The agreement lays the foundations for a strategic alliance aimed at developing innovative financial solutions to support the deployment in the Iberian Peninsula of a pioneer energy storage project developed by Malta.
The MOU establishes a global framework whereby BBVA and Malta will collaborate on joint activities that leverage Malta’s advanced energy storage technology and BBVA’s financial expertise. The main objective is to develop a power purchase agreement (PPA) that supports the deployment of Malta’s energy storage technology. Furthermore, the MOU is aimed at strengthening and improving the existing relationship between BBVA and Malta, moving towards full collaboration.
BBVA and Malta will collaborate on activities that take advantage of Malta’s advanced energy storage technology and BBVA’s financial expertise
The alliance between both organizations arises from the Energy Resilience Leadership Group, which seeks to improve Europe’s energy resilience. Led by Breakthrough Energy and Siemens Energy, the ERLG brings together corporate executives, political leaders, financial institutions and startups to scale emerging climate technologies and deploy commercially viable projects.
He Energy storage It is crucial for Europe’s transition towards a sustainable energy future, as it captures excess energy production from intermittent renewable sources. This improves grid resilience, reduces dependence on fossil fuels and helps address climate change.
Malta offers flexible, cost-effective and long-lasting electrical energy storage solutions, as well as grid stability services. The deployment of these solutions, especially for a new category project (‘first of a kind’), requires innovative financing that goes beyond those already existing on the market. This MOU represents, in fact, a collaborative effort to bridge this gap, promoting the deployment of long-duration energy storage (LDES).
Javier Rodríguez Soler, global director of sustainability and CIB at BBVA, stated that “this collaboration is a step towards the development of new financing products that support pioneering energy storage projects.” “We are proud to collaborate with Malta and Breakthrough Energy to bring innovative energy solutions to the market. Sustainability is a story of innovation and it is very important for us to identify and support the ‘cleantech’ ecosystem, which will be absolutely key in the decarbonization of the economy,” he said.
Ramya Swaminathan, CEO of Maltaexplained that “this agreement with BBVA represents an important milestone in the deployment of our energy storage solution, which inaugurates a new technological category. By integrating BBVA’s financial innovation with our cutting-edge technology, we intend to establish a viable model for future energy storage projects.”
For its part, Ann Mettler, Vice President for Europe at Breakthrough Energyconsiders that “it is precisely because of this kind of collaboration between Malta and BBVA that we are working with the Energy Resilience Leadership Group.” And he added that “BBVA has opened the door to the deployment of Malta’s long-duration energy storage, a fundamental technology to create energy resilience in the Iberian Peninsula and in Europe in general.”
The memorandum of understanding between BBVA and Malta is an example of the positive results that are obtained when global companies combine their strengths with innovative technology. This collaboration, which brings new energy solutions to market, sets a precedent for future joint initiatives that address the urgent challenges of climate change and energy resilience. Furthermore, this commitment highlights the crucial role of strategic alliances to accelerate the deployment of sustainable technologies around the world.
In the coming months, both companies will focus on detailed planning and implementation of the initiatives outlined in the memorandum of understanding. The collaboration will prioritize the creation of effective financial solutions and the advancement of the energy storage project in the Iberian Peninsula.
About Malta Inc.
Malta Inc. is a leader in long-duration energy storage solutions. Reflecting the company’s commitment to sustainability, Malta’s technology guarantees a stable and reliable electricity supply. Its solutions provide flexible and economically efficient long-term electricity storage, as well as essential services to ensure grid stability (synchronous inertia, short-circuit current, reactive power, black start capability and frequency support).
Malta’s high-efficiency thermal storage plants provide these services at grid scale (hundreds of megawatts each), offering answers to the diverse replacement needs of large-scale coal and gas plants. A commercial-scale 100 MWe Malta plant replaces a natural gas plant of similar capacity by storing up to 1 GWhe of solar and wind electricity. By being able to convert renewable energy from intermittent production into on-demand energy 24 hours a day, it allows the deployment of a much larger volume of renewable generation in the energy mix.
