$100 million deal for Energy Vault

China has a State mandated environmental policy which aims to reach Carbon Peak by 2030 and Carbon Neutrality by 2060. Deployment of economical and sustainable grid-scale energy storage technology is a critical component to accelerating the growth of renewable energy in China and advancing China’s decarbonization goals.

Energy Vault and Atlas Renewable have signed a $50 million licensing agreement for the use of Energy Vault’s proprietary gravity-based energy storage technology in China and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. The agreement includes terms governing volume-based deployment royalties and covers maintenance, monitoring and the beneficial re-use of waste materials within Energy Vault’s composite blocks.

The licensing agreement, which also marks a first of its kind for Energy Vault, is for the use of its EVx and EVRC product platforms. The companies expect to start construction of the first 100MWh system in Q2 2022 at the selected site in Rudong, located outside of Shanghai. The companies will also assess the reuse of available waste materials such as coal combustion residuals, mine tailings, waste fiberglass and concrete debris as a beneficial re-use within the “mobile masses” used in the construction of the gravity energy storage systems. 

Energy Vault’s PIPE upsized with a $50 investment
The licensing agreement is separate and additional to Atlas Renewable LLC’s $50 million PIPE investment as part of its ongoing process to become a publicly-traded company through a merger with Novus Capital Corporation II. The new commitment announced today brings proceeds from the PIPE transaction to $200 million. These proceeds, combined with up to $288 million in Novus’s cash trust account, will be used to fund Energy Vault’s operations and support new and existing growth initiatives. Additionally, as a result of this increased PIPE investment, the minimum cash condition for the business combination has been satisfied, clearing an important milestone for the closing of the business combination.

Energy Vault’s advanced gravity energy storage solutions are based on the proven physics and mechanical engineering fundamentals of pumped hydroelectric energy storage but replace water with custom-made composite blocks which do not lose storage capacity over time. The blocks can be made from low-cost and locally sourced materials, including the excavated soil at the construction site, but can also utilize locally available waste materials such as mine tailings, coal combustion residuals (coal ash), and fibreglass from decommissioned wind turbine blades.

Additionally, the Energy Vault systems are intended to minimize environmental and supply chain risks. The systems are automated with advanced computer control and machine vision software that orchestrate the charging and discharging cycles while meeting a broad set of storage durations starting from 2 hours and continuing to 12 hours or more.

(Press release)