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SVForum Presents “Market Opportunities for Grid Level Energy Storage” (Discount Available)

SVForumOn May 10, 2012, SVForum will present the next program in its Cleantech Breakfast Series, Market Opportunities for Grid Level Energy Storage.  A description of this program is as follows:

Energy storage technologies of various kinds are making steady progress both from a performance and cost standpoint. Whether to shift load, ease the integration of the renewables or provide reliability services to the grid, new energy storage solutions are being deployed today to meet emerging challenges presented by increased renewable energy generation and opportunities presented by smart grid networks and new markets mechanisms. In 2012 are we on the cusp of a new industry or are we still a few years away?

Our distinguished panel will give an overview of the state of the market for energy storage solutions today and discuss emerging opportunities and technologies on the horizon.

  • Key market drivers and value propositions in various time scales
  • Energy storage technology of today and tomorrow – compressed air energy storage, lithium Ion and other chemistries, flow batteries, fly wheels, etc.   
  • Policy & regulation issues that are defining new market opportunities and incentivizing adoption
  • Emerging business models and near term opportunities for grid level storage
  • Financing for technology development and project development

The event will bring together many of the key stakeholders driving the adoption of energy storage and developing and deploying new cutting solutions; academia and research, the public sector, utilities, investors and entrepreneurs.

Speakers will Include:

  • Hanns Anders, Claremont Creek Ventures
  • Lee Burrows, VantagePoint Venture Partners
  • Daidipya Patwa, PG&E
  • Moderated by: Khaled Shami, Nixon Peabody

This program will be held from 8:00 – 10:00 PM at Nixon Peabody, One Embarcadero Center – 18th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111. Thanks to our friends at SVForum, readers of Green VC can receive a 30% discount when registering online by entering code DATA12.

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3rd Annual Silicon Valley Energy Storage Symposium to Take Place on May 30 (Discount Available)

The 3rd Annual Silicon Valley Energy Storage Symposium will take place on Wednesday, May 30.  A brief summary of this event is:

This symposium will bring together key participants — from the public and private sectors and from the academic and research communities — to engage in a discussion about energy storage and how we can move the industry forward in Silicon Valley.

The agenda will include updates on energy storage at the state and federal levels, as well as a fresh look at the local energy storage industry.  The symposium will also include panel discussions about the role of storage on the grid in relation to transmission and generation, and the decision-making process for implementing storage technologies from an end-user perspective.

Featured speakers include:

  • Cheryl A. LaFleur – Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
  • Steve Berberich –  President and CEO, California Independent System Operator Corporation
  • Imre Gyuk –  Energy Storage Research Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy

This event will take place from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm at the Microsoft Auditorium in Mountain View, California (map).  Thanks to our friends at Joint Venture Silicon Valley readers of Green VC can save $20 off the regular price on registration — enter code "energy_partner" when registering online.

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Cleantech Group Presents “Energy Storage: Big Market, Big Challenges” on August 30 (Discount Available)

Cleantech Group

On August 30 the Cleantech Group will present a webinar entitled Energy Storage: Big Market, Big Challenges.  A summary of this program is:

Join Cleantech Group’s Josh Gould, Director, Research & Advisory for an interactive webinar on energy storage. Cleantech Group conducted over 100 interviews with executives from some of the biggest utilities, ISO’s, IPP’s and other bodies within the electric power sector, other energy storage industry experts, and vendors.  Hear what we’ve learned and our perspectives on the future of energy storage.

Thanks to our friends at the Cleantech Group, readers of Green VC can receive a $100 discount on the registration price for this event.  To receive the discount, please use code "cleantech_innovator" when registering online.

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Primus Power Raises $11 Million in Financing

Primus Power

Primus Power, a Hayward, California-based energy storage company, announced in May that it received $11 million in its most recent round of financing. DBL Investors and I2BF Global Ventures joined previous investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital in this funding round.

The company stated that it will use these funds to support continued development and commercialization of its flow battery technology.  Flow batteries, which are large tanks of liquids that can store energy, have the ability to rapidly store energy that comes in from solar and wind power devices and release that electricity during peak load periods. In addition, they can provide backup power for large power grids. 

