Swell Energy announced today that it has raised $120 million to expand its popular virtual power plant (VPP) programs as homeowners and businesses embrace more renewable energy and battery storage to manage costs and increasingly frequent power outages, and as utilities seek to provide cleaner and more reliable energy to customers. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund I, LP led the deal, which also included an Ares Infrastructure Opportunities fund and the Ontario Power Generation Pension Fund.
This latest financing round brings Swell’s total equity capitalization to date to $152 million, including prior investments made by an Ares Infrastructure Opportunities fund, Aligned Climate Capital, Third Sphere, and others. Citi acted as sole placement agent on this transaction.
The funding provided today will help Swell generate 600 MWh of VPPs by deploying and aggregating 26,000 energy storage systems in homes and businesses across the United States. Through projects in utility territories across Hawaii, California, and New York, Swell VPPs provide a variety of grid service capabilities, assisting utilities in their duty to deliver greener energy to customers and reduce the grid’s reliance on fossil fuel peaker plants.
Swell develops VPPs by connecting utilities, customers, and third-party service providers, as well as collecting and co-optimizing distributed energy resources using Swell’s GridAmpTM software platform.
Working with utilities, Swell provides value to its customer network through bill savings, GridRevenueTM, and energy security, resulting in a coherent network of solar-powered batteries that improves overall grid reliability and stability while potentially lowering grid operating costs. Swell is exploring expansion in otherwise underserved markets where key grid services are required to reinforce and upgrade infrastructure, in addition to project finance opportunities with current utility relationships. Swe has a presence in areas where municipal systems must develop to accommodate increased renewable energy and electric vehicle uptake.
