🌎 Long duration energy storage finds its buyer #308

Happy Monday!

Currence's 2H26 LDES Leaderboard is out, and the rankings shifted because the buyer changed. Read on to find out who’s winning and who’s next.

In deals, $1bn for high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors in California; $1bn for grid-connected residential battery and energy in Texas; and $310m for vertically integrated critical minerals extraction in California.

In other news, EPA grants in court again, another offshore wind buyout, and Texas’ data center moratorium.

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Currence’s 2H26 LDES Leaderboard is here

The long duration energy storage sector (the technologies that can store and deliver power for 8+ hours) has been charging up for years. High upfront costs have kept the current low, but now the sector is finding the buyers that will let it run.

Until recently, the main demand driver was government procurements, which were looking to add system-level value that utilities and IPPs don’t get paid for. But not anymore. LDES is about to transact, and it’ll be a wild ride for investors, startups, and governments alike.

That's why Currence has been tracking the progress of key technology providers, releasing our first LDES Leaderboard six months ago to rank providers by commercial readiness, across deployment track record, economics, financial strength, and round trip efficiency. In January, lithium-ion was clearly at the top, with non-lithium technologies staking their hopes on UK, US, and Canadian tenders that weighted strategic factors alongside bid price. Since then, data center contracts have boosted order books, but not flowed through to construction starts, yet.

Now Currence is releasing its second LDES Leaderboard, and our eyes are on the non-lithium technologies. Clients can get the full analysis here.

🌎 Long duration energy storage finds its buyer #308

What happened

No FIDs have closed since January, but the sector is loading, not stalled. The second half of the year will likely see key construction starts in the US including Energy Dome’s 18MW Columbia Energy Storage Project and Hydrostor’s 500MW Willow Rock which could vault these providers past lithium-ion for the first time.
Form Energy's climb reflects a price signal. Its 300MW iron-air contract with Xcel Energy and Google at Pine Island demonstrated competitive pricing at commercial scale, the first time for iron-air. Crusoe is attempting to replicate it with a 120MW Form Energy capacity reservation.
Invinity's climb reflects a product pivot. It launched its Endurium product for utility-scale storage in 2024 and has since deployed at MW-scale, converting a long-standing pipeline into an operational track record.

Why it matters

The market has shifted: data centers have emerged as the second-largest source of offtake for non-lithium LDES, and the ranking reflects this. Upward movers Form Energy and Invinity have been prime recipients of these contracts.

That’s because data centers buy differently. Hyperscalers care about speed to power, supply chain security, and cycle life. Energy is a small line item in the full cost of a data center campus, they’re willing to pay for any technology that promises interconnection speed. LDES offers this, through a bring-your-own-capacity use case: utilities with multi-year interconnection queues will accelerate a data center's connection if it brings matching firm capacity online.

Still, the available pool of providers that can execute a 100MW+ BYOC deal is small. They must have mature technology, at least one commercial-scale project, and cost-competitive with short duration lithium-ion after accounting for effective load carrying capacity. Those that fit this bill are already getting locked up, as Google likely has right-of-first-refusal with Form Energy and Energy Dome. The next tier, Hydrostor, Sage Geosystems, Invinity, CMBlu, XL Batteries, and Inlyte Energy, could take the remaining early-mover deals.

Power smoothing is the next use case. AI training jobs create large load swings several times a day, causing rapid lithium-ion degradation. Technologies with long cycle life have a niche here that grid tenders don't reward, and XL Batteries and Terraflow Energy are the early names.

Key takeaways

Data centers might scale non-lithium LDES. Hyperscalers value (strategically and financially) things that procurement frameworks don't, like supply chain certainty, fire safety, long cycle life, and speed to power. Non-lithium techs fit those criteria better than they fit a cost-only tender. If data centers bring them to scale, they can eventually get back to why these companies were founded – to integrate renewables.
A handful of vendors are now cost-competitive with long-duration lithium-ion, and the leaders will ride data center demand to scale. Hyperscalers are locking down category leaders now and the window for early-mover deals is closing. that second tier, including Hydrostor, XL Batteries, and Inlyte Energy, has the cost fundamentals and commercial relationships to be financeable options within 12-24 months.

Clients can read the full data and breakdown here, and if you’re interested in learning more about our LDES work, talk to our team here.

