Hydrostor, a long-duration energy storage system provider based in Canada, has received $250 million in capital from the Private Equity and Sustainable Investing Businesses within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The company is expected to utilize proceeds to develop and construct its 1.1 GW/8.7 GWh of advanced compressed air energy storage projects in Australia and California.
According to reports, the additional funds will also be used to extend the company’s global project development pipeline. In May 2021, the business stated that it would build 1 GW of long-duration energy storage in California. The projects, which were spread over two locations, totalled more than $1.5 billion in investment. Further, to meet Hydrostor’s capital requirements and improve project execution throughout development, construction, and operation, Goldman Sachs is expected to fund its investment in tranches according to project milestones. Hydrostor’s global development and marketing strategies, including project pipeline expansion and capabilities in markets with considerable near-term demand for long-duration energy storage, would also benefit from the funds.
In April 2021, Hydrostor planned to develop 1,000 MW/10,000 MWh of long-duration energy storage projects in the state of California, United States. This included major projects, one located in southern Kern County and the other in central California. The two projects combined have an estimated investment of more than $1.5 billion. Project development work such as transmission interconnection, engineering and permitting activities are well underway.
REGlobal’s Views: Investors are ramping up their energy storage investments with the increasing demand for storage solutions to enable grid integration of fast growing intermittent renewables like solar and wind power.
