Elestor
Elestor develops hydrogen-iron flow battery systems for grid-scale, long-duration energy storage (8-150 hours), selling directly to utilities, industrial customers, renewable developers, and data centers in Europe.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersArnhem, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Elestor does
Elestor B.V. is a Dutch private company founded in 2014 in Arnhem, Netherlands, that develops hydrogen-iron (H2-Fe) flow battery systems for grid-scale, long-duration energy storage. The technology stores energy using hydrogen gas at the anode and an aqueous iron-salt electrolyte at the cathode, separated by a proprietary proton-conductive membrane, with the electrochemical stack sized for power (MW) and external tanks sized independently for capacity (MWh). The company originally developed hydrogen-bromine chemistry but transitioned to hydrogen-iron to improve safety, eliminate toxic substances, and raise Seveso directive thresholds that govern single-site storage size. Elestor targets storage durations of 8 to 150 hours, a band where lithium-ion is economically disadvantaged, and reports a target CAPEX of approximately €15/kWh, levelized cost of storage of approximately €0.02/kWh, round-trip efficiency above 75%, and a 20-25 year operational lifetime with stable 80%+ efficiency over tens of thousands of cycles.
The business model is direct enterprise sales of large-scale battery systems to utilities and grid operators, industrial and commercial enterprises, renewable energy developers, islands and remote locations, and data centers, priced per kW and kWh via multi-year, quote-based contracts. The company operates from a single headquarters at Industriepark Kleefse Waard in Arnhem and is currently constructing a pilot factory targeting 1 GW annual production capacity by 2026. As of January 2024, Elestor employed 55 staff, had raised approximately €30 million in a Series A round led by Equinor Ventures with Invest-NL as co-lead, secured a €22 million Dutch National Growth Fund subsidy via the SLDBatt consortium, and held a Joint Development Agreement with Royal Vopak. Named commercial deployments to date consist primarily of the 2018 ITMGroup installation at Kampen; revenue is not disclosed and the company is in a pre-commercial scaling phase.
Elestor firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Elestor
- Legal name
- Elestor B.V.
- Website
- https://elestor.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Elestor develops hydrogen-iron flow battery systems for grid-scale, long-duration energy storage (8-150 hours), selling directly to utilities, industrial customers, renewable developers, and data centers in Europe.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Elestor industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Long-Duration Energy Storage Systems
- NAICS
- Battery Manufacturing (33591), Turbine and Turbine Generator Set Units Manufacturing (333611)
- SIC
- Engines & Turbines (3510)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Electrochemical LDES (Flow Batteries & Other Long-Duration Batteries) (EUAFADAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Energy Storage Systems (BESS, Flywheels, Batteries) (HDABAKAC), UPS Batteries & Energy Storage Modules (HDACAJAE)
Keywords
Where Elestor is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Arnhem
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Elestor business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Large-Scale Flow Battery Systems: Sale of hydrogen-iron flow battery systems for industrial-scale long-duration energy storage applications. Systems are sold directly to utilities, grid operators, industrial companies, and renewable energy developers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | Enterprise pricing for large-scale LDES systems |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Elestor product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Elestor designs, develops, and sells large-scale hydrogen-iron (H2-Fe) flow battery systems for long-duration energy storage at the MW/MWh scale. The systems use hydrogen gas and dissolved iron salts as abundant, low-cost active materials, with independently scalable power and energy capacity, targeting durations of 8–150 hours and replacement of gas-fired backup power plants for utilities, grid operators, and industrial off-takers.
Product overview
Elestor offers a single core product line: its hydrogen-iron flow battery technology for large-scale, long-duration energy storage. The company originally developed hydrogen-bromine flow batteries but transitioned to hydrogen-iron chemistry for improved safety, reduced regulatory burden, and elimination of toxic substances. The flow battery architecture physically separates power generation (determined by electrochemical cell/membrane stack) from energy capacity (determined by external electrolyte and hydrogen tank volumes), enabling independent scaling. This design allows storage durations from 8 hours to 150+ hours by simply adding larger tanks, without requiring additional power infrastructure. The technology serves as a bi-directional power plant alternative to gas-fired backup generation, targeting grid operators, renewable energy producers, and industrial facilities requiring reliable long-term electricity storage.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Hydrogen-Iron (H2-Fe) Flow Battery System Elestor's current core product: a large-scale, long-duration flow battery using hydrogen gas and dissolved iron salts (FeSO4) as active materials, with a proton-conductive membrane separating the anode and cathode. Power (MW) and energy (MWh) scale independently. Designed for 8–150+ hour storage durations, target CAPEX of approximately €15/kWh, LCoS near €0.02/kWh, round-trip efficiency above 75%, and 20–25 year operational life. Sold to utilities, grid operators, industrial users, renewable developers, and data centers.
- Hydrogen-Bromine (HBr) Flow Battery System Elestor's earlier flow battery product using hydrogen and bromine as active materials. Successfully deployed commercially at ITMGroup's Kampen facility. Elestor has transitioned away from this chemistry to hydrogen-iron for improved safety, reduced regulatory burden, and elimination of corrosive and toxic substances, so this product is no longer the active commercial offering.
Quantifiable outcome
- Capital costs of approximately €15/kWh at scale
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use Elestor
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Elestor technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature8 records
Elestor partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and supporting.
- Royal VopakflagshipEntered Joint Development Agreement (JDA) in April 2021 with world's leading independent tank storage company. Jointly developing technology to industrial scale (10s of MW and 100s of MWh). Vopak is also an investor. Their seaport terminals provide optimal infrastructure for flow batteries.
