Startup ENGYCell offers simplified approach to battery storage management and grid services

A new Latvian startup is aiming to expand market participation in energy storage and grid services through solutions that promises to make complex energy markets accessible to smaller commercial players.

Their innovative platform promises to lower barriers to entry for smaller commercial players, traditionally excluded from complex energy markets.

ENGYCell, which began operations in September 2024, provides both battery energy storage systems (BESS) and an innovative software platform that manages everything from self-consumption to grid frequency regulation and energy trading – all through a single interface, aiming to take on existing providers.

The company is co-founded by people involved in a Tesla carsharing startup called Ox Drive that was sold in 2024. While offering app-based carsharing, the company also explored energy storage, buying up used Tesla batteries to create small energy storage packs, and controlled it with their own simple battery management software.

But with an opportunity recognized and quickly capitalized on, the company scaled up software capabilities to handle a variety of grid services, and has since scaled hardware ambitions as well to pilot projects in Latvia, including a 3 MWh battery, using CATL cells, with Ventus Energy in Riga.

“We found some providers that do offer everything but in a very traditional way. And we looked at their pricing, and we said, ‘How does this ever make sense?’ They’re so expensive and also so complicated that you have to be an expert to understand how it really works,” Egija Gailuma, co-founder of ENGYCell, told ESS News.

The company’s approach contrasts sharply with traditional providers, who often charge substantial fixed fees regardless of system size. “What we do, and other young companies in a sense, is offer purely profit share,” says Gailuma. “There is no fixed fee whatsoever, there’s no setup fee, nothing. We do all the setups, we integrate with your system, with your hardware, and then it’s all only about revenue share.”

Opportunities in software and hardware

ENGYCell’s journey exemplifies the expanding energy storage market and the growing grid service revenue potential for businesses.

“When we started out, we thought we’d offer only hardware with our software attached. Then, there was a point when we were fundraising where we saw the massive opportunity for our software as we could do it so well and so much more cost effectively. Now we are back at the point where we can offer both to help more companies, faster,” Gailuma explains.

This dual approach has become a unique selling point, particularly for their target market of small and medium-sized companies that may not be familiar with energy markets. While software might be easier to scale, Gailuma notes that “battery storage is not yet a commodity, so you will find most of the potential customers will not have the hardware and would prefer support.”

If an existing BESS is looking for a software solution, ENGYCell can be deployed rapidly, with Gailuma noting that most installations can be operational within a week.

For customers with existing hardware but without attached communications available, ENGYCell provides a small communication box that can be installed by on-site technicians.

Baltic BESS

The company’s launch has coincided with a significant shift in the Baltic energy landscape. On February 8, 2025, the Baltic states disconnected from the Russian-controlled electricity grid BRELL and connected to the common European grid, creating new opportunities for frequency regulation services.

The disconnect from Russian supply has led to increased grid requirements, and higher prices for regulation services.

“Right now, this month, perhaps this year, the craziest opportunity is actually in the Baltics,” says Gailuma. “It’s crazy what amount of money people and companies are earning by participating in this frequency regulation.”

Regulatory challenges and growth

Despite operating in the European Union’s single market, ENGYCell faces distinct regulatory requirements in each country. “Every single country has a different legislation regarding energy,” explains Gailuma. “For example, in Latvia, in order for you to do frequency regulation, the minimum step with which you have to start is 1 MW. While in Poland, it’s 100 kW.”

The company must establish relationships with transmission system operators (TSOs) in each market it enters, a process that can take between one and six months. Currently operating in the Baltic states, ENGYCell has set realistic expansion goals for its team. “By end of 2025, we would be present hopefully in the Baltics by default, then Poland. And then we would like to do Italy and Spain,” says Gailuma.

While Germany and Scandinavia represent large markets, ENGYCell is targeting less saturated regions. “Germany is quite a saturated market. The same goes for Scandinavia… that’s why we’re looking at other markets.”

The company is currently “passively fundraising,” open to strategic investors who can offer more than just capital. With growing demand for their hardware solutions, scaling production capacity remains a key challenge. “Right now we have relatively many potential customers or leads and we cannot onboard them because we physically cannot supply them,” Gailuma notes.