Voltalia signs a partnership with French start-up Energiestro to test an innovative storage solution

Voltalia (Euronext Paris, ISIN code: FR0011995588), an international player in renewable energies, signs a partnership with start-up Energiestro to carry out the first industrial application of its innovative storage solutions.

To address energy storage issues in a sustainable and cost-effective manner, Energiestro has developed an innovative solution that offers the possibility to store energy in the form of kinetic energy using flywheels made of concrete.

Winner of several national contests, the start-up aims at significantly reducing the cost of storage by using prestressed concrete instead of commonly used materials - steel or carbon fiber - which are much more expensive, and by guarantying a much longer lifecycle than regular batteries. Flywheels also have the advantage of not using scare resources, unlike lithium-ion batteries for instance.

True to its entrepreneurial culture, Voltalia wanted to try and test an innovative solution within its Toco storage complex in French Guiana, the largest in France[1].

Therefore, Voltalia and Energiestro signed a purchase agreement for a first flywheel prototype designed and manufactured by Energiestro.

The 10 kW/10 kWh capacity flywheel will supply storage cycles in a particularly reactive and sustainable manner, in order to provide an optimal service to the electricity grid.

"Renewable energy provides without a doubt the cheapest electricity in the world, but it remains intermittent. Using various storage solutions, we can smooth renewable electricity production while offering to the grid a better stability of its frequency. After hydro, which remains to date the main storage mode in the world, and batteries, that stand out as a major technology, flywheels can bring a precious complement. Voltalia is happy to collaborate with Energiestro, who managed to design a particularly innovative solution." declares Sébastien Clerc, Chief Executive Officer of Voltalia

 "We are proud to be able to implement our innovative solution in France's largest storage system, to be built, operated and owned by Voltalia. This partnership will allow us to try and test our technology in an industrial context, before considering a larger-scale deployment" comment Anne et André Gennesseaux, co-founders of Energiestro.

About Energiestro (www.energiestro.com)

• Energiestro is a French start-up developing since 2014 the VOSS (French acronym for Solar Storage Flywheel) a prestressed concrete flywheel which aims at reducing drastically the cost of storage compared with eixisting flywheels and batteries.
• The VOSS solution is a laureate of the "Worldwide innovation contest" organized by the French government, the PULSE contest by EDF, the "2020 Horizon" program of the European commission and the LiveWire contest by SHELL France.

About Voltalia (www.voltalia.com)

• Voltalia is an international player in the renewable energy sector. The Company produces and sells electricity generated from wind, solar, hydro, biomass and storage facilities, with a total capacity of 921 MW either in operation or construction as of today.
• Voltalia is also a service provider, assisting its investor clients active in renewables at each project stages, from conception to operation and maintenance.
• With 550 employees in 18 countries over 4 continents, Voltalia is able to act worldwide on behalf of its clients.
• Voltalia has been listed on the Euronext regulated market in Paris since July 2014 (FR0011995588 - VLTSA) and is a component stock of the Enternext Tech 40 index and the CAC Mid&Small index. The Group is also included in the Gaïa-Index, an index for socially responsible midcaps.  

[1] Press release of May 9, 2019