Budget Thuis Iron-Air Storage

Executive Overview

Ore Energy, an Amsterdam-based long-duration energy storage startup, signed an agreement on 22 June 2026 with Dutch energy and telecoms supplier Budget Thuis to deploy up to 1 GWh (1,000 MWh) of multi-day iron-air battery storage. It is the largest iron-air storage offtake in continental Europe to date and the first iron-air agreement with a European energy supplier. The deal begins with a committed 400 MWh first phase scheduled for delivery in 2028, with the remainder of the 1 GWh commitment rolling out across Budget Thuis's portfolio over time.

How It Works & Differentiation

Ore Energy's technology stores energy by reversing the rusting of iron: surplus renewable electricity converts iron oxide into metallic iron during charging, and the iron oxidises in a controlled reaction during discharge to release electricity. The system uses only iron, water and air — no lithium or cobalt — is non-flammable, built on a European supply chain, and configurable for 24–100 hour discharge durations, packaged as MWh-scale units in 40-foot containers.

Commercialization & Traction

Budget Thuis, part of Nuts Groep — one of the largest Dutch energy suppliers with more than 1 million customers — intends to use the storage to bank abundant wind generation and dispatch it during multi-day low-renewable periods, reducing exposure to volatile fossil-fuel prices. The agreement follows two grid-connected demonstrations of Ore Energy's technology: its Delft pilot (the world's first grid-connected iron-air battery, operational since mid-2025) and an EDF pilot in France (August–November 2025) that stored and discharged energy for up to four days under real-world utility conditions.

Scalability & Strategic Context

Ore Energy is positioned as the European analogue to US-based Form Energy in the emerging iron-air market. The Budget Thuis deal's scale — the largest iron-air offtake in continental Europe — combined with prior grid-connected pilots in the Netherlands and France, gives Ore Energy a multi-country reference base ahead of further European utility procurement of multi-day iron-air storage.