Our journey through the Free Electrons Program 2023

The core of innovation is learning and teaching: Our quest in the Free Electrons Program 2023

Seeing more than 700 companies from all over the world having applied for the Free Electrons program for business concepts and visions for a cleaner and greener energy future and us being among the finalists, can already be seen as a considerable success. And it fits perfectly with our understanding of learning and teaching as the core of innovation, when like-minded people come together, exchange ideas and learn what the demands and needs are for the renewable energies of the future, to develop powerful answers to them.

Free Electrons Program: A Platform for Comprehensive Learning and Practical Application

The Free Electrons Program is a series of events, classes and gatherings, providing a learning and networking platform that brings together startups and scale-ups, major investors and corporations in the energy field. It is a hub to foster innovation, exchange and gain insights on business requirements and demands of utilities and learn and improve by mutually challenging and exploring solution concepts and technology approaches.

For VoltStorage, this program is the natural environment to bring our expertise to the market, to leverage our understanding of innovation and to contribute to a future with 100% clean energy. Therefore, a dedicated group of experts attended the program formats spread over the year at various locations to let put to the test our concept for clean energy storage based on the Redox Flow technology.

Learning by Understanding the Energy Landscape

The Free Electrons Program facilitates direct interaction between companies like VoltStorage and leading energy utilities. It is a platform for meaningful dialogue, allowing us to discuss, develop, and implement pilot projects that address real-world energy challenges. Working closely with these utilities provides invaluable experiential learning, enabling us to apply our knowledge and receive critical real-world feedback. On the other hand, for energy corporations and utilities specifically, the program offers the possibility to improve their product offerings for their customers and adapt their business models to become future-proof.

The program also encourages participants to test their solutions in the energy sector, ensuring that theoretical knowledge finds practical application. This emphasis on practicality is pivotal in validating the feasibility of innovations. The Free Electrons Program recognizes this and provides attending companies with ongoing input, feedback, and insights into their products, services, and business strategies. This iterative feedback loop is essential for understanding market needs and evolving accordingly.

Access to Investment: Enabling Further Innovation

The utility partners participating in the Free Electrons Program are leaders in the clean energy transition extending across more than 40 countries, with access to over 82 million customers worldwide, representing over $173 billion in combined revenue. This power of investment is the lifeblood of innovation. By securing funding through the program, startups gain the means to accelerate the development and scaling of their innovations. This financial support is a critical component of our approach to innovation—learning and teaching through action.

Our Success Story at Free Electrons

Our journey in the 2023 edition of the Free Electrons Program was a resounding success. Out of more than 700 companies that applied, we emerged as one of the 15 finalists, earning the privilege to attend the final step of the program in Mumbai, India, in mid-October. Our innovative Iron Salt battery storage technology designed for grid-scale use garnered recognition and respect.

This achievement underscores our unwavering commitment to continuous learning and our capability to deliver solutions that drive transformative change. It is a testament to the power of understanding, practical application, and the collaborative spirit in the quest for innovation and a brighter energy future.

As a direct result of our participation, we are engaged in intensive discussions to define scope agreements and use cases for our solutions with major utilities from various countries. Our sincere appreciation and congratulations go to Jakob Bitner, Michael Peither, Venkatesh Sarda, and Thibault L'Huby for their invaluable contributions and efforts.

Stay tuned for updates on the development of these agreements and the progress of our Iron-Salt battery pilot applications. For more information on our iron-salt redox flow technology specifically as Long Duration Energy Storage for base load protection for energy companies, click here.