The IRA floodgates open

Plus lots more across climate tech and energy

Author

Nick van Osdol
April 28, 2024

KEEPING COOL WITH

Hi all,

Hope you had a wonderful SF climate week if you attended. While I made it to a smattering of events, I prioritized spending time with family in the South Bay & chasing super blooms and ocean waves (below).

In climate & energy news this week, we continue to see just how impactful IRA dollars are in the U.S., especially as the specter of the presidential election adds some pressure to allocate funding now. The $7B+ the Biden Admin allocated this week feels like a footnote today although it would have been nigh-unimaginable two years ago.

Elsewhere, the EPA unveils relatively stringent pollution controls on coal power plants and new gas plants, though the rules will almost certainly be subject to serious litigation.

In today’s email:

  • One story in a chart and a sentence

  • Climate tech and energy headlines from the week

  • Climate tech fundraising announcements

Given this is the last newsletter send of the month, we’re also at the end of Glassdome’s Presenting Partnership, as part of which they took over a lot of Keep Cool real estate in April. We’re thankful to them and hope you’re now as excited about their business as we are.

ICYMI or haven’t had a chance to sit with all the content we brought to the fore to tell Glassdome’s story, here’s a recap:

  • Deep dive on Glassdome’s business, its impact on the manufacturing renaissance in the West, and industrial decarbonization (pt. I)

  • Deep dive on Glassdome’s business, why doing hard things is often great differentiation, and where the biz is headed in the future (pt. II)

  • Our latest podcast with Glassdome’s COO & Product Manager

Not that this will be the end of our work with Glassdome. We’re excited to keep you updated on their progress and all the milestones they log in the future. More to come.

Want to sponsor Keep Cool? Click here.

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in a sentence (and a chart)

• Natural gas is close to flipping oil as the largest component of primary energy in the U.S. (and single most important fuel source), a striking milestone as primary energy includes transportation, heat production, and more in addition to electricity generation. Link.

13 headlines

• The Biden Admin released new proposed carbon dioxide emission standards for power plants in the U.S. that would require coal and new gas plants to capture 90% of their emissions by 2032. This would all but force plants covered by the rules to install carbon capture technology to continue to operate. Note the emphasis on new natural gas plants; existing natural gas plants are exempt, and coal is already on its way out in the U.S., though the rules would accelerate this trend. The rules will also be subject to considerable litigation, and you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll fall off the table again if Biden isn’t reelected. Link.

• This week, the Biden Administration also unveiled $7B in grants to expand residential solar in low-income and disadvantaged areas via the EPA. The funding could serve up to 1M homes. Link.

• Further, multiple U.S. agencies, including the EPA and the Transportation Department, announced $1.5B in funding to electrify heavy trucking and ports. Link. Link.

• The DOE also released new rules to streamline renewable energy project permitting and to accelerate the transmissions and interconnection queue backlog. Link.

• Honda plans to invest ~$11B to build new EV and EV battery production plants in Ontario. Link.

• Hitachi Energy announced it will invest $1.5B to expand its transformer production to support electrification efforts worldwide. Transformers are in short supply, a challenge that threatens to slow electrification efforts. Link. Link.

• CATL released a new EV battery, the Shenxing Plus, that can charge 600 kilometers worth of range in 10 minutes. Link.

• China and Ghana agreed to a financing deal to build an HPR1000 nuclear power plant to bolster Ghana’s power grid. Link.

• A 2.6 GW offshore wind project, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, received final federal environmental approval. Representing a ~$10B investment, the project could become the U.S.’s largest offshore wind project. A 900 MW offshore wind project in Taiwan also delivered power for the first time. Simultaneously, GE Vernova and New York scrapped plans for three other offshore windshore projects (totaling 4 GW), citing an ​“inability to come to terms.” Link. Link. Link.

• American Battery Technology Company finished construction and began operations at its lithium hydroxide pilot plant in Nevada, which includes a first-of-its-kind lithium processing tech. Link.

• The state of California officially passed 10 GW of grid-connected battery energy storage. Link.

• Ford’s EV business lost $1.3B in the first quarter of 2024, as EVs continue to be a loss leader for the American automotive manufacturer. Link.

• SunPower announced it will cut one-third of its staff as it aims to restructure its business. Meanwhile, Tritium, a leading EV charger manufacturer, is insolvent. Link. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

👕 Spiber, based out of Yamagata, Japan, raised $65M in equity funding from existing investors to make textiles using fermented "brewed protein." More here. (Japan, Materials)

Medium-sized funding rounds

🌞 Raygen, based out of Victoria, Australia, raised ~$33.3M in Series D funding for its solar and thermal energy storage business. Oil major Schlumberger invested, among others. More here. (Australia, Energy) 

⚡💦 Green Energy Park, based out of São Paulo, Brazil, raised $30M in Series A funding to build a hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives production plant in Luis Correia, Brazil. More here. (Brazil, Industry)

📊 Nominal, based out of Los Angeles, raised $27.5M across its seed and Series A funding rounds to make end-to-end data analysis solutions for industrial engineering teams. Lux Capital, General Catalyst, and Founders Fund invested. More here. (U.S., Data Applications)

🖥️  Exowatt, based out of Miami, raised $20M in seed funding to deploy modular and transportable solar thermal energy units – comprised of a heat collector, a heat battery, and a heat engine – to deploy alongside data centers to meet growing data center demand. a16z, Atomic, and Sam Altman invested. More here. (U.S., Energy)

🔋 Chemix, based out of Sunnyvale, CA, raised $20M in Series A funding to use AI to accelerate EV battery innovation. Ibex Investors led. More here, and here in our past interview with the CEO. (U.S., Transportation)

