US-based energy storage technology provider Younicos agreed a $50m growth equity investment by solar power producer First Solar, private equity firm Grupo Ecos and an unnamed strategic lead investor yesterday.
Founded in Germany in 2005, Younicos produces grid-scale batteries that are used to store energy generated by solar plants and wind farms. It has installed more than 100 MW of battery storage across more than 20 installations around the world.
The funding, the largest round disclosed by an energy storage company in 2015 so far, will support the deployment of the company’s storage systems.
Raffi Garabedian, chief technology officer for First Solar, said: “Utility-scale storage is an exciting new frontier for grid flexibility and modernisation that can help to facilitate high penetration of renewables in certain circumstances. Younicos is a true trailblazer in grid-scale storage integration.
“As the promise of storage continues to evolve, we are eager to understand how it will broaden our own power plant offerings. This is an important investment in continuing and potentially accelerating the shift of our energy landscape to renewables.”
Younicos had raised about $200m in funding from investors including General Electric and nuclear and renewable power producer Areva as of January 2015, according to Bloomberg. It was advised on the latest financing by Alexa Capital.
– Photo courtesy of Younicos