Grid-scale energy storage solutions company Energy Vault has signed a licensing and royalty agreement with a South African consortium, established with the aim of deploying the NYSE-listed company’s gravity energy storage systems across the 16 countries that make up the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc.
The agreement is with Gravity Energy Storage Solutions (GESSOL), an entity comprising JSE-listed construction group WBHO, iX Engineers, and Sizana Solutions, which has been partnering with Energy Vault in Southern Africa since 2019.
Under the terms of the agreement, GESSOL will have exclusive rights to deploy Energy Vault’s portfolio of gravity energy storage technology and its VaultOS energy management system throughout the SADC region, where the demand for energy storage is forecast to reach 125 GWh by 2035.
In addition, the consortium is entitled to bid Energy Vault’s leading portfolio of short-duration battery and ultra-long- duration green hydrogen hybrid systems.
Besides technology licensing revenue, Energy Vault will receive a project revenue royalty over the complete operating life of each project, including software and maintenance revenues.
Energy Vault chairperson and CEO Robert Piconi said the agreement would enable a rapid scale-up of the company’s gravity energy storage technology in Southern Africa, where it would complement variable renewables generation to firm grid resilience.