Battery prices (and climate investments) keep falling

Hi there,

Second-to-last roundup of the year! You’ll get one more of these recap newsletters from me in a week on the 22nd. Then, I’m going to make intentional space for a desperately needed hiatus and break until the new year, likely through January 5th. 

For today, you know the drill. Here’s a smattering of headlines and fundraising announcements that caught my eye this week. More bad than good out there this week, I fear. But we proceed regardless. Let me know if you saw others that I missed and should be aware of.

In today’s email:

• One story in a chart and a sentence

• An exciting job opening for your consideration

• Key climate and energy headlines

• Climate tech fundraising announcements

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in one sentence and a chart

• As per BloombergNEF’s “2024 Lithium-Ion Battery Price Survey,” lithium-ion battery pack prices dropped another 20% in 2024. Link. Link.

Before the headlines: An exciting job opportunity

Tierra Climate, Optimization Research Scientist

Here's an exciting job opening at one of my favorite early-stage climate tech companies. Tierra Climate is an innovative energy startup that works to accelerate power grid decarbonization with grid-scale energy storage. Specifically, Tierra manages the operational complexities of energy storage, such as balancing financial performance of operating assets with their actual impact on emissions and climate impact.

The Tierra team is hiring an Optimization Research Scientist to join as employee #5 and develop solutions that advance battery optimization software for U.S. power markets. In this role, you will work to enhance revenue performance while delivering measurable environmental benefits, including emissions reductions and more, and help accelerate the energy transition.

Ideal candidates will have a deep understanding of power systems and wholesale power market mechanisms, a Master’s or PhD in a quantitative field (e.g., computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, power systems, etc.), and 5+ years of experience in the energy industry. Explore more and apply here.

15+ headlines

The good

• Pine Gate Renewables, a U.S. utility-scale solar and energy storage project developer, received final approvals from Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting Council for its massive “Sunstone Solar project” in Oregon. If construction goes as planned, the project will feature 1.2 GW of solar and 1.2 GW of battery energy storage and could become one of the country’s largest solar + storage projects. Link.

• After publishing a piece in these pages last week on why concerns about data center energy demand may be overblown, updates followed this week with more encouraging evidence that developers and data center operators alike are focused on the efficiency and sustainability of new data center builds and the underlying technologies that power them. Microsoft unveiled a new data center design that “optimizes AI workloads and consumes zero water for cooling” by leveraging direct-to-chip cooling technologies while Google a) unveiled a new, incredibly powerful and efficient quantum computing chip and b) announced a “first-of-its-kind strategic partnership” to invest $20 billion in renewable energy and battery energy storage assets colocated with data centers by 2030. Link. Link. Link.

• The EPA tentatively selected dozens of applicants to receive funding from a combined pool of $735 million to finance purchases of 2,400+ zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicles. For example, the Boston Public Schools could receive $35 million for new vehicles and Oakland's port department could receive $10.5 million to replace 60 delivery trucks and finance the construction of requisite charging equipment. Link.

• The DOE closed a $1.25 billion loan guarantee via its Loans Program Office for EVgo to build more public EV charging stations across the country. The capital should help deploy roughly 7,500 DC fast chargers at 1,100 charging stations across the U.S. Link.

• The DOE also announced a conditional loan commitment to Nostromo Energy of up to $305.5 million to finance the development of a virtual power plant that will include cold thermal energy storage installations at commercial buildings across California. The thermal energy storage cells will also be manufactured in the U.S. Link.

• Even more on the DOE! It also offered initial contracts to six companies to produce low-enriched uranium for nuclear power plants in an attempt to reduce dependence on Russian imports as interest and investment in nuclear energy gain traction again and geopolitical supply chain concerns mount. Link.

• The Carbon Removers, a carbon removal company based out of Scotland, signed a deal with INEOS and Greensand Future to permanently sequester 50,000 tonnes of CO2 in a depleted oil field under the North Sea as part of Greensand Future, the European Union’s first operational CO2 storage facility. Link.

The inbetweens

• Rio Tinto, a global mining conglomerate, approved $2.5 billion in funding to expand its ‘Rincon’ project in Argentina, the company’s first commercial-scale lithium mining operation. Link.

• President-elect Trump made calls to expedite permitting and environmental approvals for energy projects this week, earmarking exceptions for companies that invest $1 billion or more in new projects. As to how serious or tenable these types of promises are, well, who’s to say? Link.

• Ohm Analytics reported a 32% year-over-year decline in residential solar capacity installations in the U.S. in Q3. Residential solar installation declines may, in many cases, be driven by changes to the level of subsidies in various states. On the bright side, commercial and industrial (C&I) and community solar were up 44% and 35%, respectively. Link.

The bad

• Climate tech venture capital and private equity investment fell off a cliff so far in 2024, per PWC’s annual report. The headline figure is a roughly 30% decline in total investment from last year across venture capital and private equity. Some of that is attributable to funding declines in general across sectors, but climate tech’s share of total funding also fell proportionally. Climate funding also remains disproportionately skewed towards transportation and energy. Those aren’t ‘bad’ sectors, but they don’t comprehensively cover all greenhouse gas emissions and other global warming and climate change drivers. Link.

