By Mario Marroquin
Energy storage startup Form Energy raised US$540 million
this week as part of a series E financing round led by San Francisco-based
private equity firm TPG that included Singapore’s GIC and Temasek, and the
Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
Form Energy, which aims to leverage reverse rust battery
technology for energy storage, also secured financing from previous investors
including Temasek, Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and MIT’s The
Engine, to name a few, in the latest round of fundraising.
“We look to invest in ambitious and innovative companies
that are on track to make a meaningful impact in achieving net-zero in the real
economy,” Choo Yong Cheen, chief investment officer of Private Equity at GIC,
said in a statement. “Over the next decade, Form Energy’s low-cost, iron-air
battery technology will unlock gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity and
open the door to tremendous opportunities.”
Reverse rust batteries use oxygen and iron pellets to charge
and discharge batteries. Unlike traditional energy storage assets, reverse rust
batteries, otherwise known as iron-air batteries, do not use lithium to store
energy.
According to Energy-Storage News, Form Energy has been
contracted to supply a 1MW battery system with up to 150-hour duration for
Great River Energy in Minnesota.
The firm last raised funds in 2021 when it secured $240 million in Series D financing.
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