Fluence targets leadership in India’s energy storage market with focus on local manufacturing

India is emerging as an attractive energy storage market, with the potential to become immense, said Julian Nebreda, President and CEO of Fluence, a joint venture between Siemens and AES. The US-based energy storage solutions provider, which holds a 25 per cent market share globally, is focused on ambitious plans for the Indian market. Nebreda highlighted that Fluence aims to develop an Indian supply chain by collaborating with local suppliers, designing products tailored to Indian needs, and manufacturing them in India.

In January 2018, Siemens and AES launched Fluence, uniting the scale, experience, breadth, and financial backing of the two in energy storage. “Our technology helps reduce the cost of electricity by allowing the energy source to be connected to the grid. It allows for designing grids that are more efficient and resilient. We have our mission of transforming how the world produces, transmits, distributes, and consumes electricity, or uses electricity,” the CEO explained.  According to Market intelligence provider BloombergNEF (New Energy Finance), globally, energy storage installations are projected to reach a cumulative 411 gigawatts (or 1,194 gigawatt-hours) by the end of 2030. It also raised its forecast twice, ending the year predicting almost 2.4 TWh of battery energy storage by 2030.

CareEdge Ratings reported that India is poised for a substantial increase in its energy storage capacity, necessitating around 12 GW in FY24, with expectations to rise to 70 GW by FY30. He continued, “The India market is just starting and will be immense. In India, what we want to do is ambitious. We have our brain power here and intend to bring our supply chains. We are working with suppliers to develop an Indian supply chain, following which we will serve the market and take a leadership position. But we want to serve it with products designed by Indians in India, and manufactured here, serving Indian needs.”

Currently, Fluence operates across countries, with the US being its largest market, followed by Australia, Germany, and the UK. It also operates in Asian markets like the Philippines, Taiwan and India. 

Nebrada noted that India’s global innovation center, which is a fundamental part of the company’s product design, technology roadmap, and new R&D, is bigger than the other in Germany.

Dhanya Rajeswaran, Global Vice-president and Country Managing Director, India, Fluence, shared that India houses 24-25 per cent of the global workforce of 1,800. “Our employees come from a product development background with deep skills in the power space. We have battery engineers, and inverter specialists, along with a whole spectrum of engineering and supply chain skills. When we say supply chain, it’s how we deliver to our customers across 50 countries. Deep expertise in logistics, sourcing, and contract manufacturing is usually required,” Rajeswaran said.

Fluence serves industrial groups and companies in the utilities and independent power producers (IPPs) sectors. Nebreda concluded, “We are investing in the products, people, and capabilities to serve the Indian market with Indian brainpower and solutions.”