The world of sonnen

Bayreuth, Wildpoldsried, 8 May 2019 - Decentralised home storage batteries that are networked via a blockchain and integrated in the energy supply system can stabilise the power grid. The pilot project launched by transmission system operator TenneT and storage specialist sonnen in 2017 has now demonstrated this.

Shell* has agreed to acquire 100% of sonnen, a leader in smart energy storage systems and innovative energy services for households. This follows an investment by Shell in May 2018 and means that post regulatory approval and completion sonnen will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell.

For the first time, sonnen is providing balancing power for the energy market by means of residential energy storage systems networked across the whole of Germany. The sonnen virtual battery, which is now online, is currently the largest of its kind that is able to compensate for fluctuations in the power grid. As a result, German households are now in a position to take over all the tasks of conventional power stations.

Installations of sonnen’s latest hybrid battery storage units are underway, alongside new residential solar arrays, as part of a Local Energy Market (LEM) being built by one of the UK’s largest energy companies to test the capabilities of a virtual marketplace of distributed energy resources.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia’s Victoria state on Tuesday agreed to back six new wind and solar farms to help meet a target of getting 25 percent of its power from renewables by 2020, just weeks after a year-long attempt at crafting a national energy policy collapsed.

Sonnen GmbH’s new battery manufacturing plant in South Australia will begin production in November, providing the German company with a launchpad to expand into markets including the Philippines, Thailand, and ultimately China.