🏢 Infogrid, based out of London, raised $13M in equity funding for its building decarbonization and emissions management software. Keyframe Capital and A/O led. More here. (U.K., Built Environment)

🌳 Treefera, based out of London, raised $12M in Series A funding for its forestry data platform designed to help clients diligence carbon credits. AlbionVC invested. More here. (U.K., Carbon Markets)

Smaller funding rounds

🧬 Solar Foods, based out of the Isle of Man in the U.K., raised ~$8.5M in extended Series B funding to make protein out of cellular biomanufacturing processes. Agronomics invested. More here. (U.K., Food & Agriculture) 

📊 Texture, based out of New York, raised $7.5M in seed funding to build software that aggregates data from a variety of grid-connected and distributed energy generation assets. Equal Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Abstract Ventures, Day One Ventures, and others invested. More here. (U.S., Energy)

🔋 Terra One, based out of Berlin, raised $7.5M in seed funding to build a network of decentralized battery storage projects. PT1 and Commerzbank's Neosfer led. More here. (Germany, Energy)

🏢 Accacia, based out of Singapore, raised $6.5M in equity funding for its building decarbonization data platform focused on measuring emissions, streamlining billing, and more. Illuminate Financial led. More here. (Singapore, Built Environment)

🔋 Aquabattery, based out of Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands, raised ~$6.4M in seed funding for its long-duration energy storage technology that uses table salt and water as its core components. EIT InnoEnergy led. More here. (Netherlands, Energy)

💱 Goodcarbon, based out of Berlin, raised ~$5.6M in equity funding for its platform that helps corporates build carbon credit portfolios. Ocean 14 Capital led. More here. (Germany, Carbon Markets)

🌱 Vitalfluid, based out of Eindhoven, Netherlands, raised ~$5.4M in equity funding for its "plasma-activated water," an alternative to conventional pesticides and fertilizers. Future Food Fund, Graduate Entrepreneur Fund, and others invested. More here. (Netherlands, Food & Agriculture)

♻️ Bioform Technologies, based out of Vancouver, Canada, raised $5M in seed funding to make bio-based alternatives to single-use plastic bags. Suzano Ventures led. More here. (Canada, Materials)

✈️ Radical, based out of Seattle, raised $4.5M in seed funding to build solar-powered high-altitude autonomous aircraft. Scout Ventures led. More here. (U.S., Data Applications)

🌞 Solarge, based out of Weert, Netherlands, raised ~$3.2M in equity funding to open a new 500 MW facility to make lightweight solar panels. Phase2.earth and Orchard Participations invested. More here. (Netherlands, Energy)

🌱 Growcer, based out of Ottawa, Canada, raised $3M in Series A funding for its vertical farming business. Modern Niagara led. More here. (Canada, Food & Agriculture)

🏢 Camion, based out of London, raised ~$2.9M in pre-seed funding to make software to help real estate investors identify buildings with a high degree of readiness for electrification. EQT Ventures led. More here. (U.K., Built Environment)

🦠 Edonia, based out of Paris, raised ~$2.1M in seed funding to make protein ingredients for alternative meats using microalgae. Asterion Ventures led. More here. (France, Food & Agriculture)

♻️ Sorted, based out of London, raised ~$2M in seed funding to develop sorting tech for recycling and waste management. Pi Labs led. More here. (U.K., Materials)

⚡ General Galactic, based out of El Segundo, CA, raised $1.9M in pre-seed funding to capture CO2 from the air, make hydrogen from water, and add them together to make synthetic methane using renewable power. Box Group and Refactor invested. More here. (U.S., Energy)

🌬️ GT Green Technologies, based out of Birkenhead, U.K., raised ~$1.6M in seed funding from OnePlanetCapital to make wind propulsion systems for the maritime industry. More here. (U.K., Transportation)

Other funding rounds

⛏️ Two mining giants dance? Australian BHP Group is trying to buy London-based Anglo American in a ~$39B deal that could create the world's largest copper miner. Anglo American is resisting BHP Group's advances so far. More here. (Australia / U.K., Industry)

🔩 ArcelorMittal Calvert, based out of Mobile, AL, raised $280.5M in 48C investment tax credits to build an electrical steel plant in Calvert, Alabama. More here. (U.S., Industry)

⚛️ X-energy, based out of Rockville, MD, raised $148.5M in 48C tax credits to build a nuclear fuel facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. More here. (U.S., Energy)

🔋 Agilitas Energy, based out of Wakefield, MA, raised $100M in debt financing to develop owned and operated solar and battery energy storage projects in the northeastern U.S. More here, and here if you're interested in listening to a past podcast with Agilitas Energy CEO Barrett Bilotta. (U.S., Energy)

New funds

💵 Decarbonization Partners, a joint venture between BlackRock and Temasek, closed its debut fund with $1.4B to invest in climate tech and energy transition startups. More here. (U.S., Funds)

💰 GEF Capital, based out of Washington, D.C., raised $325M for its second private equity focused on climate investment. Specifically, the fund will make controlling investments in lower mid-market companies in the U.S. and Canada across energy, efficiency, waste, and water sectors. More here. (U.S., Funds)

💰 Eniac Ventures, based out of New York, raised $160M for a sixth seed fund and $60M for a new select fund to invest in sustainability-focused businesses. More here. (U.S., Funds)

💰 Ternel, formerly MAIF Avenir, based out of Paris, raised ~$127M to invest in seed through Series A startups focused on climate change, biodiversity, circularity, and more. More here. (France, Funds)

MEME OF THE WEEK

Bye,

– Nick