Solar ain't bothered (yet)

Hello there,

ICYMI, Thursday’s newsletter on the state of carbon removal, which I co-authored with Paul Gambill, was a “Banger” (other people’s words, not mine). Check it out here.

Otherwise, here are the top stories & fundraising rounds from this week:

♡ If you find this work valuable, you can support it here. I put a lot of time into it. ♡

ONE STORY IN A SENTENCE (AND A CHART)

• Solar energy generation keeps on marchin’, uncertainty across the policy environment, financial markets, and global geopolitics notwithstanding. Link + h/t Jeff Davies @ Enerwap.

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

THE GOOD

• Wind and solar energy outproduced coal in the U.S. for the first time ever in 2024, supplying 17% of electricity vs. coal's 15%. Solar grew 27% year-over-year, and, as pictured above, is poised to grow massively again in 2025 (off to a hot start). Link.

• Texas also broke its solar, wind, and battery records in a single spring week, highlighting the state's rapidly expanding renewable energy capacity. Link.

• U.K. greenhouse gas emissions fell 3.6% last year to their lowest levels in 2024 since 1666, continuing a long-term decarbonization trend. Link.

• Boston Metal, based out of Woburn, Massachusetts, completed its first industrial-scale run, producing over a ton of green steel using its electricity-powered molten oxide electrolysis process, which emits oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. Link. Related Keep Cool reading here.

• General Fusion, based out of Vancouver, Canada, successfully created plasma in its Lawson Machine 26 prototype, marking a milestone in a 93-week effort to prove its fusion approach and achieve “breakeven” by 2026. Amibitous—best of luck to em’! Link.

• TS Conductor announced a second US manufacturing facility in Hardeeville, South Carolina, with a $134M investment creating 462 jobs to produce high-capacity power lines that carry 2-3x more electricity than traditional lines while reducing wildfire risk. Link.

• Portsmouth Marine Terminal completed a $223M offshore wind staging area with 72 acres for storing and transferring massive turbines and foundations for Dominion Energy's 176-turbine wind farm. Perhaps I’ve been a touch too pessimistic on offshore wind in the U.S., but I’m still not sold. We’ll see what actually gets built. Link.

• A group of 21 House Republicans representing districts benefiting from IRA investment signed a letter urging colleagues to preserve the law's clean-energy tax credits. Link.

• Azure Printed Homes, based out of Los Angeles, California, won the SXSW 2025 Innovation Award for Urban Experience with its sustainable 3D-printed homes made from recycled polymers and fiberglass that can be fabricated and installed within four weeks. Link.

• Arcadia, based out of Washington, D.C., and Perch Energy, based out of Boston, Massachusetts, struck a deal to launch a new community solar business managing over 3 GW of operating projects, more than a third of the entire 8.6 GW U.S. community solar sector. Link.

• Fervo Energy, based out of Houston, Texas, CEO Tim Latimer revealed IPO plans targeting a $2-4 billion valuation in 2026-2027, as the geothermal developer sees growing interest from data center operators seeking clean power. As others have predicted, 2025 seems like it may offer a “reopening of the IPO window.” Link.

• Climate United filed a lawsuit against the EPA and Citibank for withholding $7 billion in climate funds awarded through the Inflation Reduction Act, as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attempts to claw back the money. Link.

• Fremont, California (close to my hometown!) became the first U.S. municipality to purchase citywide parametric flood insurance, which provides immediate payouts when predetermined thresholds are met, helping the community respond faster to climate disasters as private insurers exit markets and federal disaster response faces cuts. Link. Related Keep Cool reading here.

THE INBETWEENS

• BYD, based out of Shenzhen, China, continues disrupting the automotive industry with new plans to monetize driver assistance software by making advanced systems standard across its lineup, including on its $9,500 Seagull EV. This threatens competitors' pricing strategies across the world, tariffs notwithstanding. Old news, but I’m just seeing it, and as a reminder, the company also went public in Hong Kong recently (second link). Link. Link. Related Keep Cool reading here, here, and here.

• Microsoft is considering deploying natural gas generation with carbon capture to power AI data centers as it works toward matching all electricity use with carbon-free power by 2030. Lots of momentum for carbon capture right now, as noted in last Sunday’s Keep Cool newsletter. Keep an eye on it (I will). Link.

