AES Corporation

Launched in January 2018, Fluence Energy is a joint venture between Siemens and The AES Corporation focused on the development and expansion of energy storage services globally.[14] Initially led by Stephen Coughlin, former AES Vice President for Energy Storage, the company is now headed by CEO Manuel Perez Dubuc.[15] Fluence provides battery-based energy storage solutions for utilities and developers as well as commercial and industrial customers. The company has been deployed or awarded 2.4 GW of energy storage projects in 22 countries and territories.

Fluence’s services take an integrated approach to clean energy, which includes large-scale battery energy systems and digital energy platforms. is based on AES' research into the potential of lithium-ion-powered batteries. In 2019, the company was named to Fast Company’s 2019 Most Innovative Companies list, ranking third in the Energy Sector category.[16]

Fluence achieved the following firsts in the energy storage sector:

• Fluence was the first company to connect, test, and demonstrate the feasibility of using a battery on the grid (Indiana)
  • First commercial lithium-ion grid battery in the world (Chile)
  • First utility-scale hybrid wind + energy storage facility using lithium-ion batteries
  • First grid-scale battery-based energy storage project in Italy
  • First hybrid thermal power plant + energy storage

• First commercial grid-scale battery-based energy storage project in Chile, Italy, the UK, Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Czech Republic, India, Argentina, Ireland
• First standalone battery-based energy storage project specifically procured to replace a gas peaker in the US
  • Fastest response system in the world (Ireland)

In June 2020, Fluence announced its sixth-generation battery storage technology which consists of modular hardware (Fluence Cube), operating software (Fluence OS) and digital intelligence platforms Fluence IQ).[17]

In October 2021, Fluence announced its initial public offering (IPO), becoming a publicly traded company, trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.[18]

AES Clean Energy

In November 2020, AES launched AES Clean Energy, a division of the company focuses on renewable energy solutions, including solar, wind, and battery energy storage. AES undertook a merger with sPower, a independent power producer (IPP) also focused on renewable energy solutions. With the merger, AES Clean Energy shifted its offices to Salt Lake City, Utah, and the merged companies became one of the largest renewable energy services organizations in the United States.[19]

Before the merger with AES, sPower owned and operated a wind, solar, and battery storage portfolio of nearly 2,000 MW, with 15,000 MW of projects under development.  sPower experienced rapid growth, developing and managing utility-scale solar projects as large as 500 MW. In less than a decade, sPower built a portfolio of more than 150 renewable generation systems across the U.S. and produced enough electricity to sustainably power more than 1.5 million homes for one year.

In 2021, AES announced agreements with leading technology companies, Google and Microsoft, to provide the tech industry leaders with carbon-free energy services. Under the agreements, AES will provide Google’s Virginia-based data centers with 24/7 carbon-free energy on an hourly basis. Also in 2021, AES signed a 15-year agreement with Microsoft to supply its data centers in Virginia with round-the-clock renewable energy to match the company’s energy consumption.

In December 2021, AES acquired Community Energy Solar, a U.S. renewables developer. . With the acquisition, AES added Community Energy’s 10 GW of renewable projects to its growth pipeline, which now totals 40 GW across the country.

Uplight

In July 2019, AES announced the merger of Simple Energy with Tendril to form a digital energy management company called "Uplight"[20].  The company provides of end-to-end, customer-centric technology that serves the energy ecosystem. Uplight’s technologies are used by more than 80 utilities and 100 million customers around the globe to power and manage their energy output and use. Uplight’s products allow customers to manage their energy usage, with proven technology that processes more than 31 billion data points. Leveraging cutting-edge analytics and behavioral science, Uplight helps transform siloed customer and energy data into a nimble platform for rapid, scalable, accurate, and actionable information.

5B

In July 2020, AES announced a strategic investment in the solar technology company 5B.[21] Based in Sydney, Australia, 5B employs technology that  reduces the time and cost of deploying ground-mounted solar. The company operates in the United States, South America, Africa, Europe and Asia.

MAVERICK[22] is a prefabricated block of solar panels that folds up for shipment and then is unfolded for deployment onsite. 5B's technology is produced in Sydney, working with its Australian assembly partner IXL Solar, which is based in Adelaide.

In July 2020, Sun Cable selected 5B for the solar farm component of its large-scale Australia-Singapore Power Link project – a $20 billion, 10 GW solar farm and a 20-30 GW power storage facility in the Northern Territory of Australia.[23] The project is the largest solar farm under development in the world and will supply the Darwin and Singapore markets via high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission. The project will commence construction in late 2023.

AES’ Investment in New Technologies and Unique Technology Applications

AES Next is the company’s in-house innovation incubator, which has produced advanced energy solutions and businesses, including the precursor to what is now Fluence Energy. Most recently, in late 2021, AES Next launched Atlas, its newest innovation. Atlas uses robotic technology to automate solar panel installation, which can address the growing demand for solar energy.

In 2017, as part of its effort to improve workplace safety and maintenance efficiency, AES announced a partnership with Measure, a drone manufacturer,[24] to use drones to inspect energy infrastructure sites across the 14 countries in which it operates.[25] Since 2017, AES fully adopted the applications of drone technologies across its generation and distribution businesses. Drones are now used to inspect more than 80 AES power plants, eliminating more than 200,000 hazardous maintenance activities.