Deals of the Week (8/3-8/9)

VC / Growth

⚡ Valar Atomics, an El Segundo, CA-based developer of high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors, raised $1bn in Series B funding from Sequoia Capital, Apandion, Atreides Management, Conviction, Dream Ventures, HOF Capital, and other investors.

⚡ Base Power, an Austin, TX-based distributed, grid-connected residential battery and energy provider, raised $1bn in Series D funding from Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, JPMorgan, Altimeter, and other investors.

⚒️ Mariana Minerals, a San Francisco, CA-based software-first, vertically integrated critical mineral extraction developer, raised $310m in Series B funding from Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), BHP Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Earthshot

🛵 River Mobility, a Bengaluru, India-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer, raised $108m in Series C funding from Elev8.vc, Claypoint Capital, 360 One Asset Management, Al-Futtaim Group, Anicut Capital and other investors.

🔋 Ore Energy, an Amsterdam, Netherlands-based long-duration iron-air battery developer, raised $43m in Series A funding from HV Capital, Plural, and Positron Ventures.

🛰 WindBorne Systems, a Palo Alto, CA-based developer of long-duration smart weather balloons, raised $37m in Series B funding from Khosla Ventures, Galvanize Climate Solutions, Lux Capital, and Translink Capital.

🛰 Pixxel, a Bengaluru, India-based hyperspectral earth imaging and space-based data center developer, raised $25m in Series B funding from Seraphim Space.

🚗 Advanced Electric Machines (AEM), a North Sunderland, England-based magnet-free powerchain developer for electric vehicles, raised $15m in Series A funding from Barclays Climate Ventures, Low Carbon Innovation Fund, Northstar Ventures, and PXN Ventures.

⚡ Buzz Solutions, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of predictive analytics for grid infrastructure, raised $20m in Series A funding from S3 Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures, GoPoint Ventures, and HearstLab.

🚗 Matel Motion and Energy Solutions, a Pune, India-based manufacturer of high-efficiency motors and EV powertrains, raised $14m in Series B funding from Unitus Capital, Catamaran, and Transition Ventures.

🌾 Mitti Labs, a Bengaluru, India-based AI-led rice crop data and monitoring provider, raised $10m in Series A funding from Aramco Ventures, Cisco, Francis Family Fund, Godrej Industries Group, Lightspeed India Partners, and Volta Circle.

🌾 Plantible, a San Marcos, CA-based developer of sustainable protein from duckweed, raised $10m in series B funding from RA Capital Management.

⚡ Critical Energy, a Hawthorne, CA-based developer of modular geothermal power generation systems, raised $5m in Seed funding from DRW.

🌾 BioScout, a Marrickville, Australia-based airborne crop disease monitoring platform, raised $5m in seed funding from Astanor Ventures, Demea Sustainable Investment, Artesian Capital Management, Division Q, GrainCorp Ventures and other investors.

⚡ Zeno Power, a Seattle, WA-based radioisotope power system developer, raised $4m in Series B funding from Seraphim Space.

Project Finance / Debt

⚡ Avantus, a San Diego, CA-based solar IPP and BESS developer, raised $523m in Debt funding from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Bank Hapoalim (BHI), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), HSBC, ING Capital, and other investors.

⚡ Sonnedix, a London, England-based renewable energy producer, raised $420m in PF Debt funding from AIB Equity, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB), ING Group, Intesa Sanpaolo, and other investors.

⚡ Valar Atomics, an El Segundo, CA-based developer of high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors, raised $200m in Debt funding from Erebor Bank, JPMorgan, Crescent Cove Advisors, and Hercules Capital.

🛵 River Mobility, a Bengaluru, India-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer, raised $12m in Debt funding from Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital, and Stride Ventures.

🌾 Plantible, a San Marcos, CA-based developer of sustainable protein from duckweed, raised $25m in Debt funding from X-Caliber Rural Capital.

🚗 Advanced Electric Machines (AEM), a North Sunderland, England-based magnet-free powerchain developer for electric vehicles, raised $7m in Debt funding from Innovate UK.

Exits

🏭 MaintainX, a San Francisco, CA-based digitalization platform for operational efficiency, was acquired by Autodesk at a valuation of $3.6bn.

♻️ ENTACT, a Westmont, IL-based provider of environmental remediation solutions, was acquired by Ridgemont Equity Partners for an undisclosed amount.

