According to a survey report recently released by research firm Mercom Capital, in the first half of this year, energy storage developers around the world raised almost as much as the total amount raised in 2021.
The global energy storage sector raised $15.8 billion in the first half of 2022, according to Mercom Capital's latest quarterly funding and M&A report on energy storage, smart grids and energy efficiency.
The global energy storage sector raised $9.6 billion in the first half of 2021 and $17 billion for the full year.
After a strong first quarter of 2022, growth was relatively slow in the second quarter. The first half of 2022 totaled $15.8 billion, including $12.9 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
The report pointed out that the focus of investors is now shifting from venture capital to increasing public financing and debt financing, and in the past year or so, a number of energy storage companies have gone public.
Compared to the same period in 2021, VC funding in the energy storage space in the first half of 2022 was down 34% year-on-year, with 45 deals with VC funding of $2.9 billion, compared with 34 deals in 2021 with VC funding of $4.4 billion Dollar. Quarter-over-quarter growth of $1.1 billion in 21 deals in Q1 2022, from 24 deals to $1.8 billion in Q2 this year, but compared to $3.4 billion in 20 deals in Q1 2021 Again, there has been a significant drop in comparison.
The report appears to use the terms "energy storage system" and "battery energy storage system" interchangeably. The company said it was financing a wide variety of technologies and businesses. These technologies include lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, compressed air energy storage, zinc-based batteries, flywheels, and many others that can be classified as energy storage systems, or more broadly, battery energy storage systems.
Energy storage and renewable energy investor Eolian raised $925 million in venture capital during the reporting period, making it the largest deal beneficiary in the space. Eolian has secured investments from major banking groups including MUFG and Spain’s Banco Santander, and its portfolio includes developments by acquired energy storage developer Able Grid.
In second place is a Group 14 technology company developing and commercializing advanced lithium-silicon batteries, while in third place is advanced compressed air energy storage ((A-CAES) developer Hydrostor, which earlier this year Received a $250 million long-term investment commitment from Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
