Make More in America initiative to finance expansion of ESS long-duration energy storage capacity

The financing will fund the expansion of ESS’s production capacity in Wilsonville, Oregon, to meet rapidly growing global demand for LDES. ESS delivers flow energy storage systems to customers in Europe, Australia and Africa, providing energy resilience and accelerating the global transition to clean energy.

The EXIM Make More in America Initiative (MMIA), which launched in 2022, provides medium- and long-term loans, loan guarantees and insurance to finance domestic export-oriented manufacturing projects.

MMIA supports environmentally beneficial projects, small businesses and transformational export transactions in areas including semiconductors, biotechnology and biomedical products, renewable energy and energy storage, while supporting domestic jobs. The partnership with EXIM is expected to generate economic benefits both in Wilsonville and across the country. ESS manufactures 100 percent of its products in the United States, utilizing a primarily domestic supply chain spanning 29 states, which will maximize the economic benefits provided by this financing package.

“Our partnership with EXIM underscores the critical role that U.S. clean energy technology will play in the global clean energy transition,” said ESS CEO Eric Dresselhuys. “ESS’s iron flow technology has already been deployed in Australia and Europe, and with this agreement we are well-positioned to meet the growing needs of our current and future customers around the world.”

EXIM-approved financing will triple annual production capacity at Wilsonville. The new production capacity financed by this initiative will be based on proven battery module production processes developed and improved by ESS.

“We are proud to approve the fourth EXIM Make More in America transaction for small businesses and energy storage manufacturer ESS,” added Chairwoman Reta Jo Lewis. “This transaction will ensure that EXIM continues to fulfill its mandate to support technologies that are critical to the global energy transition, while strengthening supply chains and supporting hundreds of well-paying jobs in the country.”

As the leading commercial manufacturer of ESS flow battery technology, ESS LDES solutions mitigate renewable energy intermittency and enable the conversion of renewable energy into baseload energy. With up to 12 hours of energy storage capacity, ESS iron flow solutions increase energy resilience and reliability, ensuring consistent electricity availability despite aging infrastructure, climate impacts, location, or fluctuations in renewable supply and demand.

ESS recently announced a partnership, partially funded by EXIM, with Sapele Power, a Nigerian integrated energy company representing one of the first energy storage projects in Nigeria and the entire sub-Saharan African region. The deal won the EXIM Sub-Saharan Africa Deal of the Year Award for driving investment in Africa and creating new opportunities across the continent. ESS also has partnerships with global energy and services companies including Honeywell International, German energy company LEAG and, through a local partner, Australian generator Stanwell Corporation, among others.

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