Welcome to the Aqueous Battery Brief. In this week’s roundup: Stryten + C&D Trojan tie-up, Sumitomo’s VRFB moves, and more.
Stryten to Acquire C&D Trojan
Energy storage solutions provider Stryten Energy has agreed to acquire fellow U.S. battery brand C&D Trojan.
The combined organization will offer one of the industry’s most comprehensive portfolios of lead and lithium-based energy storage technologies, spanning markets across transportation, essential power, industrial, and military & government — and will bring Stryten’s operations to 15 battery manufacturing and component facilities supported by 3,700 employees.
For more details, go to Solar Power World and Modern Materials Handling.
Sumitomo Electric’s 8 MWh VRFB Order
Electric parts and systems manufacturer Sumitomo Electric Industries has received an order for 8 MWh of VRFB storage in Kashiwazaki, Japan.
The installation is part of the city’s goal to transform from a center of petroleum production to become a “decarbonized city” through renewable energy adoption. With Sumitomo’s VRFB in the mix, the project’s total VRFB storage will reach 32,000 kWh.
Read more in Best Magazine.
CMBlu Takes Manufacturing to the U.S.
On the heels of closing a €50M (US $58.76M) Series C, German organic flow battery developer CMBlu plans to launch U.S. manufacturing in the next 12 to 18 months.
Catch up on the manufacturing plans and more in an interview with CMBlu’s U.S. president, Giovanni Damato. It’s in Energy Storage News.
Eos-Tied Frontier Power Targets 920MWh in New Projects
Frontier Power USA, the development and investment company utilizing Eos Energy Enterprises‘ LDES technology, is backing four projects developed by Stella Energy Solutions.
The projects will collectively deploy approximately 920MWh and are expected to use Eos’ zinc-hybrid Z3 LDES battery technology.
Details in Energy Storage News.
America’s Rising LCOS Could Be Good News for Aqueous Tech
Per the latest annual benchmarking report from investment banking group Lazard, the levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of American utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) has risen in the past year. That’s a reversal of declines reported in 2025.
Lazard points to import tariffs and new foreign entity of concern (FEOC) restrictions as prime causes of the change. More in Energy Storage News.
💡 Octet’s take: These findings underscore how attractive aqueous tech, with abundant materials and uncompromised supply chains, can be for LDES stakeholders and buyers.
At 250, the U.S. Needs Aqueous Storage
As the U.S. hits this milestone year, the country faces new urgency to secure energy independence, global AI leadership, and military dominance.
Fostering aqueous energy storage is critical to the country achieving all three.
Read why in the latest opinion piece from Octet CEO & Founder, Onas Bolton.
Mark Your Calendars
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Battcon 2026, the go-to conference dedicated for end users, battery engineers and manufacturers. July 26-29 2026, Orlando FL. Details & Registration
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Volta Foundation‘s Women in Batteries Conference. July 28 – 30, Silicon Valley. Details & Registration.
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Clean Energy Group‘s webinar will spotlight iron-air giant Form Energy. Hear from Sarah Jackson, Form’s Director of Government Affairs. Time: August 6th 2026 @ 1PM ET. Details & Registration
📆 Get ahead of your planning with the Aqueous Energy Events Calendar in our December 29th Aqueous Battery Brief.
Who’s Hiring
Seeking a new role — or know someone who is? Start with the quick links to aqueous firms’ open roles pages below.
Have a specific open position you’d like to highlight? Send us an e-mail.
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