UK long-duration energy storage company Certain Energy has raised £10 million (€11.6 million) in Series A funding, giving the business fresh capital to move its manganese flow battery technology closer to commercial and grid-scale deployment.

One of the most concrete steps in that plan will take place in India, where Certain Energy intends to develop a grid-connected, MWh-class energy storage system. The funding will also support an expansion of the company’s UK research facilities and the creation of a supply chain capable of serving future commercial projects.

The investment round was led by the British Business Bank, which committed £3.5 million (€4 million). Centrica Energy, Ceres Power Holdings plc and Temasek Trust’s Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health, or C3H, also participated.

From university spinout to grid-scale ambitions

Certain Energy, which used to be called RFC Power, was established in 2017 as a spin-off of Imperial College London. Certain Energy is building long duration energy storage technologies which are intended to charge during the times of abundant renewable production and discharge power back into the grid when the wind/solar production reduces.

That mismatch between when renewable electricity is produced and when it is needed has become a central challenge for power systems with growing amounts of wind and solar generation.

Rather than competing solely in the shorter-duration battery market, Certain Energy is targeting storage periods ranging from hours to days.

Its approach is based on manganese flow batteries. In a flow battery, energy is held in liquid electrolytes stored in external tanks. Increasing the size of those tanks can extend storage and discharge duration without relying on the same configuration used in conventional battery systems.

Certain Energy describes manganese as the 12th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, a characteristic that forms part of its case for using the material in large-scale storage systems.

Certain Energy targets 20-year operating life

The company says its storage system is being designed for an operating life of around 20 years, with limited loss of capacity over time and round-trip efficiency above 75%.

Certain Energy also says the combination of its design and manganese chemistry could bring marginal storage costs down to about one-tenth of those associated with comparable vanadium flow battery systems. That figure is a company claim and will become particularly significant as the technology progresses towards larger commercial deployments.

The company sees the technology as a complement, and potentially an alternative, to lithium-ion batteries in grid applications where electricity needs to be stored for longer periods. Its proposed uses extend beyond renewable energy storage to grid reserve services and reducing reliance on gas-fired peaker plants when renewable generation is limited.

Rising cost of balancing renewable power strengthens storage case

Executive Chair Mark Selby has linked the company’s opportunity to the growing cost of managing periods when renewable generation exceeds what the electricity system can absorb.

Selby said the UK Government spent around £1.5 billion last year asking renewable energy providers to switch off generation during periods of peak production. He also said the grid operator expects that figure to move towards £8 billion annually by 2030 if the issue is left unresolved.

For Certain Energy, the argument is that longer-duration storage could capture a portion of that otherwise constrained electricity and make it available later, rather than forcing generation and demand to occur at almost the same moment.

British Business Bank Managing Director and Head of Direct Equity Charlotte Lawrence said increasing volatility in electricity supply and demand was strengthening both the financial and strategic case for long-duration storage. She said the investment would help Certain Energy commercialise its technology and accelerate deployment.

UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks also highlighted the role of longer-duration storage in retaining domestically generated clean electricity for periods when it is needed, describing the British Business Bank’s £3.5 million investment as support for technology capable of storing power for days rather than only hours.

India project becomes an important test of commercial readiness

Certain Energy faces a well-defined challenge in terms of the next stage after the Series A – translating the laboratory and developmental efforts into a grid connected system showing how the technology works on a meaningful scale.

The development project of certain magnitude in MWh planned for India is significant as it takes the company’s process of commercialization from research growth to the practical environment of grid connected projects. Along with it, Certain Energy will reinforce its research position in the UK and develop the supply chain.

For a long-duration storage company, that transition will be crucial. The funding round provides Certain Energy with the capital to advance its manganese-based system, but the next phase will centre on demonstrating that the technology can move from engineering promise to repeatable grid-scale deployment.

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