☀️ NexTC, a Corvallis, OR-based developer of advanced coatings for electronics, was acquired by Tandem PV for an undisclosed amount.

🚗 Sono Motors, a Munich, Germany-based solar-powered EV developer, filed for Bankruptcy / Out of Business.

Funds

Lotus Infrastructure Partners, a Greenwich, CT-based infrastructure investment firm, closed $1.8bn in total capital commitments for its Lotus Infrastructure Fund IV, to pursue power generation, transmission, battery storage, and low-carbon fuels investments.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), a New York, NY-based global investment firm, closed $19.2bn for its KKR Global Infrastructure Investors V, a Core+ fund targeting critical infrastructure in North America and Western Europe.

This is a sample of deals available for Currence clients. Can’t get enough deals?

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Reading List

⚖️ A full DC Circuit ordered reexamination of $20bn in frozen EPA greenhouse gas reduction grants. [Link]

Another court setback for Trump’s EPA freezes, following the DOE grant reinstatements we previously covered. However, the administration keeps finding workarounds, the offshore wind buyouts below being the clearest example of going around the courts.

💸 RWE took the largest single offshore wind lease buyout yet at $1.2bn, pushing the federal tally past $3.9bn. [Link]

We flagged RWE as the likely next buyout deal previously, and here it is. Buying developers out of leases is proving far more effective than litigating them.

🌬 Siemens wind business, Gamesa, returned to profit after four years in the red, in more wind news. [Link]

Western turbine OEMs have been in the red for most of the decade, and despite a drop in new orders, Gamesa has cleared breakeven with productivity gains and improved cost efficiency.

🏗 Texas's data center pause is the latest statewide moratorium as data centers become a political focus. [Link]

This directive only affects grid-connected projects and does not specify design changes, but it will likely only have the impact of pushing data center developers to off-grid (possibly dirtier) power or out of Texas.

💧 Spain cut awards in its second green hydrogen auction to €274.2m. [Link]

Fewer projects clearing the bar, in the market that just placed the 300MW Project Onuba electrolyzer order. Europe's hydrogen demand is increasingly concentrated in a handful of bankable projects.

☢️ China approved eight new nuclear reactors worth $25.2bn. [Link]

China is building out its nuclear fleet at scale, quickly, while US permitting timelines and costs delay domestic growth.

💨 Microsoft resumed large-scale carbon removal buying, signing an offtake with CREW Carbon. The Brooklyn startup, which mineralizes CO2 using limestone and wastewater, will supply 23,602 durable removal credits, Microsoft's first major deal since pausing purchases in April. [Link]

🍫 Bread, minerals, and chocolate all went renewable this week: Sonnedix signed its first Polish PPA with ferrosilicon producer Re Alloys, alongside new corporate deals from Mosaic and Bimbo Group. [Link]

📊 Prime Coalition published new research charting the FOAK gap, featuring Currence research. [Link]

🌊 The Welsh government approved the Llyr floating wind demonstration project in the Celtic Sea. [Link]

💡 Americans' electricity bills hit a record high in July, with the average US household paying $217 for power. [Link]

Opportunities & Events

📅 Currence Powering AI Survey: Support our work powering data centers by filling out this survey. It will be used to develop a comprehensive industry report and a detailed benchmarking model, providing deeper insights into cost structures, performance metrics, and market trends.

📅 Energy Central's 2026 Workforce Survey: Fill out the survey to help Energy Central better understand the workforce challenges and opportunities environmental industries are facing.

💡 C10 Labs AI Nexus Fall 2026 Cohort: The 2.5-month program features three dedicated tracks for AI-focused startups: Healthcare & Biotech, Climate & Energy, and Robotics & Manufacturing. Each track has vertical-specific workshops, mentors, events, and pilot partners. Apply by August 15th for the start of the program in early October.

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💡Lab to Launch at Argonne: With an $115k yearly stipend for two years, and networking opportunities with business experts, investors, mentors, and corporate partners. Pre-apply to be notified when applications open on September 15th for the chance to gain connections with technical experts, facilities, and the unique capabilities at Argonne National Laboratory.

📅 Pitch4YourPlanet: A pan-European online pitch series that aims to connect climate innovators with the Climate Pact community and its wider ecosystem of mentors, partners, sponsors and investors. The first pitch session is expected to take place in mid September.