As the storage industry matures, larger companies are starting to purchase some of the original start-ups. Earlier this year, Enel Green Power scooped up Demand Energy and Ormat purchased Viridity and in 2016, GE Ventures bought a stake in Sonnen.
This week news that Finland-based Wärtsilä agreed to acquire the California-based start-up Greensmith Energy Management Systems is another sign of the energy storage sector’s promise for the future.
Founded in 2008, Greensmith provides intelligent energy storage technology and solutions and is responsible for deploying about a third of total U.S. energy storage capacity in 2016, according to the company. Specializing in energy storage optimization and integration software, the company today employs over 40 people and has delivered in excess of 180 MW to some of the largest power companies globally. In 2016, Wärtsilä’s net sales totaled EUR 4.8 billion with approximately 18,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 70 countries around the world.
Greensmith’s energy management software system, GEMS, enables utilities, EPCs and IPPs to manage and monitor individual systems or entire fleets of systems, identifying and diagnosing equipment issues in real time, and extending system performance and longevity. The company also offers a commercial and industrial (C&I) and microgrid solution called OMNI4.
Energy storage is expected to grow exponentially as it becomes an integral part of any energy system. Wärtsilä said that it aims to become a global systems integrator with full in-house ability to provide energy solutions that include many different forms of power generation, energy storage and demand side management. Having an integration software platform is a must, it says, and acquiring Greensmith gives Wärtsilä an industry leading platform to offer across an installed base of over 63 gigawatts of power generation around the world.
Lead image credit: Greensmith.
