Enel S.p.A., through its US subsidiary EnerNOC, announced the acquisition of California-based eMotorWerks, supplier of Juice Box EV charging stations and owner and operator of JuiceNet, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform for the smart management of EV charging and other distributed energy storage facilities.
Through the JuiceNet platform, these facilities can be remotely controlled and aggregated for grid balancing purposes relying on unidirectional and bidirectional (vehicle-to-grid, V2G) electricity flows. The acquisition of eMotorWerks marks Enel’s entrance into the US electric mobility market, one of the largest EV markets at global level.
This acquisition further substantiates the implementation of Enel’s strategy to deliver, innovative customer-focused products and services to the market, such as smart charging, integration between electric vehicles and distributed generation resources, as well as grid balancing and V2G services. Enel is planning to use JuiceNet platform’s functions in all of its EV charging stations globally.
With eMotorWerks’ JuiceNet platform, users can remotely schedule and control the “greenest” and most cost-effective times to charge their EVs. For example, JuiceNet allows users to schedule EV charging when electricity from domestic solar rooftop systems is most abundant. Furthermore, through JuiceNet, EVs, V2G charging stations and other storage facilities can also be used to respond to network signals, aggregating charging and discharging activities in order to balance electricity flows in the grid when needed. These balancing services can provide additional revenue streams for EV owners, potentially lowering the total cost of ownership of these vehicles.
eMotorWerks is headquartered in San Carlos, CA and currently employs 55 people. This acquisition comes on the heels of eMotorWerks’ listing as the 7th fastest growing company in Silicon Valley and the 19th fastest growing energy companyin the U.S. eMotorWerks has deployed more than 25,000 smart-grid enabled charging stations to date.
Enel is a multinational power company and a leading integrated player in the global, power, gas and renewables markets. It is Europe’s largest utility in terms of market capitalisation and figures among Europe’s leading power companies in terms of installed capacity and reported EBITDA. The Group is present in over 30 countries worldwide, producing energy with more than 86 GW of managed capacity. Enel distributes electricity and gas through a network of over 2 million kilometres, and with over 65 million business and household customers globally, the Group has the largest customer base among European competitors. Enel’s renewables arm Enel Green Power already manages more than 39 GW of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower plants in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and has recently arrived in Australia.
In North America, Enel’s renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA) operates around 100 plants with a managed capacity exceeding 3.3 GW powered by renewable hydropower, wind, geothermal and solar energy. Through EGPNA, in January Enel acquired the US-based company specialised in intelligent software and energy storage systems Demand Energy Networks, while in August it completed the acquisition of EnerNOC, a leading provider of demand response and energy services for utility, commercial, institutional and industrial customers.
[source: eMotorWerks]
