Swedish company Flower wins German award for real-time AI-controlled BESS

Clean-tech professionals from across the international sector gathered in Berlin on Tuesday for the SET Tech Festival, where companies spanning battery storage, mobility, industrial applications, software and agritech discussed market trends and pitched new business models. Alongside panels on financing and technology, the event, hosted by the German Energy Agency (dena), gave plenty of space to startup presentations.

In the Clean Energy and Storage category, Swedish company Flower won the award ahead of fellow finalists Alterno and Tilt Energy. Alterno develops sand-based thermal storage systems for industrial heat and power, while Tilt Energy works in demand response, using software to control flexible building loads such as heating, cooling and EV charging.

Flower runs a platform focused on power-system flexibility. Using algorithms, it controls battery storage assets, wind and solar plants, and other flexible loads and generators, then trades that flexibility in real time across balancing and spot markets. Its model covers the full chain, from technical integration and prequalification through to trading and power purchase agreements. With its Green Baseload offering, Flower is targeting industrial customers that want renewable electricity delivered in a more stable and predictable profile.

The award comes as Flower steps up its push into Germany. Earlier this month, the company acquired a large-scale battery storage project in Döllnitz, Saxony-Anhalt, where it will take responsibility for financing, construction, operations and route-to-market. The project already has grid connection and permits in place. Construction is due to begin in 2027, with commissioning planned for 2028.

“This marks the largest acquisition Flower has completed to date and represents an important milestone in our European expansion,” said Jason Morris, Head of Acquisitions & Partnerships at Flower. “Through this project, we formally enter the German market.”

Flower is also entering that expansion with meaningful backing. The company said on 31 October 2024 that it had added €20 million to close its Series A round at €45 million, taking total investment to €100 million at that point. Tracxn now lists Flower at $109 million raised across three funding rounds.

In recent months, Flower has also secured balancing responsible party status in Germany and issued its first bond, worth around €66 million, while beginning to deploy its trading model in the market. For founder and CEO John Diklev, Germany is a key growth market, saying “The expansion of renewable energies is progressing, while conventional capacities are being taken offline. Storage is crucial for the stability of the system.”

The Döllnitz project was initiated by developer CCE, which will continue working with Flower as a strategic partner. At the same time, Flower is advancing projects in the Netherlands, France and Belgium, with its European pipeline now stretching to multiple gigawatt-hours of flexible energy storage.