Green Tech Firm Hydrostor Bags $250 M Invt from Goldman Sachs

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Canadian long-duration energy storage solution provider Hydrostor has secured a financing commitment of US$250 million from Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s private equity and sustainable investing businesses, an official statement said.

The investment proceeds will be used to support the development and construction of Hydrostor’s 1.1GW, 8.7GWh of Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) projects in Australia and California that are well underway, and to expand Hydrostor’s project development pipeline globally.

Goldman Sachs will fund its investment in tranches tied to project milestones to match Hydrostor’s capital needs and accelerate project execution throughout development, construction, and operations alongside Hydrostor’s development partners.

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The financing is also expected to support Hydrostor’s global development and marketing initiatives, including expansion of its project pipeline and capabilities in markets with significant near-term demand for flexibly sited long-duration energy storage.

Curtis VanWalleghem, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Hydrostor, said: “We are delighted with this investment by Goldman Sachs. It is transformational for Hydrostor and validates the competitiveness of our proprietary A-CAES solution as well as the strength of our pipeline of potential projects.”

Hydrostor describes its “unique” grid storage solution A-CAES in the following words:

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A-CAES provides long duration energy storage like pumped hydro but with the key advantages of flexible siting where needed by the grid and with significantly less environmental impacts. This allows A-CAES to effectively target high value grid applications such as transmission deferral and fossil fuel generation replacement. The technology offers the same services as a natural gas plant while having zero emissions using surplus electricity as fuel. A-CAES is much more cost effective than batteries at large scale and has a life of 50+ years making the asset ideally suited for the long duration energy market required for decarbonizing of electrical grids globally.

Charlie Gailliot, Partner and Head of Energy Transition Private Equity Investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said: “As the world continues transitioning to sustainable and renewable energy sources, the need for utility-scale long-duration energy storage is clear, and Hydrostor’s A-CAES solution is well positioned to become a leading player in this emerging global market.”

Fort Capital Partners and CIBC Capital Markets acted as financial advisors to Hydrostor, and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP served as legal counsel.