"As utilities increasingly grow the percentage of renewables in their generation mix, cost-effective storage becomes imperative," said Nancy Pfund, Managing Partner of DBL Investors. "Primus Power answers this need for storage on the power grid of the future, while simultaneously tackling today’s demands with flexible storage solutions offering outstanding power density at a low price point. With its advanced technology and seasoned management team, Primus delivers an important, environmentally beneficial component to the national, and eventually the global, energy market."

David Waserstein, Partner and Director of Investments at I2BF Global Ventures, believes that “Primus occupies the sweet spot between cost and power density. Today there are no comparable low cost, high power storage systems on the market, and we see huge potential for Primus’ technology."

Primus Power was founded in 2009 and has also received grants from the United States Department of Energy (DOE), the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), and the California Energy Commission (CEC).

For more information:

– This post was written by Rob Stewart, a graduate student pursuing an M.A. in Urban Sustainability at the Antioch University of Los Angeles.

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Silicon Valley Energy Storage Symposium to Take Place on January 12 (Discount Available)

On January 12, 2011, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network will present the Silicon Valley Energy Storage Symposium.  This symposium is intended to bring together key participants – from the public and private sectors, and from the academic and research communities – to engage in a discussion of the future of energy storage and how Silicon Valley can help advance this industry.

The event will feature a keynote address by FERC Commissioner Philip Moeller, plus panel discussions highlighting local energy storage projects as well as an in-depth discussion of the challenges being faced in getting more storage on the grid.

The program will take place from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm at AMD Commons Auditorium, 991 Stewart Drive, Sunnyvale, CA (map). Thanks to our friends at Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, readers of Green VC can receive a $20 discount from the standard registration price for this event.  To receive the discount, please use code "energy_partner" (without the quotes) when registering online.  For more information:

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Battery Company Sakti3 Receives $4.2 Million from General Motors Ventures and Itochu Technology Ventures

Sakti3 Sakti3, Inc., an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based developer of next-generation lithium-ion batteries, announced earlier this month that it received an investment of $4.2 million from General Motors Ventures and Itochu Technology Ventures to advance the firm’s manufacturing capabilities. The companies also plan to work together to speed commercialization of Sakti3 battery cells. These two investors join previous investors Khosla Ventures and Beringea.  In April of this year Sakti3 received $7 million in Series B financing from Khosla Ventures and Beringea.

“These investments by General Motors Ventures and Itochu Technology Ventures bring us not only capital, but partnerships that will speed our commercialization efforts,” said Dr. Ann Marie Sastry, CEO of Sakti3. “Our product planning in the automotive and portables sectors will be accelerated by working with these two preeminent firms. The General Motors agreement partners us with a company that is clearly a global leader in vehicle electrification. Itochu Technology Ventures has a strong focus on energy technologies, and on growth markets in Asia. We’re very pleased to have engaged investors who will help us purposefully and quickly create our target products and address key regional markets.”

"GM Ventures is making strategic investments in new technology to support our core automotive business," said Jon Lauckner, president GM Ventures, LLC. "Our objective is to identify start-up companies that offer the best future technology for our vehicles, including next generation propulsion systems. In this case, our investment in Sakti3 gives us access to an innovative battery technology that has the potential to be a mainstream solution for electrically-driven cars and trucks of the future."

The following video contains additional background on Sakti3.

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Infinite Power Solutions Obtains $20 Million In Series C Financing

Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS) announced today that it completed a $20 million series C round of financing.  Existing financial investors D. E. Shaw Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners and Core Capital Partners co-led the financing, which also included new investor Generation Investment Management and participation by Applied Ventures and two additional strategic investors.  Earlier investors in the company included Texas Instruments and In-Q-Tel.

IPS said that it will use the funds to expand its manufacturing capacity, accelerate the development of its global sales channels, and support research and development of its THINERGY solid-state rechargeable energy storage devices.  IPS was founded in 2001 and is based in Littleton, Colorado. Some background on IPS and its technology is available in the following interview:

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24M Technologies Launches and Obtains $10 Million in Series A Financing

24M Technologies announced its launch on Monday as a new venture focused on commercializing next-generation energy storage systems based on technology originated at A123 Systems and further developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),  This technology combines attributes of rechargeable batteries, fuel cells, and flow batteries to enable scalable cost-effective, high-energy storage systems for emerging markets, including transportation and the electric grid.  In addition, 24M announced the following funding news:

A123 will hold an equity stake in 24M and a seat on the company's board of directors. A123 also expects to work closely with 24M to support its development and commercialization efforts.