THE BAD

• EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a review of dozens of environmental regulations, including emissions limits, pollution standards, and the EPA's 2009 conclusion that greenhouse gases endanger public health, calling it the "biggest deregulation action in U.S. history." TBD on this one. Link.

• President Trump proposed canceling the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act despite $30.6 billion already committed in grants to 19 companies, threatening 145,000 projected jobs and bipartisan support for semiconductor production. Alongside the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act has done a lot to spur manufacturing investment domestically (see below) TBD on this one, too. Link.

• The Department of Transportation reportedly paused green infrastructure projects funded by Biden-era grants to scrutinize them for "climate, equity, and other priorities counter to the administration's executive orders." Link.

• Breakthrough Energy, Bill Gates' climate philanthropic organization, closed its policy and advocacy office and laid off much of its staff in Washington, D.C.—big loss for a key supporter of nuclear energy and carbon capture, among other climate and energy technologies... and my condolences to the laid-off employees. Link.

• Arrival, an EV maker based out of London, shut down operations and laid off nearly all staff after planned sales fell through, marking another setback for Europe's struggling EV market following Northvolt's bankruptcy. Link.

• Northvolt, based out of Stockholm, Sweden, failed to secure enough investment after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, putting 3,000+ jobs at risk and leaving its operations in Sweden, Germany and remaining operations in the U.S. uncertain. Link.

• Aspen Aerogels, based out of Northborough, Massachusetts, canceled plans for a thermal battery component plant in Georgia, shifting focus to expanding production in China and Mexico instead. Link. More related Keep Cool reading here.

• Ola Electric, based out of Bangalore, India, saw its shares hit an all-time low on March 3, dropping more than 60% from its August 2024 peak amid intensifying competition from other Indian manufacturers like Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor. Customer complaints and falling sales are eroding the company's first-mover advantage in the electric two-wheeler market. Link.

• Israel's energy minister ordered an immediate cutoff of electricity to Gaza, threatening water supplies as desalination plants rely on power to produce drinking water. The move follows Israel's week-long blockade of food, fuel, and medicines to Gaza, which it says aims to pressure Hamas to accept its new ceasefire proposal. Make it all stop… please. Link.

• West Virginia introduced House Bill 3207 to prohibit the intentional release of chemicals into the atmosphere for weather modification or geoengineering activities, citing concerns over potential public health and environmental risks. Link. Related Keep Cool reading here.

• Oil executives at CERAWeek expressed frustration with Trump's trade wars despite supporting his "energy dominance" message, as steel tariffs increase costs for pipelines and LNG projects. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds:

• Celestial AI, based out of Santa Clara, California, secured $250M Series C1 at a $2.5B valuation led by Fidelity Management & Research, to use light to transfer data within and between chips for enhanced AI data center efficiency. Link. Related Keep Cool reading here.

• Terabase Energy, based out of Berkeley, California, raised $130M Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 to scale its utility-scale solar software platform. Link.

Medium-sized funding rounds:

• Alloyed, based out of Oxford, U.K., raised £37M (~$47.9M) in Series B funding co-led by SPARX and the Development Bank of Japan, with Aviva Investors and Future Industry Ventures also participating to design advanced metal alloys and manufacture high-performance metal components using 3D printing. Link.

• Equilibrium Energy, based out of New York, raised $28M in Series B2 funding to enhance energy portfolio optimization using AI. GS Energy led. Link.

• Capture6, based out of Berkeley, California, raised $27.5M in Series A and project financing led by Tetrad Real Estate Corporation to scale its technology that cleans wastewater while removing carbon dioxide. Link.

• GS Power Partners, based out of Stamford, Connecticut, and New York, raised $22M from Amalgamated Bank to develop independent power production projects. Link.

• Thorizon, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, raised €20M ($21.8M), led by Invest-NL, for its molten salt reactor technology, which uses nuclear waste as fuel. Link.

• Ndustrial, based out of Raleigh, North Carolina, raised $20.1M in two tranches of Series B funding from investors including Southwire Company, ABB, GS Energy, Clean Energy Ventures, and ENGIE New Ventures for its AI energy management platform. Link.

