E.ON, Samsung SDI team up in energy storage push
* E.ON, Samsung SDI sign MoU to explore storage options
* Groups will run battery projects in U.S., Germany, Britain
* Battery sector gained in prominence after Tesla move (Recasts, adds details, background, bullets)
FRANKFURT, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Germany's top utility E.ON and South Korea's Samsung SDI have entered a partnership in the field of energy storage, aiming to take advantage of an expected boom in battery demand following Tesla's push into the market.
Both groups signed a memorandum of understanding to develop "profitable energy storage solutions and... to assess and develop a potential business model for targeting applications for Lithium-Ion batteries in selected regions and markets", E.ON said in a statement on Wednesday.
No financial details were disclosed.
Along with his bold statement that traditional batteries "suck", Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk gave the industry a major push in April when he announced the launch of the Powerwall, a stylish residential storage system.
Traditional power groups are therefore exploring how to make money by helping customers use less and store more energy, in a bid to tap new revenue streams following the demise of conventional fossil-fuel based power generation.
As part of the agreement, E.ON and Samsung SDI will run battery projects in the United States, Germany, Britain and the Czech Republic and aim to expand these to other countries.
Samsung SDI already supplies batteries to BMW and VW unit Audi and earlier this year agreed to buy the battery pack business of Canada's Magna International.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