"We are thrilled to have the backing and validation of leaders in industry, finance, government and academia in the pursuit of game-changing energy storage solutions," said Throop Wilder, president of 24M. "The U.S. needs an all-hands-on-deck approach to compete in global markets that are heavily subsidized by foreign governments. Our team has a proven track record of innovation and commercial success in energy and technology fields. By harnessing this entrepreneurial skill set, we will develop safe, reliable, scalable and ultra-low cost energy storage systems."

"This agreement with 24M highlights A123 Systems' substantial R&D pipeline and exemplifies our ongoing commitment to cultivating disruptive, innovative technologies while remaining focused on growing our grid and transportation businesses," said David Vieau, president and CEO of A123 Systems. "We believe that 24M's technology has the potential to reduce energy storage costs for transportation and grid applications, and we look forward to helping the company as it leverages our research innovations for the development of commercially viable systems."

"This is a very exciting project with huge potential to disrupt the existing energy storage market. We are thrilled to support 24M Technologies in this great endeavor," said Izhar Armony, general partner at Charles River.

"This is a unique founding team pursuing a disruptive technology," said Jeffrey McCarthy, general partner at North Bridge. "Dr. Yet-Ming Chiang, the lead inventor of the technology, is a renowned scientist and energy entrepreneur whom we have backed before. Yet, of course, continues to remain fully engaged with A123 in his capacity as a co-founder. Teaming with Throop Wilder, another proven entrepreneur with multiple technical and business successes whom we have also backed before, and Dr. W. Craig Carter, a world-renowned materials scientist, they have created exactly the kind of team required for winning outcomes."

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Battery Company Boston-Power Receives $60 Million in Series E Funding

Boston-Power

Boston-Power, a Westborough, Massachusetts-based provider of lithium-ion batteries, announced in late June that it received $60 million in Series E funding.  This round was co-led by existing investors Foundation Asset Management (FAM) and Oak Investment Partners, with participating from current investors Venrock and Gabriel Venture Partners. With this funding, Boston-Power has raised a total of $185 million. 

The company said that it will use this funding to expand manufacturing, sales, marketing, and research and development for its next-generation Lithium-ion Battery Technology Platform.  The company has thusfar developed and introduced the following products from this platform:

  • Sonata – For notebook and portable power applications
  • Swing – For electric vehicle, industrial and utility applications

“Energy storage is the cornerstone of some of the most profound shifts in technology and society that we’ve seen in our lifetimes - ranging from the electrification of transportation and the reinvention of grid power to truly ubiquitous mobility,” said Boston-Power Founder and CEO Dr. Christina Lampe-Önnerud. “Boston-Power’s technology platform answers the call for new and better-performing batteries to facilitate these historic advancements. We’ve entered our next stage of growth to accommodate the demand we’re seeing across all markets and from around the world, and we’re doing so with a world-class team of employees, customers, investors and partners.”

“Boston-Power is among the best positioned companies in energy storage based on its ability to commercialize its breakthrough battery technology and attract a growing list of top-branded customers,” said Oak Investment Partners Managing Partner Bandel Carano. “All of Boston-Power’s investors and board members are truly excited to help these world class entrepreneurs scale their patented innovations in cycle life, safety, power and energy density of Lithium-ion battery solutions into very high volume applications in portable electronics, electric vehicles and grid storage.”

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SDForum Presents “Next Generation Batteries: Challenges and Opportunities in Energy Storage” on June 29 (Discount Available)

SDForumOn June 29, SDForum will present the next program in its Clean Tech Breakfast Series entitled Next Generation Batteries: Challenges and Opportunities in Energy Storage. This program will feature the following panelists, who will discuss challenges and opportunities related to energy storage:

  • Ashok Lahiri, Enovix
  • Dania Ghantous, Qnovo Corporation
  • Jeffrey C. Selman, Nixon Peabody (moderator)

This program will be held from 8:00 am - 10:00 am at AP Executive Briefing Center, Building 1, 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA.  Thanks to our friends at SDForum, readers of Green VC can receive a $5 discount from the non-member registration price for this event.  To receive the discount, please use code "CLEAN05" when registering online.  For more information: