German startup Eden Energy is developing commercial battery storage systems using retired e-scooter batteries that still retain much of their original capacity. The Freiburg-based spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) has delivered its first 70 kWh storage system, built from 112 used batteries.

“With this storage capacity, we are initially targeting small and medium-sized enterprises in the region that already have a photovoltaic system but lack a storage solution,” said Florian Bierwirth, who previously worked in Fraunhofer ISE’s power electronics department alongside co-founders Daniel Seeger and Hannes Kurzmann.

The storage systems could also appeal to municipal utilities, as they can be used to optimize self-consumption, reduce peak demand, and facilitate electricity trading.

According to Eden Energy, around 1 million high-performance batteries from e-bikes and e-scooters are discarded in Germany each year, although many retain much of their original capacity. Unlike second-life batteries from electric vehicles, these smaller batteries have not been widely used for stationary energy storage, largely because of differences in battery designs, cell types, and battery management systems.

Eden Energy aims to address this challenge using power electronics developed at Fraunhofer ISE. “It allows for the interconnection of different storage units and enables communication across various modules, all without the need to dismantle the battery packs,” said Bierwirth.

Few other systems currently offer comparable flexibility when integrating batteries with different designs or levels of degradation. Exceptions include multilevel battery storage systems developed by companies such as Stabl and Sax Power.

The 112 e-scooter batteries used in the company’s first storage system underwent initial screening before being connected.

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