The startup giving EV batteries a second life as energy storage systems

Image Credit: Cactos

As Finald-based startup, Cactos, puts it, a cactus is adaptable to its environment, with a thick skin that makes it a master of storing water and nutrients. Now, with a changing climate as our environment, we’re adapting similarly; however, instead of storing water and nutrients, this startup is using the thick skin of electric vehicle batteries to store electricity for the evolving clean energy economy. 

“The green transition requires the electrification of all sectors of society. As domestic electricity demand and highly weather-dependent renewable energy production increase, local infrastructure supporting clean electricity production will be a critical factor for the success of the future energy system,” Toni Mikkonen, the interim CEO of the Finnish Climate Fund, said in a statement. 

That’s why the Finnish Climate Fund and the firm, OP Finland Infrastructure LP led a €26 million ($28,377,700) round for Cactos. These millions in equity capital are part of a larger €70 million investment project that includes both equity and debt funding. The goal? To upcycle more batteries and create more energy storage systems. 

“We established Cactos Fleet Finland LP because the energy transition requires significant investment in infrastructure, especially in assets capable of participating in demand response and grid services,” Cactos CEO Oskari Jaakkola explained referencing the startup’s battery energy storage investment fund, which collected the capital. 

“Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are an excellent way to create more flexibility in consumption, as well as balance the grid as a whole. But smart energy storage units can do much more,” he added in a statement.

“That’s why Cactos Fleet Finland LP provides best-in-class behind-the-meter smart energy storage systems on a lease basis to clients who can utilize them to optimize local consumption and production, ensure the resilience of electricity supply as well as to participate in grid-level operations, such a frequency balancing," he said.

Built in the startup’s factory in Muhos, Finland, Cactos offers two “Cactos One Energy Storages” — the first, the “Classic,” which is made from spent Tesla batteries and has a capacity of 100 kWh and power of 45 kW per unit, and the second, the “Cactos One Cardo,” which is built from a new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries with a peak power of 50 kW. 

Cactos launched its second project in February of last year intending to add more variety to the grid. Customers can purchase the smart energy storage systems and install multiple on their premises, which 1) levels out local demand peaks; 2) offers backup power; and 3) optimizes the use of the property’s electricity production. 

This is all essential to the energy transition because as the World Bank explains, renewables are intermittent. And because of this, storing energy allows us more flexibility in an era with decreasing oil, gas, and coal, makes the grid more reliable, and accommodates the scale-up of renewables. 

On top of all that, these systems also make clean energy more universally accessible, allowing the world to inch closer to net zero obligations. Not to mention that by repurposing Tesla batteries, the startup is also contributing to the burgeoning circular economy.

As the startup’s co-founder and chief marketing officer, Olli Nuutila, put it in a blog post, “Though there will be no single technological solution for a world run entirely on clean energy, the need for a significant investment and growth in installed storage capacity is unquestionable and battery storage is uniquely positioned to form an integral part of this framework.” 

Cactos’ plans don’t end at deploying the systems needed for this framework. 

The startup also offers “Cactos Spine,” an energy software that collects critical information like the system’s status, consumption, and production data as well as other key metrics. The startup defines the spine as “the brain” and the battery as “the body.” 

“Large housing, real estate, and logistics companies need solutions to tackle, for example, large energy consumption peaks caused by simultaneous charging of multiple electric vehicles and to protect themselves from electricity market volatility. An energy storage unit together with our cloud computing service, Cactos Spine, automatically optimizes these functions,” said Jaakkola.

With the funding, the startup will be drastically scaling up its capacity. As of December 2023, Cactos owned approximately 50 Cactos One battery energy storage units, but thanks to financing, that number is on the road to growing to over a thousand units in the coming years. Right now, the largest system owned by the company is a 2.5 MWh Cactos One installed in a logistic center in Tuusula, Finland.

“The growth in weather-dependent electricity generation has also increased the volatility of the electricity markets and the need for energy storage,” Tuomo Urrila from OP Finland Infrastructure LP said, commenting on the firm’s investment. “We are happy to be able to work together with Cactos to offer solutions that benefit the customers and simultaneously improve the stability of the entire electricity grid.”