Why We Invested in Energy Vault
Prime Movers Lab would like to congratulate Energy Vault CEO Rob Piconi and the rest of his team for entering into an agreement to merge with Novus Capital Corporation II at a valuation of $1.1B.
Robert Laikin and the team at Novus Capital bring a wealth of experience, and we believe they will be valuable partners to help Energy Vault realize its mission to accelerate the decarbonization of our planet by introducing the most advanced, environmentally sound, and economical energy storage technologies.
Using gravity to store and release renewable energy on-demand, Energy Vault’s energy storage systems are designed to be cost-efficient, reliable, safe to operate, and environmentally sustainable over a 35-year technical life. The company will address a large, unmet need for storing energy from intermittent renewable energy sources, enhancing grid resiliency as the world transitions away from fossil fuels.
Energy Vault has successfully demonstrated commercial-scale deployment of its technologies and has a strong pipeline of customer engagements, including eight executed agreements and letters of intent for 1.2 GW hours of energy storage capacity, with deployments planned to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021 in the U.S., followed by Europe, the Middle East and Australia in 2022.
Demand for clean energy is growing globally, with renewables expected to become 90% of total energy generation by 2050, according to a recent IRENA report. To support this transition, grid-scale energy storage capacity will need to increase tenfold in the next ten years, with more than $270 billion of investment expected over that timeframe. While demand is expected to continue to grow, current storage solutions are insufficient. Companies like Energy Vault will be needed to bridge this gap.
Energy Vault’s technology represents a major breakthrough in energy storage, and Prime Movers Lab is excited to see what it accomplishes as a public company. To read more about the announcement, check out Amrith Ramkumar’s story in the Wall Street Journal.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation, and agriculture.
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