• Electricity prices across Europe soared this week as an extended dearth of wind and early winter nights reduced renewable energy output. Germany, in particular, faced exorbitant prices, though neighboring countries that export and import electricity from one another were similarly impacted. Some countries, like Norway, have gone so far as to suggest cutting off the extent to which they offer exports to other countries to guard themselves against price increases and fuel shortages. On the whole, Europe is struggling to manage electricity costs and the downstream implications they have on all economic sectors. Link. Link. Link (paywall).

• Also pursuant to the piece I published in these pages last week about data center energy demand growth, a major beneficiary of the data center boom so far has been natural gas and companies that produce components and systems for natural gas power plants. This week, GE Vernova cited that it has secured new contracts to sell up to 9 GW of new natural gas turbines in the past thirty days alone. Regardless of whether demand growth forecasts are overblown, new natural gas capacity that gets built to power new load growth will represent long-lived infrastructure that operators will be loathe to deprecate in the future. Link. Link.

• General Motors is shutting down its Cruise self-driving and electric robotaxi program, in which it had invested more than $10 billion. Employees were reportedly blindsided by the decision and may well get laid off. Previously, GM said this effort was central to its self-driving vehicle strategy, so maybe that’s all out for now, too. Competitors like Waymo are already much further ahead, for what it’s worth. Link.

• Scientists fear the Arctic is turning from a net sink of greenhouse gas emissions to a net emitter of them, releasing more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses than it stores (or reflects due to albedo), whether due to wildfires or thawing permafrost. Note: these dynamics are a highly active field of climate research and are quite difficult to pin down. Link.

• Germany scrapped plans to invest €350 million (~$370 million) into new hydrogen projects, another domino in suspended climate and lower-carbon energy investment to fall of late. The country cited failure to agree on specific terms between the European Commission and Germany’s government, and the funds may become available for other projects. Link.

• A single “white hat” hacker was able to bypass firewalls and remotely take control of a massive amount of solar panels, accessing more theoretical power capacity than runs through Germany’s entire grid system. As much as distributed energy resources offer efficiency and emissions reduction benefits, they can open significant new cybersecurity attack vectors. Link.

• Exxon announced plans to increase capital spending on oil and gas extraction and development by up to 18%, boosting capital commitments from $27–$29 billion in 2024 up to $33 billion annually between 2026 and 2030. This flies in the face of decarbonization targets and net-zero timelines, most if not all of which depend on a much more rapid phase-out of oil consumption. Link. Link (paywall).

• BP joined other oil majors in continuing to shift focus away from renewable energy business lines. It announced this week that it will transfer all offshore wind projects into a joint venture to focus more capital and resources on continued oil and gas operations. Link.

• Nikola—not a company I even really expected to still be around in 2024, frankly—announced another round of layoffs as it continues to teeter on the brink of bankruptcy. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

⚡ Crusoe Energy, based out of Denver, CO, raised $600 million in Series D funding to valorize otherwise wasted natural gas assets while mitigating methane emissions to power data centers. It raised the funding at a $2.8 billion valuation. Founders Fund led. Link to the fundraising announcement here, and for a deep dive I wrote on the business back in 2022, you can explore more here.

💻 Nscale, based out of London, raised $155 million in Series A funding to build energy-efficient data centers (“hyperscalars”) to meet new demand for AI. Sandton Capital Partners led. Link.

⛏️ Fleet Space Technologies, based out of Beverley, South Australia, raised $100 million in Series D funding to build technologies to expand its satellite-based mineral exploration technologies and capabilities. Teachers' Venture Growth led. Link.

🪨 Terradot, based out of San Francisco, launched with $58.2 million in equity funding across $4.2 million in seed funding and $54 million in Series A funding for its enhanced rock weathering (carbon removal) business. It also announced agreements to remove 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide for Frontier buyers, Google, and other buyers between 2025 and 2029. John Doerr led the round and many top climate investors participated. Link.

⚡ Becis, based out of Singapore, raised $53 million in equity funding to develop and operate distributed energy solutions for commercial and industrial customers. FMO, Norfund, Siemens Financial Services, and others invested. Link.

Medium-sized funding rounds

🌞 SolarSquare, based out of Mumbai, raised $40 million in Series B funding to design, install, and operate rooftop solar systems. Lightspeed led. Link.

🌞 Raptor Maps, based out of Boston, raised $35 million in Series C to make software that monitors the performance and efficiency of solar farms. Maverix Private Equity led. Link.

🪵 Aisti, based out of Jyväskylä, Finland, raised ~$30.5 million in Series A funding to make more sustainable acoustic tiles (used in various built environments to reduce noise) from renewable wood fibers. Voima Ventures, Maki.vc, and Valve Ventures invested. Link.

🔌 WeaveGrid, based out of San Francisco, raised $28 million in additional equity funding for its software that manages how EV fleets interact with and charge from the grid. Toyota's growth fund, Woven Capital led the round. Link.

