Ore Energy is developing a battery entirely manufactured in Europe to solve one of the biggest bottlenecks of the energy transition: storage for several days. Europe already wastes about 72 TWh of renewable energy per year due to grid congestion, the equivalent of Austria's annual electricity demand, losses that could increase to 410 TWh annually by 2040 according to the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.
As the demand for electricity from AI, industry, and the energy transition accelerates worldwide, Ore Energy has raised 43 million dollars in a Series A funding round led by Plural and HV to scale its iron-air battery technology. Ore's batteries, designed to store renewable electricity for up to 100 hours, can solve one of the biggest barriers to the energy transition: affordable long-duration energy storage. With this funding, the total raised by the company exceeds 61 million dollars.
Founded by Aytaç Yilmaz (CEO), Rutil Özdemir (COO), and Yaiza Gonzalez Garcia (CSO), Ore Energy generates energy through the oxidation and reduction of iron electrodes. Made with abundant and low-cost materials —iron, water, and air—, its batteries can be produced through a fully European supply chain, without relying on critical imported and expensive raw materials like lithium or cobalt. Its modular and fully scalable design offers a plug-and-play storage system at a cost 10 times lower per unit of energy capacity than lithium-ion for long-duration storage, making renewable electricity affordable and available on demand.
Solving the energy storage challenge
It is expected that global electricity demand from data centers will more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030, and that AI-optimized data centers will more than quadruple in the same period. The training and inference of AI cause large and rapid fluctuations in electricity demand, making storage essential to maintain a reliable supply. Wind and solar are already the cheapest sources of new electricity generation, but their production is intrinsically variable: generation exceeds grid capacity when conditions are favorable and is insufficient during periods of low wind or winter, without a suitable way to store the surplus for later.
This mismatch between generation and demand is already costing Europe money. The UK has already spent nearly £6 billion ($8 billion) paying renewable generators to disconnect since 2011. Without investment in grid infrastructure, wasted wind energy alone will cost the UK about £8 billion ($10.7 billion) a year by 2030. Across Europe, about 72 TWh of renewable electricity is wasted each year due to grid congestion, which amounts to nearly €7 billion ($8 billion) at current wholesale electricity prices. The pressure is mounting: electricity demand from European data centers is expected to grow by 45 TWh by 2030, just when the continent needs to accelerate its industrial and energy transition.
Ore's iron-air batteries solve this challenge by storing renewable electricity for up to 100 hours before returning it to the grid when demand requires it. Located next to wind farms, the batteries reduce curtailment — when renewable energy is wasted because the grid cannot absorb it — make better use of existing grid infrastructure, and provide the firm and manageable output, available 24/7, needed to replace gas.
Ore Energy has already signed a 1 GWh agreement with Budget Thuis, a Dutch alternative energy and telecommunications provider, while pilot projects with the French utility EDF have demonstrated the performance of its technology under real operating conditions.
Driving the new industrial era
The new financing, in which Positron Ventures also participated, will allow Ore to establish its first manufacturing plant, as a preliminary step to its goal of manufacturing at gigawatt-hour scale by 2028. The plant will validate large-scale manufacturing, supported by the expansion of the team in production, commercial area, and operations. By 2035, Ore Energy aims to turn iron-air into the standard grid infrastructure for long-duration energy storage and to drive the new industrial era with firm and renewable base energy.
Aytaç Yilmaz, co-founder and CEO of Ore Energy, stated: "Expensive energy is the biggest barrier to growth, something that European companies and politicians know all too well. Affordable renewable base energy is the foundation of the next generation of manufacturing, AI infrastructure, and industrial growth on a global scale. Ore Energy's long-duration storage is an essential part of that future. This funding will help us build our first plant and put us on the path to gigawatt-hour scale production, making renewable electricity available when and where it is needed."
Ian Hogarth, partner at Plural, stated: "Long-duration energy storage is one of the biggest unresolved challenges of the energy transition, and unlocking it will transform how we power industry, scale AI data centers, and drive economic growth. Aytaç, Rutil, and the team have combined top-notch science with exceptional execution to make iron-air batteries commercially viable, bringing critical technology not only for Europe but also as an important export technology. By getting much more from each unit of wind energy we already have, Ore Energy has the potential to become one of the most important energy companies in the world."
Maxi Pethö-Schramm, principal of HV, stated: "If we want to meet the future energy demand of AI data centers and, at the same time, provide the European industry with affordable and reliable base energy, we need long-duration storage. Only then will Europe have the means to compete in the complex and energy-intensive sectors that will define the future of the continent. Ore has developed a practical and scalable solution that combines pioneering technology with a clear path to large-scale manufacturing, and we are delighted to support a team with the ambition to bring this critical infrastructure to market."