operability and application expertise. Our cooperation enables a lean, start-up way of working that will help us both to scale up quickly, with UIG contributing its vast experience in the intricacies of deploying advanced power systems to specific segments.”

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_

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