- It will be its primary manufacturing hub. Its production lines are expected to reach total capacity by the end of the year.
- Long-duration energy storage is critical to back up renewable intermittency, decarbonise our electric grids and industrial factories, and ensure a secure energy supply.
Israel-based thermal energy storage firm Brenmiller Energy has inaugurated a factory targeting 4GWh of annual production capacity by the end of 2023, the first gigafactory in the world, it claimed. The company announced the opening of its thermal energy storage gigafactory in Dimona, Israel, yesterday (2 May), saying it will be its primary manufacturing hub. Its production lines are expected to reach total capacity by the end of the year and will be able to produce 4GWh of Brenmiller’s bGen modules annually.
The gigafactory, which features rooftop solar to power its operations, has been financed through a €7.5 million ($8.2 million) facility agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB). Thomas Östros, the EIB vice-president responsible for energy, commented: “The need for energy independence throughout the EU is indisputable. Renewables alone, however, will not solve our energy or climate crisis. Long-duration energy storage is critical to back up renewable intermittency, decarbonise our electric grids and industrial factories, and ensure a secure energy supply.”
The company recently struck a non-binding deal with an unnamed global utility to deploy up to 2GWh of its systems while also deciding to de-list from Israel’s stock exchange and solely retain its Nasdaq listing. In late 2022, it inaugurated a 24MWh bGen unit at a power plant in Tuscany, Italy, to help the plant reduce start-up times and accelerate load variations. It commissioned a 1MWh team at a water infrastructure production facility in Brazil a few months earlier.