• DG Matrix, based out of Raleigh, North Carolina, raised $20M led by Clean Energy Ventures for its solid-state transformers for data centers and other energy infrastructure and generation, distribution, and storage systems. Link.

• Supercritical Solutions, based out of London, raised £14M ($18.1M) in Series A funding co-led by Shell Ventures and Toyota Ventures for its high-pressure electrolyzers used to make green hydrogen. Link.

• Graphitic Energy, based out of Goleta, California, closed a $15M Series A extension from Energy Capital Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Trafigura for its Texas pilot plant converting natural gas to hydrogen and graphite. Link.

• Avalo, based out of Durham, North Carolina, raised $11M in Series A funding to develop climate-resilient crops using interpretable AI. Link. Related Keep Cool reading here.

• Augmenta, based out of Toronto, Canada, secured $10M in seed funding led by Prelude Ventures to automate electrical systems design. Link.

Smaller funding rounds:

• Causal Labs, an AI weather prediction startup, emerged from stealth with $6M led by Kindred Ventures and joined by Refactor, BoxGroup, and others. Link.

• Daqus Energy, based out of Woburn, Massachusetts, came out of stealth with a $6M seed round led by Morningside to scale its novel TAQ cathode material for lithium-ion batteries that's cheaper, lighter, and free from critical minerals like nickel and cobalt. Link.

• Reshape Energy, based out of Munich, Germany, raised €5M ($5.5M) from PostScriptum Ventures and Vireo Ventures to help commercial property owners and tenants install low-carbon energy solutions. Link.

• GigaCrop, based out of Berkeley, California, raised $4.5M pre-seed led by Playground Global and Juniper Ventures, to enhance crop yields by improving photosynthesis efficiency. Link.

• PhaseTree, based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, raised €3M ($3.3M) from Heartcore Capital for its AI-powered simulation platform for sustainable material discovery. Link.

• DirectH2, based out of Houston, Texas, closed an undisclosed amount of seed funding, raising funds from HL Energy Ventures, to develop modular hydrogen systems in collaboration with Rice University. Link.

Funds

• Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, based out of Denmark, raised over €12B (~$13.1B) for its fifth and largest green power fund, which will invest in wind farms, solar parks, and grid-connected batteries, despite all the headwinds for the renewables sector. Link.

• Volkswagen Group invested $300M in VC firm Leitmotif as its sole limited partner, backing companies focused on decarbonization, including EVs, batteries, and fusion startups. Link.

• National Grid Partners, based in Los Gatos, California, plans to invest over $100M in AI-focused startups over the next five years, targeting technologies that boost electric grid efficiency and resilience. Link.

• Equator, based out of Nairobi, Kenya, and London, closed a $55M fund focused on climate tech startups in sub-Saharan Africa, with backing from the World Bank's IFC, British International Investment, and Proparco. Link.

• Aligned Climate Capital, based out of New York City, closed its second venture fund at $85M, double the size of its debut climate fund, with backing from the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Link.

• SeaX Ventures, based out of San Francisco, raised $6M for its first climate-focused fund, with plans to raise a much larger Fund II that could be "10x" bigger. Link (paywall).

JOBS

Here's a product role for biopharma insiders who are done with corporate life and want their expertise to matter. Vienna-based Elio is building the platform to power eco-design in pharma manufacturing — and CEO Kami Krista is looking for a thought partner. This person will go deep into the complexities of process design, help drive product development, and obsess over getting the UX right for scientists and process engineers. Pharma is a tough nut to crack — this team is fast-paced, scrappy, and determined to transform the industry. Interested? Check out the JD and apply here.

OTHER COOL STUFF

• Halcyon, based out of London, launched electric “restomods” of the classic Rolls-Royce Corniche featuring 400-500hp motors and 200-250 mile range. If you have the quid… these will be limited to 60 in the first run, with initial deliveries expected in Q4 2026. Link.

• TELO Trucks, based out of California, unveiled its first pre-production mini electric pickup truck, the TELO MT1, featuring full-size truck utility in a compact footprint with 5,000+ pre-orders totaling $250M in commitments. Same size truck as a Mini Cooper! Link.

Adios,

– Nick