Backed by $25 million (USD 16.2 million) Australian Renewable energy Agency (ARENA) funding, Melbourne-based battery technology company Relectrify has launched its Australian-designed, Taiwan-made AC1 battery energy storage system (BESS) that delivers 20% more energy over a system’s lifetime compared to conventional technology.
Designed for grid-scale, and commercial and industrial scenarios, the AC1 BESS is a 250 kW / 1.2 MWh inverter-less alternating current (AC) battery that utilises its patented CellSwitch technology that independently monitors and controls each individual battery cell in a BESS system.
Relectrify Chief Executive Officer Jeff Renaud told pv magazine CellSwitch, in part, was conceived from the company’s roots in second life battery systems.
“With second life batteries, you’re inherently using cells that are heterogeneous – they have different capabilities – so, the only way to get them working reliably is to be able to treat them differently, so we designed CellSwitch to be an architecture that can independently and in real-time, based on a number of variables and considerations, make decisions about using cell A more than cell B, using cell B more than cell C, to achieve maximum energy output and maximum lifetime for the system,” Renaud said.
“CellSwitch is a simple concept to get your head around but it’s very hard to do, because the technology required to do that – and not just do it, but to do it reliably, to do it cost effectively and with high levels of efficiency – is not trivial and that’s what we’ve been focused on developing.”
“What we’re trying to do is have the maximum impact on taking this technology and accelerating the energy transition by helping energy storage to perform better and having a lower cost to deploy,” Renaud said.
Relectrify was also been awarded $2.9 million in matched funding through the Australian government’s Industry Growth Program (IGP) to develop CellSwitch, for use in heavy duty e-mobility applications such as electric trucks, buses and mining vehicles.
Image: Relectrify
‘Inverter-less’ system
Renaud said to his knowledge Relectrify is the only company to have created a CellSwitch-style inverter-less system, but it is using a software inverter.
“You still have to convert from DC to AC power and we’re doing it purely with software rather than using conventional pieces of equipment, and it’s arguably the most unique feature of what we do,” Renaud said.
“We’re still able to able to generate fully grid compliant AC power and provide all the functionality people would expect from an inverter to provide to their building or their project.”
Image: Relectrify
ARENA Funding
The $25 million ARENA funding has allowed Relectrify to explore being early adopters of in its innovative technology.
“It’s huge because everyone wants to be second, no-one wants to be first, especially when you’re talking about a relatively capex intensive technology, so understandably people generally want to see something working somewhere else, before they adopt it,” Renaud said.
“With the ARENA program, we have the opportunity to say here’s a financial reason for you to go first, rather than second.”
ARENA Chief Executive Officer Darren Miller said with early-stage support from ARENA, Relectrify was able to develop its technology and test its first deployments.
“Not everything went to plan, but through these early trials Relectrify developed a breakthrough with the potential to reduce costs and improve performance,” Miller said.
“What began as a project to reuse end-of-life batteries has now grown into a world-class battery management technology with the potential to transform energy storage.”
Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said through ARENA, the government is backing Australian companies that take ideas from the lab to the market — building jobs, capability and global leadership in renewable energy.
“Home-grown battery innovation like the AC1 BESS keeps Australia at the cutting edge of clean-energy technology and helps drive down costs for consumers,” Bowen said.
“As demand for batteries soars, projects like Relectrify’s ensure more of that technology is designed, built and deployed right here in Australia, powering a Future Made in Australia.”
The ARENA support comes after Relectrify recently completed a $19 million equity funding round to support general operations, featuring backing from six existing investors, including Virescent Ventures, and a new, minority investment from Houston, Texas-based Fortune 500 company NRG Energy.
Updated 23/10/2025 for correction.
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