Million euro investment for marine batteries by EST-Floattech

The developer of battery systems for electrified vessels, EST-Floattech, has gathered four million euros from investors. Three million came from the Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam and a further one million from existing supporters.

These existing shareholders include PDENH, Ponooc, Yard Energy and the Rotterdam Port Fund, in which the City of Rotterdam is also involved. The Rotterdam Port Fund is a private investment fund financing innovation in the port sector. According to EST-Floattech, it also has numerous customers in Rotterdam.

The company develops and produces lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid propulsion systems for inland vessels, ferries, and yachts. It also creates battery management in-house.

The fresh capital will allow EST-Floattech to continue to grow nationally and internationally. According to the announcement, they will focus on markets in Northwest Europe and are working with battery manufacturer DuraPower to access Asia and Oceania. EST-Floattech also plans to focus on larger vessels in the future.

One such project happened in 2022 when the company was involved in converting several inland vessels and supplied a 504 kWh battery container for this purpose. “EST-Floattech is one of the few that can supply the battery power required for the FPS Maas,” said Fokke van der Veen, Director of Operations at Future Proof Shipping at the time.

Even on heavy inland vessels, the batteries must not take up too much space or be too heavy to not be at the expense of the cargo.

In addition to high energy density, safety aspects such as fire protection also play a significant role at sea. The new Octopus series from EST-Floattech was recently certified by DNV, Lloyd’s Register and Bureau Veritas for maritime applications. This ensures that the Octopus systems fulfil the relevant safety requirements.

“The investment of Energietransitiefonds Rotterdam and the current shareholders in EST-Floattech not only brings new capital, which helps us take the next step towards growth, it also shows that the Netherlands believes in the power of innovation and sustainable energy,” says Joep Gorgels, CFO and CBDO of EST-Floattech. “With InnovationQuarter, we have added a new partner, and together with Ponooc, Yard Energy, Rotterdam Port Fund, and PDENH, we continue to build a future in which we contribute to making the maritime industry more sustainable.”

The shipping sector is still carbon-heavy. Currently, only 1% of the global fleet is electrified, and the industry needs to catch up tremendously to achieve net zero by 2050. Inland and maritime shipping account for 16.5% of the Netherlands’ CO2 emissions, and shipping is set to increase. The EU expects a 50% increase in transport via inland waterways and shorter sea routes by 2050 compared to 2015. For international shipping, volume growth of over 200% is even expected between 2023 and 2050.

est-floattech.com (investment), est-flaottech.com (certification)