SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES and CMI Energy become partners for Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Storage

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Sumitomo Electric Industries and CMI Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2017 to become strategic partners to market Sumitomo’s Redox Battery on the international market, especially in Europe and the MENA region. As a first concrete collaboration, Sumitomo will participate to an innovative pilot plant in the CMI headquarters, in Seraing, Belgium. Sumitomo Electric Industries, a global manufacturer of Automotive, Infocommunications, Electronics, Industrial Materials, and Environment & Energy products has developed the most advanced Vanadium Redox Flow Battery in the world. CMI is a global power generation equipment supplier and integrator.

Sumitomo Electric Industries has been a pioneer in Vanadium Redox battery for decades and has the best operating references in this field in the world with 104MWh as of today. Sumitomo intended to expand its references in Europe and MENA with a European partner capable of installing their Redox Battery and integrating it into the balance of system.

CMI Group has been an international industrial conglomerate active in various industries. As a specialist of steam generation for 200 years, CMI Energy has already extended its experience in Concentrated Solar Power with thermal storage and is now engaged in the Energy Transition with battery storage associated with intermittent renewables sourced energy. Using its global footprint and presence, CMI Energy acts also as an EPC integrator in the Energy Storage Market, providing optimized solutions depending on each customer’s specific needs and best technical-economic features. CMI Energy will incorporate Sumitomo’s advanced and reliable Vanadium Redox technology in its products line-up and promote it as an important differentiation factor in the booming Energy Storage Market.

Both companies have agreed to collaborate with their own experts using their specializations and to establish the best synergies in order to tackle the market together.

CMI Energy Storage is constructing an installation of 2 MWp photovoltaics equipped with various types of batteries at CMI’s headquarters in Seraing (Belgium). This pilot plant, called the MiRiS Project, is expected to be in commercial operation in 2018. CMI intends to use this system for stacking of different use cases, such as electricity self-consumption, solar photovoltaic time shift and resale of the exceess electricity, as well as primary reserve, voltage stability, etc.

CMI has the ambition to extend this MiRiS project to a second stage, for future innovative energy and industrial technologies with a capacity scaling-up.
Sumitomo Electric Industries takes an important part to this ambitious project with CMI. This will help to consolidate their partnership on a concrete project basis.