Equinor strengthened in the energy storage sector with a minority stake in a battery specialist already backed by Siemens.

The Norwegian oil and gas group’s Equinor Energy Ventures arm took the undisclosed stake in Micropower Comerc, a Brazilian 'storage as service' provider that supplies battery systems to commercial and industrial customers in sectors such as mining, retail and healthcare.

The systems can be linked with solar and other renewables to replace diesel generation, charging when power prices are low and discharging during peak pricing periods, said Equinor, which joins existing investors Siemens Financial Services and Comerc Energia, a Brazilian energy services group.

The partnership “combines Equinor's understanding of the energy markets with Siemens' technical solutions”, said a statement. Financial details were not given.

Equinor is already active in the Brazilian solar sector via a partnership with its Norwegian compatriot Scatec.

Micropower CEO Marco Krapels said “Industrial sectors such as the mining industry are still very dependent on diesel, and our microgrid solutions that combine battery storage with solar power can achieve significant savings while significantly reducing carbon emissions.

“On-site lithium-ion battery storage, with fast back-up, also makes critical facilities such as hospitals more resilient, which will become increasingly important over the years ahead.”

Battery storage is increasingly seen as a key element in making variable renewables competitive with fossil fuels, with projects underway to link systems with wind, solar or both at the same time.

Analysts at BloombergNEF said yesterday the levelised cost of energy from batteries had halved in two years, making new-build systems a viable competitor to gas in some areas.

Transition

Equinor joins Siemens backing battery specialist aiming to squeeze out diesel