ESS Tech, Inc. (NYSE: GWH) announced it has developed early-stage customer opportunities approaching $1 billion for sodium-ion battery energy storage systems (BESS), seven weeks after announcing a letter of intent with Alsym Energy.

The Wilsonville, Oregon-based company said it is accelerating development of a sodium-ion BESS platform targeting short- and medium-duration applications, with interest coming from data centers, critical infrastructure, and utility markets. The company said the pipeline was built with limited outbound marketing.

ESS plans to announce sodium-ion container, rack, and hardware solutions, along with digital software offerings to optimize battery and system health.

To fund the shift, ESS said it will streamline operations at its Wilsonville facility, reducing expenses and cash burn, and reallocate capital toward sodium-ion and related solutions. The company said it will continue development of its iron flow battery technology for long-duration applications.

"The demand we're seeing for sodium-ion is unlike anything in our company's history," said Drew Buckley, Chief Executive Officer of ESS. "We're moving decisively to meet that need, accelerating our path towards near-term revenue while establishing the foundation to deliver at the scale and speed the market needs."

ESS said sodium-ion technology virtually eliminates thermal runaway risk and relies on domestically available materials, which it cited as advantages over lithium-ion systems in terms of safety, supply chain, and regulatory exposure.

The $1 billion pipeline figure represents early-stage opportunities and has not been converted to binding orders. The company acknowledged in its forward-looking disclosures that demand for sodium-ion BESS may not develop as anticipated and that near-term revenue generation is not assured. ESS has previously disclosed going concern considerations in its regulatory filings.