Photo: Cactos
Cactos from Finland gives alternative purposes to second-life electric vehicle batteries. Using its cloud-based software, the startup enables optimisation of energy consumption and helps stabilise the transmission grid.
Generally, EV batteries are replaced when their storage capacity drops to 70% after eight to ten years of use or more than 200,000 kilometres driven. However, they can still be used as storage for renewables before they are recycled. It is where a company called Cactos stepped in.
How it works
Based in Muhos in northern Finland, Cactos operates a fleet of distributed energy storage systems based on smart energy storage units and a cloud computing service. The units are made from used Tesla EV batteries. The Finnish company disassembles and converts them into 100 kWh energy storage units and guarantees its clients a lifetime of 10 years.
Additionally, using an algorithmic-based cloud computing service, Cactos wants to optimize energy consumption and ensure a consistent energy supply during demand peaks or blackouts. The company said its energy units could provide stability to the transmission grid as the units automatically discharge energy in case of a deficit and absorb energy if there is excess production.
Storage units smoothing out temporary imbalances
After almost one year of operation, the Chief Executive Officer of Cactos, Oskari Jaakola, is satisfied. “Energy transition and temporal imbalance in supply and demand mean there is a huge need for demand response and different ways to store energy. Our target was to create an energy storage solution that is carefree for the user and easily accessible. I believe we have succeeded in doing that,” he pointed out.
The company’s current clients are primarily owners or tenants in buildings used in business sectors such as maintenance, industry, hospitality, or retail. Cactos intends to provide storage for locally produced green energy, such as from solar panels, to supply the buildings even when the sun is not shining.
Cactos raises EUR 2.5 million to expand production
Moreover, the company pointed out that the increasing number of electric vehicles creates new challenges for charging locations, like the significant energy consumption peaks from fast charging. The Finnish startup wants to help with its cloud computing service to enable temporary loads that are larger than the connection size would regularly allow.
Cactos offers energy storage units and its cloud computing services at a monthly price. The company has just raised EUR 2.5M in equity and debt to increase its production capacity. Cactos plans to more than double its factory size in early 2023, allowing for nearly a tenfold increase in output.
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