• Commissioning of project in Missouri, delivery of multiple Energy Warehouse units and assembly of first Energy Center position company to deliver on $1B potential project pipeline.

WILSONVILLE, Ore. / Jan 17, 2024 / Business Wire / ESS Tech, Inc. (“ESS”) (NYSE: GWH), a leading manufacturer of long-duration energy storage systems (LDES) for commercial and utility-scale applications, today announced progress on multiple fronts as the company continues to scale production and accelerate global deployment of iron flow battery technology.

Earlier this week, the company announced the commissioning of an Energy Warehouse (EW) system at the Contingency Base Integration Training Evaluation Center (CBITEC) operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), located at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. This EW has been incorporated into a tactical microgrid at CBITEC and will demonstrate the key role that LDES, specifically iron flow battery technology, can play to reduce fuel consumption at Contingency Bases (CB) such as Forward Operating Bases or other temporary use locations providing humanitarian assistance or disaster relief.

This announcement followed deliveries of EW systems to Burbank Water and Power (BWP) and the Turlock Irrigation District (TID), further expanding the company’s deployment footprint in California.

The ESS system delivered to BWP will be paired with an on-site solar array and located on the utility’s EcoCampus where ESS technology will demonstrate the critical role of LDES in a fully renewable grid. The partnership with BWP was first announced in November 2022.

At TID, the EW will support Project Nexus and be paired with a proof of concept of solar panels over irrigation canals in the United States. Project Nexus aims to conserve water resources by reducing evaporation while generating clean energy, reducing diesel generation and reducing energy costs. The project has the potential to contribute significantly to the state’s clean energy and water conservation goals. ESS’ partnership with TID was first announced in February 2023.

These deliveries followed the September startup of six Energy Warehouse systems delivered to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). These EW systems were the first to be delivered under a framework agreement first announced in 2022. Under that agreement, ESS will deliver up to 200 megawatts (MW) / 2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of iron flow LDES systems to SMUD. Once fully operational and paired with renewable energy, 2 GWh of iron flow battery systems are expected to enable the elimination of approximately 284,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year from SMUD’s system.

Finally, at the end of 2023, ESS successfully “lifted” its first Energy Center (EC), a key milestone in the manufacturing process. The EC is a utility-scale, front-of-the-meter long-duration energy storage product which provides up to eight hours of energy storage with a flexible, scalable platform to meet the LDES needs of utilities worldwide. This inaugural EC system will be commissioned and delivered to Portland General Electric later this year.

“With these new deployments and progress on our utility-scale Energy Center, ESS is entering 2024 with strong momentum,” said Eric Dresselhuys, ESS CEO. “Over the next year, we will continue to scale our manufacturing and deliver the long-duration energy storage solutions needed by utility and industrial customers worldwide to accelerate the clean energy transition.”

Recent product development and deployments build on major partnerships announced in 2023 with a potential $1 billion project pipeline. These include partnerships with Honeywell International, German utility LEAG and significant progress with our partner in Australia, Energy Storage Industries Asia-Pacific.

About ESS

At ESS (NYSE: GWH), our mission is to accelerate global decarbonization by providing safe, sustainable, long-duration energy storage that powers people, communities and businesses with clean, renewable energy anytime and anywhere it’s needed. As more renewable energy is added to the grid, long-duration energy storage is essential to providing the reliability and resiliency we need when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.

Our technology uses earth-abundant iron, salt and water to deliver environmentally safe solutions capable of providing up to 12 hours of flexible energy capacity for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications. Established in 2011, ESS Inc. enables project developers, independent power producers, utilities and other large energy users to deploy reliable, sustainable long-duration energy storage solutions. For more information visit www.essinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains certain forward-looking statements regarding ESS and its management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, or intentions regarding the future. The words “estimate”, “expect”, “will” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the Company’s ability to execute on orders, the Company’s relationships with customers, and the status of ESS product development and manufacturing. These forward-looking statements are based on ESS’ current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from such expectations, including, but not limited to, disruptions, or quality control problems in the Company’s manufacturing operations; as well as those risks and uncertainties set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on November 14, 2023, and its other filings filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, ESS is not undertaking any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.