- ITMGroupflagshipFirst commercial deployment of Elestor's HBr flow battery at Kampen facility in May 2018. ITMGroup serves as pioneering customer demonstrating the technology's commercial viability.
- Battery Competence Cluster NL (BCC-NL)coreCoordinating the €22 million SLDBatt project. Acts as national catalyst for connection, knowledge sharing, and acceleration within the battery value chain.
- University of TwentecoreAcademic partner in SLDBatt consortium. Main applicant Guido Mul leads the project. Contributes to technology development and implementation scenarios.
- TU DelftcoreTechnical university partner in SLDBatt consortium. Professor Simon Watson served on Offshore Wind Innovators jury. Cooperates on European ecosystem development.
- TU EindhovencoreTechnical university partner in SLDBatt consortium. Joint research on membrane materials and processes for hydrogen-bromine flow batteries.
- Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen (HAN)supportingUniversity of applied sciences partner in multiple projects including FleXtore II, Hydrous, and Cleantech Energy Crossing. Provides student research and technical expertise.
- AQUABATTERYcoreDutch startup partner in SLDBatt consortium developing complementary battery technology (salinity gradients). Both companies part of new sustainable battery industry.
- Exergy StoragecoreCompany partner in SLDBatt consortium specializing in energy storage technology development.
- NobiansupportingNationally anchored industrial partner in SLDBatt consortium. Contributes to sustainable battery development with focus on circularity.
- RWEsupportingInternationally operating energy company partner in SLDBatt consortium. Contributes to practical implementation of battery technologies.
- ShellsupportingResearch partner in Melody Project (EU-funded) investigating membrane-less flow battery concept. Collaboration with TU Delft, Fraunhofer ICT, and European universities.
- Fraunhofer ICTcoreEuropean research partner in Melody Project and battery ecosystem. Key expertise partner in integral European ecosystem development.
- Witteveen+BossupportingProject partner in FleXtore II project for scalable energy storage system development with external control and energy management.
- TNOsupportingResearch partner in FleXtore II project providing technical expertise for energy storage system development.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Elestor competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Sumitomo Electric: Sumitomo Electric is a long-standing developer of vanadium redox flow battery systems for industrial and utility customers, a broad incumbent in flow battery storage targeting the same large-MWh applications as Elestor.
- BYD Energy Storage: BYD is a global battery and energy storage incumbent at utility scale, leveraging vertically integrated cell production to compete on price and supply assurance in the same stationary storage market as Elestor.
- Fluence Energy: Fluence is a broad incumbent integrating lithium-ion and other storage technologies for utility-scale projects globally, competing with Elestor on grid storage deployments while serving overlapping utilities and IPP customers.
- Tesla Energy (Megapack): Tesla's Megapack and energy business is a broad incumbent in utility-scale lithium-ion battery storage, with deep customer relationships among utilities and grid operators that Elestor must displace for long-duration projects.
Direct peers
- ESS Inc. ESS Inc. manufactures iron flow batteries for long-duration grid storage—the closest chemistry peer to Elestor's hydrogen-iron flow battery, targeting similar utility and commercial customers with independently scalable MWh capacity.
- Invinity Energy Systems: Invinity produces vanadium redox flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale long-duration storage, sharing Elestor's flow battery architecture with decoupled power/energy and targeting similar renewables-integration use cases.
- CellCube (Enerox): CellCube (formerly Enerox/Gildemeister) manufactures vanadium redox flow battery systems for grid and commercial storage, a direct flow battery peer with independent power/energy scaling and similar utility customers.
Emerging players
- Highview Power: Highview Power develops liquid air / cryogenic long-duration energy storage for utility-scale applications—an adjacent technology targeting the same long-duration, large-MWh storage window that Elestor addresses.
- Form Energy: Form Energy is developing iron-air battery systems aimed at 100+ hour grid storage—an emerging LDES technology using abundant iron chemistry, directly competing with Elestor for the same bridging-Dunkelflautes opportunity.
- Energy Vault: Energy Vault develops gravity- and kinetic-based long-duration storage solutions, an emerging player addressing the same utility-scale 8–100+ hour storage use case via a non-electrochemical approach.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Elestor social profiles
Digital presenceElestor financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Elestor leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Elestor funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Elestor M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Elestor
What does Elestor do?
Elestor designs, develops, and sells large-scale hydrogen-iron (H2-Fe) flow battery systems for long-duration energy storage at the MW/MWh scale. The systems use hydrogen gas and dissolved iron salts as abundant, low-cost active materials, with independently scalable power and energy capacity, targeting durations of 8–150 hours and replacement of gas-fired backup power plants for utilities, grid operators, and industrial off-takers.
Is Elestor a public or private company?
Elestor is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Elestor founded?
Elestor was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Elestor based?
Elestor is headquartered in Arnhem, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Elestor make money?
One revenue line is on record: large-Scale Flow Battery Systems.
Who are Elestor's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Sumitomo Electric, BYD Energy Storage, Fluence Energy and Tesla Energy (Megapack). Direct peers are ESS Inc., Invinity Energy Systems and CellCube (Enerox). Emerging players are Highview Power, Form Energy and Energy Vault.
Does Elestor have an API?
No public API is recorded for Elestor.
What industry is Elestor in?
Elestor's product category is Long-Duration Energy Storage Systems. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAFADAA, Electrochemical LDES (Flow Batteries & Other Long-Duration Batteries), with a secondary code of HDABAKAC, Energy Storage Systems (BESS, Flywheels, Batteries). Its NAICS code is 33591 and its SIC code is 3510.