🔋 Energy Futures #28
HolonIQ's energy futures coverage for the week ahead.
Our Climate Tech coverage has grown significantly and due to popular demand, we're splitting out our coverage into weekly Energy Futures, Enviro Futures, Infra Futures and Mobility Futures newsletters over the coming weeks.
This newsletter is 'Energy Futures' and you can update your subscriptions to any of the other weekly newsletters here.
Questions we'll look to address in Energy Futures include those around global elections and what they mean for energy markets, how far and when is peak demand for fossil fuels, the roadmap for energy transition and supply chain risks for critical minerals, among others.
Happy Monday 👋
European governments continue to scale up funding for green hydrogen production, supporting the private sector in bringing solutions to the market. This sits within the broad trend of Europe diversifying its hydrogen supply within and beyond borders, keeping with the medium to long-term goal of replacing natural gas. Saudi Arabia’s solar panel manufacturing project is an extension of its strategy to secure mineral supplies and set up industries that use minerals as raw materials. Lithium battery prices declined in China as a result of slowing EV sales. 3 Baltic states are expected to join the leading European energy market, exiting the Russia-controlled energy system for political reasons. This is an opportunity for Europe’s expanding renewable energy and BESS capacity, which broadens the energy trading scope between countries.
🔌 Power
🌍 Germany Invests $5B in Green Hydrogen Projects. Germany signed off $5B of funding for 23 green hydrogen projects under the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) scheme.
☀️ Saudi Arabia Boosts Renewable Energy with $2.8 Billion Solar Plant. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund struck a deal with TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy Technology Co, a leading solar cell component manufacturer, to construct a $2.8 billion solar power plant in the Kingdom.
🌱 Spain Unveils $2.5 Billion Plan to Support Green Hydrogen and Renewable Energy. Spain announced a new $2.5B plan to support the country's transition to clean energy, including subsidies for green energy industries and renewable hydrogen production.
📦 Energy Storage
⚡️ Baltic States to Exit Russian Electricity Grid. The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania notified Russia and Belarus that they would exit the Moscow-controlled electricity grid next February and shift to the main European energy network, severing ties with Moscow following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
🔋 Lithium Battery Prices Plummet in China. The price of lithium batteries used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems has dropped dramatically in China, stemming from the slowdown in the global EV market.
⚡ Grenergy Secures Financing for the World's Largest Energy Storage Project. Grenergy, a renewable energy company, reached a financial close of $345M for phases 1 and 2 of the Oasis de Atacama project, the world's largest energy storage project. This makes Grenergy the first company globally to develop such a large-scale storage project.
💨 Carbon Economy
🌳 Saudi Arabia Launches Carbon Reduction Initiative at UN Forum. Saudi Arabia launched a challenge at a UN forum to encourage startups to develop solutions for reducing carbon emissions through sustainable systems like carbon capture technologies and novel carbon utilization applications.
🍃 Changeblock Acquires JustCarbon to Boost Carbon Market Capabilities. Changeblock, a blockchain carbon credit platform, acquired JustCarbon to enhance its market data monitoring, reporting, and validation capabilities. The company targets facilitating 65 million tonnes of carbon transactions by 2050.
🌱 Sweden Wins Approval for Biogenic Carbon Capture Subsidies. The European Commission approved Sweden's plans to provide up to $3.2B in subsidies to support carbon capture and storage projects focused on biogenic CO2 emissions.
💰 Energy Deals
💥 Halo Industries, a Santa Clara-based company creating laser manufacturing technology for semiconductors, raised $80 million in a Series B funding round with the proceeds to be used to advance its mission to establish the new gold standard of silicon carbide substrate production.
🌍 Hydrogenious LOHC, a company involved in the hydrogen economy, received a grant of $79M from the German and Bavarian governments for its Green Hydrogen Blue Danube project. The federal government is providing 70% of the funding, while the state of Bavaria contributes 30%.
⚡️ LevelTen Energy, a company providing transaction infrastructure for the renewable energy industry, raised $65M in Series D funding to grow its platform and enter new markets. This latest infusion brings LevelTen’s total funding to over $125 million since its inception.
⚡Heimdall Power, a company that specializes in optimizing power grids, announced that it has secured $25 million in a Series B funding round. Heimdall Power has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to access up to 40% additional transmission capacity from existing power lines.
🔋 Solus Power, a UK company providing portable electric vehicle charging solutions, raised $28M in funding from Petra Equity Partners. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the development of its battery technology.
🏆 Indo-Pacific Climate Tech 100
Last month, HolonIQ announced the highly anticipated Indo-Pacific Climate Tech 100 in Singapore at the inaugural IPEF Clean Economy Investor Forum 5-6 June, 2024. A free 80 page report is available to download here, profiling the 100 most promising Climate Tech startups in the Indo-Pacific.
50 companies representing the Indo-Pacific Climate Tech 100 traveled from across the 14 IPEF partner countries to meet in person in Singapore with over 150 leading investors, philanthropies and financial institutions, seeking to raise a total of $1-2B in fresh funding at the Forum.
The Indo-Pacific Climate Tech 100 includes companies from all 14 IPEF partner countries, representing the most innovative and promising climate tech companies in the region. The cohort represents companies with a combined total valuation in excess of $20B USD, employing over 12,000 people in green jobs in IPEF economies. The Indo-Pacific Climate Tech 100 cohort attracts total aggregate revenue of $1.5B, growing at more than 20% year over year and have raised over $12B USD in total funding to date.