Electric vehicle batteries are retired from the road while they can still store energy. Reusing them for stationary storage is an old idea with a practical problem: used modules age differently, and a conventional storage system with one central inverter is limited by its weakest module. STABL Energy, founded in Munich in 2019, puts power electronics on each battery module instead, so that modules of different makes and ages can work in the same system.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,052,714 towards a €2.93 million project to industrialise the technology, and the EIC Fund later joined a €15 million round. In September 2026 STABL said it had 50 MWh of storage installed. That is real commercial traction, but it is small next to the partnerships the company has announced, and STABL has not said how much of it runs on second-life batteries.
Company file
- Legal entity
- STABL Energy GmbH, Munich Local Court HRB 246962
- Founded
- 2019, Munich
- Founders
- Arthur Singer, Nam Truong (CEO), Martin Sprehe, Christoph Dietrich
- Product
- Commercial battery storage with module-level inverters
- Markets
- Germany, Austria; Nordic partnership with Nobina
- Investors
- Nordic Alpha Partners, EIC Fund, UVC Partners, Energie 360°
- EIC project
- SMART BATTERY, 1 May 2022 to 31 Dec 2024, closed
- EIC funding
- Blended finance (grant and equity)
Where STABL Stands Today
STABL sells storage systems to commercial and industrial users and utilities. Its September 2026 announcement said 50 MWh had been installed and commissioned in customer projects, with 100 MWh more in planning or construction. Its largest single project so far is seven systems with about 14 MWh for Elektrowerk Schöder, a utility in Styria, Austria, reported by Munich Startup and chemeurope.com at 13.7 MWh. Other published customers include the food processor Mantos International Food.
Two partnerships announced in 2025 point to much larger volumes. Under the Uniper agreement, the energy group will prioritise STABL's storage until 2036 if performance criteria are met, with a potential of at least 740 MWh; it starts with a test installation at RWTH Aachen University. With Nobina, the Nordic bus operator whose fleet of more than 1,000 electric buses holds about 500 MWh of batteries, STABL plans storage built from retired bus batteries after a pilot. Neither announcement gives a firm order volume.
The Technology: An Inverter for Every Module
In a standard battery storage system, modules are wired together and connected to the grid through a central inverter. STABL's SMART BATTERY design, set out in its CORDIS objective, controls each module with its own power electronics and software. That lets the system draw more from healthy modules and less from weak ones, mix batteries from different manufacturers, and monitor each module's condition. The company's September 2026 release says the same approach lets one system combine batteries from different manufacturers and at different stages of ageing.
"Reaching 50 MWh of installed storage capacity is far more than just a number to us. It shows that our technology has gained a foothold in the market."
Nam Truong, CEO, STABL Energy, September 2026What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
SMART BATTERY aimed to extend the safe working life of repurposed electric vehicle batteries through the company's power electronics and analytics. The CORDIS report describes "multiple iterations on our power electronics, resulting in enhanced reliability and suitability for industrialization", a proprietary battery management system and housing with prototypes, and a platform that sends battery data to the cloud for monitoring and safety alerts. It is frank about obstacles: grid connection approvals "often exceeding six months", difficulty securing financing, and trouble obtaining second-life batteries with their technical documentation.
- Industrial-grade power electronicsDeliveredSeveral design iterations; systems now sold commercially.
- Second-life battery integrationPartialPrototype BMS and housing; supply of documented used batteries named as a barrier.
- Remote analytics and safety monitoringDeliveredCloud platform for real-time tracking and alerts, per CORDIS.
- Commercial scale-upPartial50 MWh installed by 2026; large partnerships conditional.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The Money
STABL's €15 million round in August 2023 was led by Nordic Alpha Partners, with the EIC Fund and existing investors UVC Partners and Energie 360°, according to the company and Tech.eu. The EIC Fund's share was not disclosed. It followed a €4.5 million seed round in 2021, and in 2023 the company announced €945,300 in public funding for a research project, KI-M-Bat.
What cannot be checked
STABL's accounts are filed in Germany but not freely displayed on North Data, and it has not published revenue or announced funding since 2023. It also does not say how much of its 50 MWh uses second-life batteries, the core of what the EIC project was meant to prove.
Why Europe Should Care
As Europe electrifies cars and buses, it will have used batteries to deal with. Nobina's fleet alone holds about 500 MWh of them. Reusing them in grid storage before recycling is the case STABL makes, and the Nobina partnership is a test of it. STABL's own report names the barriers: slow grid connections and poor access to used batteries and their data.
What the project promised
Longer, safer lives for second-life EV batteries through module-level electronics and predictive analytics.
What the record shows
A commercial storage business with 50 MWh installed and EIC equity, but no disclosed second-life share and large partnerships that are still conditional.
The Verdict
A storage company first, a recycler second
The EIC's grant and equity helped turn STABL's electronics into a product that customers buy, and 50 MWh is a real installed base. What the record does not show is how far the second-life idea at the heart of the award has come. Until STABL says how many of its batteries have had a previous life, and Uniper and Nobina turn into firm orders, the larger promise remains unproven.
STABL Energy has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records, company statements and EU project data, linked throughout.