AES’s drone program was recognized at the 2018 and 2019 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Awards, winning in the Operations and Safety Organization category, placing second and third behind NASA. In 2018, S&P Global Platts Global Energy Awards selected the AES drone program as a finalist in the Commercial Technologies of the Year category.

MAJOR MARKETS AND DIVISIONS[26]

United States

• AES Clean Energy (renewable energy solutions provider)
• AES Next (in-house innovation incubator)
• AES Ohio (local utility)
• AES Indiana (local utility)

Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

• AES Mexico
• AES El Salvador
• AES Panama
• AES Dominicana
• AES Puerto Rico

South America

• AES Chile
• AES Colombia  
• AES Argentina
• AES Brasil

Eurasia

• AES Bulgaria

• AES Vietnam
• AES India

Middle East

• AES Jordan

AES AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

AES and its businesses around the world share a culture of innovation and excellence. The company and its business units are consistently recognized for their achievements, including by Edison Electric Institute, Ethisphere, Fortune, Fast Company, Washington Post, S&P Global, Great Place to Work and as Best Workplaces for Women. In 2020, Fast Company named AES to its list of Best Workplaces for Innovators,[27] the only US-based energy company to be recognized.

2022

• 100 Just Companies in the US, Just Capital and CNBC

2021

• World’s Most Ethical Companies Designation, Ethisphere Institute (eighth year)
• Edison Award, Edison Electric Institute (for AES’ first-of-its-kind Alamitos Battery Energy Storage Project in Long Beach, California)
• Edison International Award Finalist for the AES Hydro Complex, Virtual Reservoir and Alto Maipo Facility in Chile, Edison Electric Institute
• Top 50 Green Growth Companies, Forbes
• Top 250 Best Managed Companies (top in the energy sector), Wall Street Journal and The Drucker Institute
• America’s Most Responsible Companies, Newsweek
• Best Global ESG Power Producer, Capital Finance International
• Global Energy Award Finalist, S&P Global Platts

• Great Places to Work in Latin America Award, Great Places to Work Institute (additional country-specific awards given to AES México, Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Dominicana, El Salvador, Panamá, Puerto Rico, and Vietnam)
• Renewables Project Finance Borrower of the Year, 18th Annual Deals and Firms of the Year Awards, Power Finance & Risk
• 100 Best Corporate Citizens, ranked highest utility provider category, 3BL Media
• Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) Award, US Department of State (AES Panamá)
• Latin America Executive Team Award and First Place in ESG Practices, Institutional Investor (AES Andes)
• Best Environmental, Social, and Governance Recognition, Exame Magazine (AES Brasil)
• 30 Most Ethical Companies, El Financiero (AES México)
• 30 Most Inclusive Companies, Empresas Verdes Magazine (AES México)
• CIER Innovation Award in the Decentralization Category, Regional Electrical Integration Commission (AES El Salvador)
• Financing Deal of the Year Award for Infrastructure in the Caribbean, Latin Finance (AES Dominicana)

2020

• Edison Award, recognizing AES’ solar PV peaker plant and energy storage facility in Hawai’i (one of the largest in the world), Edison Electric Institute
• World’s Most Ethical Company Designation, Ethisphere Institute (seventh year)
• Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America, Dow Jones Inc. (sixth year)
• Top 250 Best Managed Companies, Wall Street Journal and the Drucker Institute
• Best Workplaces for Innovators, Fast Company
• Rising Star Award (given to Fluence, an AES joint venture with Siemens), S&P Global Platts
• Emerging Technology of the Year Finalist, S&P Global Platts
• Corporate Responsibility Award Finalist, S&P Global Platts
• Excellence Award for LNG Finalist, S&P Global Platts
• First Place Ranking among Utility-Scale Energy Storage Systems Integrators, Guidehouse
• Reinvention Award, Power Magazine (AES Southland)
• Emergency Assistance Award, Edison Electric Institute (AES Ohio and AES Indiana)
• Financing Deal of the Year Award for Infrastructure in the Caribbean, Latin Finance (AES Dominicana)
• Encouraging Environmental Excellence Award, Environmental Protection Agency (AES Ohio)
• International Award for Safety for practices during the COVID pandemic, British Safety Council (AES Bulgaria and Vietnam)
• First Place, National Award for Business Innovation (AES Panamá)
• Clean Industry Designation, Mexican Federal Environmental Protection Agency (AES Merida III)
• Most Sustainable Enterprise Designation, Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (AES Mong Duong)

• India Energy Storage Alliance Project of the Year Award, India Energy Storage Week (AES India)
• Corporate Social Responsibility Award, American Chamber of Commerce of Vietnam (AES Mong Duong)
• First Place for Corporate Social Responsibility and Top 10 for Inclusive Business Practices, Forbes (AES El Salvador)
• National Clean Production Award, Dominican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (AES Dominicana)
• Great Places to Work Awards
• Business data for AES Corporation:
  • Google
  • SEC filings
  • Yahoo!