LLMs for weather forecasting & more

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Hi there,

Hope you had a nice week and have a great week ahead. Here’s all the news that’s fit to print across climate tech and energy from the past seven days, with a word from one of our favorite newsletters first.

In today’s email:

• One story in a chart and a sentence

• Climate and energy headlines from the week

• Climate tech fundraising announcements

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THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in one sentence and a chart

• Exit opportunities for investors in North American climate tech and energy are still subdued, with 2024’s total unlikely to eclipse 2023’s significantly if at all. Link.

20+ headlines

The good

• Stellantis, the owner of Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram, is now in line to receive up to $7.54 billion in loan funding from the DOE via the Loans Program Office (LPO) to build two battery factories in Indiana for EVs. The factories are a joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung SDI and could offer up to 67 GWh of annual manufacturing capacity. Link.

• Redwood Materials, a U.S.-based unicorn battery recycling company, noted that it will likely generate $200 million in sales this year. Link (paywall).

• Google DeepMind released a weather model it claims can outperform other weather forecasting models and services more than 97% of the time. Specifically, it claims its ‘GenCast’ system provides better forecasts for day-to-day weather and extreme events up to 15 days in advance. The model was trained on 40 years’ worth of real-world weather data taken from Ensemble Prediction System from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Google also noted that it would release its model’s code, weights, and forecasts publicly for free. Link. Link. Link. Link.

• Heidelberg Materials AG announced it finished construction and assembly on a carbon capture plant at its Brevik cement factory in Norway. The comprehensive investment plan includes $2.6 billion for carbon capture and sequestration infrastructure with captured emissions destined for storage under the North Sea. Link.

• Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing, a subsidiary of e-Storage, plans to invest ~$712 million to build a 6 GwH battery cell, module, and packaging manufacturing facility in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Link.

• Eos Energy closed on a $303.5 million LPO loan guarantee it was awarded last year. It will use the funds to build two production lines for battery manufacturing in Pennsylvania. Link.

• Ford, Honda, Kia, and Hyundai all posted their best-ever monthly EV sales in November. Link.

• Colorado surpassed California in Q3 as the state with the highest EV penetration: EVs made up 25.3% of new car sales in Colorado over the quarter as the state employs generous subsidies. Link.

• China will, as predicted, set another world record for solar installations this year (likely adding between 230 and 260 GW), though India is outpacing it for the first time in private sector climate tech funding over the past quarter or so. Link. Link.

• KayrrosAI released a “retrieval-augmented generation” LLM designed to help pinpoint methane releases by analyzing satellite data with its own in-house proprietary analysis. Link.

• In a world first, the Caribbean nation of Barbados completed a “debt for climate resilience” swap that will raise roughly $125 million for it to invest in water and sewage infrastructure. Link.

The inbetweens

• Even before Trump’s second term, a tariff war is accelerating between the U.S. and China. This week, the U.S. announced new tariffs on solar panels imported from Chinese manufacturers across other Southeast Asian countries, while Europe also attempts to limit Chinese suppliers from accessing its subsidies for EV batteries. China, meanwhile, banned exports of germanium and gallium (both minerals used in solar cells), restricted exports of graphite (used in EV batteries), and also blocked antimony (used in EV battery alloys) exports to the U.S. The U.S. currently gets about half of its gallium and germanium from China. Link. Link. Link. Link.

• Almost a third of German Volkswagen employees launched “warning strikes” earlier this week in response to the company’s wage-cutting proposals. VW is trying to navigate intensifying competition abroad, high costs and other challenges across the industrial sector domestically. Last month, it proposed cutting worker pay by 10% and closing three German factories. The strikes are expected to continue. Link.

• The U.K. government needs to find additional investors to develop its Sizewell C nuclear plant, which aims to add 3,200 MWe of capacity with two reactors in Suffolk, England. Link.

• Norway suspended a deep-sea mining plan that would have unlocked more metal and mineral supply for energy transition technologies but indubitably also disrupted marine ecosystems. Link.