🚚 Embotech, based out of Zürich, raised ~$26.4 million in equity funding for its software that offers autonomous management solutions to drive energy efficiency in industrial logistics applications, including autonomous management of vehicles like trucks, tractors, and forklifts used in factories, warehouses, distribution centers, and other settings. Emerald Technology Ventures and Yttrium co-led. Link.

🛰️ Pixxel, based out of Bengaluru and Los Angeles, raised $24 million in extended Series B funding to build a constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites for Earth observation data across numerous spectral bands. M&G Catalyst and Glade Brook Capital Partners co-led. Link.

♨️ Electrified Thermal Solutions, based out of Boston, raised $19 million in equity funding for its Joule Hive Thermal Battery (JHTB) system that converts electricity into high-temperature heat for industrial processes in specially designed bricks. Holcim MAQER Ventures, Vale Ventures, TechEnergy Ventures, EDP Ventures, Tupras Ventures and others invested. Link.

🏢 Next Sense, based out of Amsterdam, raised ~$12.2 million in Series A funding for its smart-building software to help real estate companies reduce carbon emissions and comply with environmental regulations. ABP and ETF Partners co-led. Link.

🏠 SpotMyEnergy, based out of Cologne, Germany, raised ~$11 million in seed funding to offer smart meters, energy management systems, and dynamic pricing models in residential energy environments. Norrsken VC led. Link.

🖥️ Lumen Orbit, based out of Redmond, WA, raised $11 million in seed funding to make space-based data centers for large AI models that could reduce cooling costs (given the environment). NFX led. Link.

🤖 Anybotics, based out of Zürich, raised $10 million in extended Series B funding to develop autonomous robots designed to perform industrial inspections in sectors like oil and gas, power production, mining, and more. It raised $50 million in total Series B funding. Qualcomm Ventures and Supernova Invest led. Link.

Smaller funding rounds

🌊 Flocean, based out of Oslo, Norway, raised $9 million in Series A funding to develop subsea desalination systems. Burnt Island Ventures, Freebird Partners, and Nysnø Climate Investments led. Link.

🧈 Gavan, based out of Acre, Israel, raised $8 million in Series A funding to make more sustainable plant-based butter alternatives. MoreVC led. Link.

🔋 CarbonX, based out of Delft, Netherlands, raised ~$4.2 million in extended growth funding to make graphite alternatives for battery anodes. 4m led. Link.

⚛️ Novatron Fusion, based out of Stockholm, Sweden, raised $3.2 million in equity funding from the European Innovation Council to develop nuclear fusion reactors focused on stable plasma confinement. Link.

⚛️ Molten Salt Solutions, based out of Santa Fe, NM, raised $3 million in seed funding for its technologies that aim to produce enriched lithium for advanced nuclear applications. Future Ventures and True Ventures co-led. Link.

⚡Powernaut, based out of Ghent, Belgium, raised ~$2.6 million in pre-seed funding to develop software systems for decentralized energy and virtual power plants (VPPs). Revent, Seedcamp, Pitchdrive, and Syndicate One invested. Link.

🍫 Endless Food, based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, raised ~$1.1 million in pre-seed funding to make alternative chocolate products from upcycled brewery grain. Nordic Foodtech VC led. Link.

♻️ Uplift360, based out of Luxembourg, raised ~$1.1 million in pre-seed funding for its chemicals recycling technologies that can extract and repurpose advanced materials like Kevlar. Promus Ventures led. Link.

⚛️ Suprema, based out of Rome, Italy, raised ~$950k from Tech4Planet to produce superconductive tapes used in fusion reactors. Link.

Other funding rounds

⚡ Intersect Power, based out of San Francisco, raised $800 million in equity funding (I assume) to develop and operate large-scale renewable energy projects. TPG Rise Climate and Google led. Note: the exact characteristics of the funding—whether comprised of equity, project finance, debt, or some combination of some or all of those—was not disclosed as far as I could find). Link.

🌞 Dimension Energy, based out of Atlanta, raised $284 million as part of a construction and tax equity bridge loan from First Citizens Bank to build 122 megawatts of DC community solar projects across Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Link.

⚡ Scale Microgrids, based out of Ridgewood, New Jersey, raised up to $150 million in tax equity funding from Truist Bank to develop more distributed energy assets and microgrid solutions for commercial and industrial clients across the U.S. Link.

🔁 Nexus W2V, based out of Greenville, SC, raised $140 million across a structured equity commitment from Orion Infrastructure Capital and debt funding to build a renewable natural gas plant and its waste-to-fuel development business in general. Link.

⚡💦 Bloom Energy, based out of Santa Clara, CA, raised $125 million in project financing to deploy 19 MW of its fuel cells to commercial and industrial customers. HPS Investment Partners and Industrial Development Funding invested. Link.

🌲 The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, based out of Corvallis, OR, and Circular Spring, based out of Seattle, WA, were awarded a $2 million grant from the USDA Forest Service to test the use of biochar to sequester carbon and improve soil health while generating carbon credits to fund proactive forest management practices to mitigate wildfires. Link.

New funds

💸 Trucks Venture Capital, based out of San Francisco, raised $70 million for its third fund. The firm actively supports companies focused on climate and energy applications. Link (paywall).

Until we meet again,

– Nick