US ROUNDUP: ESS Inc LDES pilot, investments in Energy Vault, NineDot
New Horizon is the result of an RFP issued by SRP in 2024 for LDES pilots.
The RFP was open to both inverter-based and non-inverter-based technologies, allowing energy storage solutions with a 10-hour discharge duration at full-rated power for demonstration projects.
In September, Google announced a partnership with SRP to help accelerate the commercialisation of LDES technology.
Google will cover part of the expenses for LDES pilot projects on SRP’s grid. Additionally, the tech company will analyse the operational data from these pilots and offer input on the research and testing plans.
SRP aims to double its generation resources within the next decade to address the rising energy needs in the Phoenix metro area. Currently, SRP manages around 1,300MW of energy storage, which includes 1,100MW of battery storage across eight facilities and 200MW of pumped hydro storage.
ESS’s technology uses a combination consisting of iron, salt, and water to store and discharge energy.
The Energy Base is designed to provide 10 hours of discharge with “fast charging” occurring in 10 hours or less.
ESS states that its products are safe and environmentally sustainable, eliminating the risk of thermal runaway. They function effectively across diverse temperature conditions and are manufactured in the United States, containing “over 90% domestic content.” Additionally, they provide a competitive levelised storage cost with a 25-year lifespan.
The Copper Crossing Energy and Research Centre features a 99MW flexible natural gas facility.
A 55MW utility-scale solar project is under construction on the site. Additionally, the site will host CMBlu Energy’s Desert Blume, a 5MW/50MWh LDES project.
Also in recent news from ESS, the company has closed a US$40 million financing transaction with YA II PN, Ltd.
The financing includes US$30 million in immediate capital, plus an extra US$10 million available upon signing an at-the-market sales agreement with Yorkville Securities, an affiliate of Yorkville, subject to usual conditions.
The flow battery company warned in August in a quarterly financial results release that there were “substantial doubts” about its ability to stay in business, but interim CEO Kelly Goodman claimed an “operational reset,” and a focus on Energy Base, a new solution for larger-scale applications for data centre and renewable energy hybrid projects, was starting to yield positive results.
ESS says the capital strengthens the company’s cash position and reflects continued progress in the strategic pivot to the US-manufactured Energy Base.
Energy storage developer and system integrator Energy Vault has closed on a US$300 million preferred equity investment with North American infrastructure investment firm OIC L.P., to launch Asset Vault.
Asset Vault is the company’s fully consolidated subsidiary dedicated to “developing, building, owning and operating energy storage assets globally.”
Energy Vault states that the deal with OIC confirms the validity of their IPP strategy to develop, own, and run energy storage facilities, speeding up the deployment of over 1.5GWh in key markets and high-IRR projects.
Including the recapitalisation of the recently completed Calistoga Resiliency Centre (CRC) in California and the Cross Trails BESS in Snyder, Texas, Energy Vault anticipates raising nearly US$200 million over the next six months to begin work on two more late-stage projects in the US and Australia.
These projects include the 125MW/1,000MWh Stoney Creek BESS, in New South Wales, Australia, as well as the development of additional pipeline projects.
Notably, CRC and Cross Trails benefit from investment tax credit (ITC) incentives.
Energy Vault will handle engineering, procurement, construction (EPC), and long-term service agreements for Asset Vault projects. It will also keep the flexibility to enhance returns via “strategic capital deployment.”
In late September, Energy Vault signed a supply agreement with Rept Battero, which will see Rept delivering 3GWh of ESS to Energy Vault in 2026.
Energy Vault was primarily established around its proprietary gravity energy storage solution, with EVx serving as its modular building block. The Energy Vault Resiliency Centre is the complete system into which EVx is integrated.
In 2024, the company connected its first commercial EVx gravity-based energy storage system to the grid in China, while beginning construction on three additional projects with a total capacity of 468MWh. The company had, in the meantime, expanded into BESS and green hydrogen projects.
Since its listing through a SPAC merger in April 2021, the company has faced challenges in maintaining its share value. This recent investment may open up new revenue opportunities and help Energy Vault long-term.
Community-scale energy storage developer NineDot has completed a US$175 million revolving debt financing from Deutsche Bank.
The company states that it will utilise this debt financing to fund various activities throughout the development process, including grid interconnection deposits, equipment procurement, and project construction.
NineDot has a broad vision of adding distributed energy storage throughout New York City to support New York State’s goal of having 6,000MW of operational battery storage by 2030.
In New York’s Energy Storage Roadmap, behind-the-meter projects up to 5MW, often called community-scale, are labelled as “retail energy storage,” while larger utility-scale projects over 5MW are termed “bulk energy storage. “
Ninedot monetizes community storage through New York’s Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) programme, also known as the Value Stack, as well as through participation in demand response programmes.
The Value Stack assigns value based on energy, capacity, environmental benefits, demand reduction, and locational system relief, with compensation given as bill credits from the New York Public Service Commission.
Customers can subscribe to the community programme; for instance, in 2023, Starbucks became a subscriber to NineDot’s battery storage facility in Pelham Gardens, located in the Northeast Bronx neighbourhood of New York City.
NineDot says the debt facility also enabled the company to repay its existing revolver for funding grid interconnection deposits with NY Green Bank.
In January of this year, NineDot closed a US$65 million equipment financing supporting the purchase of up to 100MW/400MWh of batteries for use in 20 battery storage projects across New York City.
That financing was led by First Citizens Bank.
Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 12th edition of the Solar & Storage Finance USA event on 21-22 October 2025 in New York.
Panellists will discuss the fate of US solar and storage in a post-subsidy world, the evolving economics of standalone BESS and de-risking solar and storage supply chains.
Attendees are encouraged to respond to an anonymous survey on the US solar and storage sector, that will shape discussions at the summit. Tickets for the event are available on the official website.
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