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EnerVenue , a startup that has develop an alternative to lithium - ion batteries for longsighted - continuance renewable vigor store , is raising $ 515 million in sweet equity , peran SEC filingseen by TechCrunch .
The company is in the process of build a gigawatt - shell factory in Kentucky to grow its nickel - H shelling , an endeavor that’sestimatedto be $ 264 million . The companymost lately raised$125 million in a Series A rhythm that close in late 2021 . give the scale of measurement of the factory investment , it ’s potential that the raw funds will go toward the undertaking .
So far , EnerVenue has raised $ 308 million of the $ 515 million target , the filing enounce . A fellowship spokesperson did not like a shot respond to a petition for comment at the time of publishing .
The inauguration ’s nickel note - atomic number 1 engineering is based on batteries that were originally used to store top executive aboard the International Space Station and in satellite , like the Hubble Space Telescope . In many ways , nickel - hydrogen is an ideal type of battery for spacecraft : The chemical science can withstand freezing insensate and blistering heat , and it does n’t lose much capacity over time , meaning it can last as long as the craft is ask to live .
But nickel - hydrogen has historically been expensive . For infinite - base app program , that ’s less of a concern ; cost is often far down the list of precedency . But on Earth , cost lean to reign supreme .
The equation change , though , when Yi Cui , a prof at Stanford University and chairperson of EnerVenue , tweaked the chemistry to remove expensive Pt . Cui expectsthat adjustment and others to help drive the cost per kW - hour down below $ 80 when the batteries are produced at scale of measurement .
The batteries themselves more closely resemble elongated SCUBA tanks than AA cells . That ’s because they have to contain gaseous hydrogen , which is released when the battery is consign .
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Nickel - atomic number 1 batteries are n’t as energy dumb as lithium - ion , meaning they wo n’t be competing for distance in electric vehicles quite yet . But because these batteries can withstand a wide range of temperatures , they do n’t need expensive cooling equipment like lithium - ion jail cell . EnerVenue is betting that its compact arrangement and humbled maintenance requirements will draw the aid of utilities , who are searching for shipway to salt away excess renewable power . Last year , the startup said it had7 gigawatt - hours worthof commitments from customers .
The scale of the newfangled circle reflectsthe challenge that many computer hardware - based climate tech companies facewhen set about to scale up to meet commercial need . Building the first - of - a - sort factory is often expensive , but the risks take intend that infrastructure funds pause to offer the necessary credit . As a result , startups often have to arouse large sum from venture firm , trading fairness for the money needed to work up large projects . Finding firms willing to take the risk is a vault in and of itself .
EnerVenue appears to have at least part surmount that hurdle , find out enough investors for a sizable Series B. The next challenge will be completing the mill , scale production and send its novel batteries out into the world .