• Meta joined the likes of Amazon and Google in requesting additional nuclear generation capacity to support data center expansion. We wrote about these dynamics in depth on Thursday (here). Link.

The bad

• Denmark hosted its largest-ever offshore wind auction this week and drew zero bids. Link.

• 200 countries failed to reach a comprehensive deal to curb global plastic production at a week-long United Nations-backed summit in Busan, South Korea. Link. Link.

• GM took a $5 billion write-down due to the poor performance of its Chinese joint venture, SAIC General Motors, amidst stiff competition from Chinese EV makers like BYD and Geely. Link.

• Clean Path NY canceled a planned $11 billion, 1,300 MW, 175-mile HVDC transmission line to connect 2 GW of new wind capacity and 1.8 GW of new solar capacity to New York City. Link.

• Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resigned abruptly on Sunday as the company has struggled—as many other global auto manufacturers are—amidst heightened competition from China and difficulties navigating the global auto market as it bifurcates between plug-ins and traditional combustion engine vehicles. Link.

• Galp, a Portuguese multinational energy company, decided to halt construction on its ‘Aurora’ project, which would have built a lithium conversion plant in Setúbal, Portugal, to supply lithium to Europe’s battery market. The project was going to be a 50/50 partnership between Galp and Northvolt. Northvolt dropped out of the project earlier this year, and Galp was unable to find another investor. Link.

• Coca-Cola rolled back more aggressive commitments it had made on reducing plastic waste, though it will maintain some targets out to 2035. Shell also announced reduced spending on offshore wind in its renewables unit. Many other corporates have similarly been moderating targets (or have failed to make progress towards announced ones). Link. Link. Link.

• SolarEdge Technologies, a solar inverter and battery backup systems manufacturer that was based out of Milpitas, CA, is closing its energy storage division and laying off 500 people. Link.

• Grünfin, an Estonian climate tech startup that had raised ~$4.5 million from Norrsken VC and others to offer impact investment ETFs. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

⬇️ Heirloom, based out of Brisbane, CA, raised $150 million in Series B funding for its direct air capture that leverages limestone to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Lowercarbon Capital and Future Positive co-led the round. Link.

🤖 Amp Robotics, based out of Louisville, CO, raised $91 million in Series D funding to make robotic systems that automate the sorting of recyclable materials in waste management facilities. Congruent Ventures led. Link.

Medium-sized funding rounds

🔌 ConnectDER, based out of Philadelphia, raised $35 million in Series D funding to make meter socket adapters that make integrating solar panels, EV chargers, and other distributed energy resources (DERs) into homes easier and cheaper. Decarbonization Partners led. Link.

🍫 Planet A Foods, based out of Munich, raised $30 million in Series B funding to make more sustainable, cocoa-free chocolate by leveraging plant-based ingredients and fermentation. Burda Principal Investments and Zintinus co-led. Link.

🔧 Oxford Flow, based out of Oxford, U.K., raised $25 million in Series C funding to make valve and regulator technologies that enhance reliability, reduce maintenance costs, and cut fugitive emissions in oil and gas. BP Ventures and Energy Impact Partners led. Link.

⚛️ Acceleron Fusion, based out of Cambridge, MA, closed a $24 million Series A funding round after announcing $15 million in equity funding in October for its fusion technology, which is tackling a “muon-catalyzed” approach. Collaborative Fund and Lowercarbon Capital. Link.

🔩 FibreCoat, based out of Aachen, Germany, raised ~$21.1 million in Series B funding to make aluminum-coated fibers that protect against radiation, heat, and electromagnetic interference, with applications in the automotive, construction, space industries and others. NewSpace Capital and Goose Capital co-led. Link.

📊 Carbmee, based out of Berlin, raised ~$21m in equity funding for its carbon and ESG management software for enterprises. CommerzVentures led. Link.

🚛 Cofactr, based out of New York, raised $17.2 million in Series A funding for its supply chain and logistics management software for electronics manufacturers Bain Capital Ventures led. Link.

