Softbank invests $110 million in a Swiss cleantech startup

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15.08.2019
Energy Vault Tower

Ticino-based Energy Vault introduced a new approach of storing energy by stacking concrete blocks. The company has already won Tata as a customer. Now the Softbank Vision Fund is joining as an investor. Its Softbank’s first investment in an energy storage company.

Energy Vault’s breakthrough technology was inspired by pumped hydro plants. The company’s solution is based on the same well-understood fundamentals of physics and mechanical engineering used in those plants, but replaces water with custom made composite bricks through an innovative use of low-cost materials and material science.

The bricks, each weighing 35 metric tons, are combined with Energy Vault’s proprietary system design and machine vision software to operate a newly designed crane. The software autonomously orchestrates the energy storage tower and electricity charge/discharge utilizing predictive intelligence and a unique stack of proprietary algorithms. They account for a variety of factors, including energy supply and demand volatility, grid stability, weather elements and other variables.

As a result, the Energy Vault tower can deliver all the benefits of a large scale pumped hydro storage system, but at a much lower levelized cost, higher roundtrip efficiency and without the requirement for specific land topography and negative environmental impacts.

Customers on four continents
Energy Vault has experienced significant growth since its launch in November 2018. In addition to the previously announced agreement with Tata Power Company, India’s largest integrated power company, Energy Vault will be demonstrating the first 35MWh storage tower in the north of Italy in 2019. The company has also developed an extensive relationship with 
CEMEX that includes a technology collaboration and development agreement with CEMEX Research Group AG (Switzerland) as well as an investment from CEMEX Ventures. As a further measure of the market demand and upcoming adoption of the technology, Energy Vault has agreements with customers on four continents.

“Energy Vault solves a long-standing and complex problem of how to store renewable energy at scale,” said Akshay Naheta, Managing Partner for SoftBank Investment Advisers. “The company’s integration of proven technologies with 21st century material science and machine vision software provides a solution that reshapes the unit economics of renewable energy while being restorative to the environment. Energy Vault is highly complementary to SoftBank’s existing energy portfolio and we are pleased to further the company’s global development.”

Energy Vault will use the funds to accelerate global deployment of its technology. As part of the investment, Andreas Hansson, Partner for SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join the Energy Vault board of directors.

“As we pursue our mission to enable renewable energy to replace fossil fuels 24 hours a day, we’re thrilled to partner with SoftBank Vision Fund as we expand our global presence,” said Robert Piconi, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Energy Vault. “The Vision Fund shares our passion to combat climate change through innovation in energy storage technologies and, with its support as a strategic partner, Energy Vault is well positioned to meet the large and currently unmet demand for sustainable and economical energy storage worldwide.”

(Press release / Business Wire)
Picture: Energy Vault / Business Wire

1Comments

Luuk van Dijk @ 17.10.2019 01:27

35MWh = 35E6 * 3600 (W.s) = 126 GJ 35000 Kg * 9.81 m/s^2 * 1m = 343 KJ / (block.meter) 126GJ / 343 (KJ / (block.meter) ) = 366 972.477 (block.meters) that is: they need to raise one 35 ton block up 366 km, or 366 blocks up 1km or 1000 blocks up 366m or 10'000 blocks up 36.6m to make a 35MWh demo tower. if you use the blocks to stack into towers you need to double that. a 35000kg block of concrete can be 2.5m x 2.5m x 2.5m . lets' stack 20'000 blocks 30 high, to 70m, thats an area of 666 blocks, or say 20 x 30 blocks or 50 x 75m stacked 70m high.

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