German energy storage giant, sonnen, will commence assembling its world-leading home battery technology in Adelaide after the company announced it will establish its Australian headquarters in South Australia.
The company intends to transition from assembling battery technology to manufacturing it. The assembly and manufacture of 50,000 energy storage systems is forecast to create around 430 manufacturing and installation jobs state-wide over the next five years.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, David Ridgway said this investment is a huge vote of confidence in South Australia.
“Manufacturing has been a key foundation of South Australia’s economy for decades and this is set to continue on the back of leading companies like sonnen establishing an advanced manufacturing presence in our state.”
South Australian Minister for Energy and Mining, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, welcomed the announcement from sonnen, stating that it follows yesterday’s news that the Clean Energy Finance Corporation signed a MOU regarding $100 million in low interest loans for South Australian’s looking to invest in solar energy options for their homes.
“The Marshall Government’s $100 million home battery storage scheme, the CEFC’s $100 million MOU and today’s announcement confirms that South Australia is a world leader in the utilisation of solar technology,” he said.
sonnen’s CEO Christoph Ostermann said the partnership underscores South Australia’s new reputation as the centre for energy policy in Australia.
“We are very excited to begin manufacturing in South Australia for the Australian and export markets and anticipate Australia will become the world’s number one market for energy storage systems,” he explained.
“As the sonnenBatterie can charge and discharge up to three times a day, it is ideal, once battery numbers reach a certain level, to form a ‘virtual power plant’ capable of supplying energy to the grid on days of high demand.”
More information on sonnen can be found here and the recent SA Government announcement regarding the Clean Energy Finance scheme can be found here.