🧱 MGA Thermal, based out of Tomago, Australia, announced it has raised more Series B funding (bringing its total raised for the round to ~$14.1 million) for its modular thermal energy storage systems. Link.

🛰️ SatVu, based out of London, raised ~$12.5 million in equity funding for its satellite-based thermal imaging solutions that can show heat variations down to a resolution of 3.5 meters. Adara Ventures and Molten Ventures led. Link.

🔎 Spexi, based out of Vancouver, Canada, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding to develop an “ultra-high-resolution drone imagery network” for drone pilots to provide earth observation imagery. Blockchange Ventures led. Link.

Smaller funding rounds

 🥦 Kilter, based out of Langhus, Norway, raised $9.5 million in Series A funding for its “ultra-high precision weeding robot for vegetables.” Natural Ventures led. Link.

✅ ERS (Ecosystem Restoration Standard), based out of Paris, raised ~$5.3 million in equity funding for its carbon certification platform for nature-based projects. AENU and noa led. Link.

🏭 RL Core Technologies, based out of Edmonton, Canada, raised $5 million in seed funding to develop AI software to enhance the efficiency and reliability of industrial control systems. TQ Ventures led. Link.

🔌 Reefilla, based out of Turin, Italy, raised ~$4.7 million in equity funding to make mobile charging and energy storage solutions, predominantly for electric vehicles (so far at least). CDP Venture Capital led. Link.

🍫 Celleste Bio, based out of Misgav, Israel, raised $4.5 million in seed funding to make cell-cultured cocoa ingredients. Supply Change Capital led. Link.

🍔 Cerve, based out of London, raised ~$4.4 million in seed funding to “digitise the global food supply chain” with APIs and digital infrastructure that reduce food waste. SuperSeed led. Link.

🌱 Rosy Soil, based out of New York, raised $3.6 million in seed funding to make planter soil with integrated biochar for soil health and carbon sequestration benefits. Draper Associates, Superorganism, Climate Capital, and others. Link. For more, listen to Nick and the CEO of Rosy Soil, Chad Massura, chop it up on the Keep Cool podcast a while ago.

🪨 Everest Carbon, based out of Francisco and Linz, Austria, raised $3 million in seed funding for its sensors that are optimized to measure and quantify carbon removal from enhanced rock weathering applications. Carbon Removal Partners, Ponderosa Ventures, and Carbon Drawdown Initiative invested. Link.

🔥 FireDome, based out of Tel Aviv, Israel, raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to make autonomous cannons that can help put out wildfires. Third Sphere led. Link.

🔬 Sunflower Therapeutics, based out of Medford, MA, raised $3 million in equity funding for its biotechnology-driven protein discovery and manufacturing platform. Clear Current Capital led. Link.

🌞 Solarfix, based out of Belfast, raised ~$1.9 million in equity and debt from the Whiterock Growth Capital Fund and the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland to design and install solar panels in commercial settings. Link.

⚛️ Realta Fusion, based out of Madison, WI, raised an undisclosed amount of equity funding from TitletownTech, a venture capital firm formed out of a partnership between Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers, to develop compact, modular nuclear fusion reactors. Link.

New funds

💵 EQT, based out of Stockholm with ~$260 billion in assets under management, launched a new investment strategy to focus on energy transition infrastructure via the EQT Transition Infrastructure vehicle. Link.

💰 Toesca Asset Management, based out of Santiago, Chile, and Astarte Capital Partners, based out of London, will launch a new $350 million fund to support regenerative agriculture across Latin America together. Link.

💰 Fly Ventures, based out of Berlin, raised ~$84 million for its third fund at €80M to invest in European deeptech companies. Link.

💸 Investible, based out of Sydney, will partner with the University of New South Wales at Sydney’s Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (“TRaCE”) program to co-invest in seed and Series A climate tech startups and help commercialize university research. Link.

💸 FIGR Ventures, based out of Towcester, U.K., launched a new fund to invest in early-stage, mission-driven consumer businesses driving positive environmental or social change, focusing on 5-6 investments annually at pre-seed and seed stages. Link. 

I’ll leave the light on for ya,

– Nick