(AFP / CHRISTOPHE SIMON)
The French groups Eiffage and Entech announced on Thursday the creation of a joint venture dedicated to the production of electrical storage systems, a major subject of the energy transition and an essential condition for the development of renewable energies.
The joint venture aims to construct and operate battery storage units connected to the high-voltage network, as part of major projects, in France. This target market is estimated at more than one billion euros, the two groups indicated in a press release.
The joint venture, which should be officially created within two to three months, will be 60% owned by Eiffage Énergie Systèmes and 40% by Entech. Its governance will be equal, add the partners.
A subsidiary of the construction and concessions giant, Eiffage Énergie Systèmes designs electrical and energy engineering systems and equipment. Entech, created in 2016, develops production plants in renewable energies and storage systems – batteries or hydrogen.
“Through this partnership, Eiffage Énergie Systèmes is entering the emerging energy storage market (…) This joint venture will combine cutting-edge technical expertise and deployment power,” according to Ludovic Duplan, president of Eiffage Énergie Systems.
“We are convinced that this joint venture will play a major role in the development of energy storage and will effectively contribute to the needs of project leaders” for renewable energies, said Christopher Franquet, CEO and founder of Entech.
Energy storage is a direct corollary of the expected massive growth in solar and wind, which by nature do not produce electricity 24 hours a day.
Global electricity storage capacities will have to be multiplied by six by 2030, compared to 2022, if the world wants to triple renewables by this horizon, as it committed to at the UN conference on COP28 climate, calculated the International Energy Agency (IEA).