From: Mercom Capital Group

RayGen Resources, an Australian deep-technology originator and developer of innovative solar-plus-storage projects, has secured A$27 million (~$20 million) funding as part of a Series C Capital Raise. The private funding includes strategic investments by AGL, Photon Energy, and Chevron, alongside new and existing investors. The private funding has been supported with A$15 million (~11 million) of non-dilutive, recoupable grant funding by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. Series C funding will be used to build, commission, and operate the RayGen Power Plant Carwarp, which will add 4MW of solar and 3MW / 50MWh (17 hours) of storage to the West Murray grid.

WallBox Chargers (Wallbox), a maker of smart charging solutions for electric vehicles, and Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company, announced a definitive agreement for a business combination that would result in Wallbox becoming a publicly listed company. Upon closing the transaction, the combined company will be named Wallbox and listed on the NYSE. The business combination values Wallbox at an implied $1.5 billion pro forma enterprise value. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021. The transaction will result in proceeds of approximately $330 million to Wallbox, including a $100 million fully committed PIPE, anchored by Janus Henderson Investors, Luxor Capital, Cathay Innovation, and Kensington Capital Partners.

Solar Integrated Roofing, a rooftop solar installation company, announced the closing of its acquisition of Future Home Power, a solar, roofing, and battery storage sales company. The company expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive and rapidly grow to $1 million per week in incremental sales at a robust 45% gross margin profile, capturing value across the full customer lifecycle.

Pearce Renewables, a provider of engineering, operations, and maintenance for renewable energy infrastructure, acquired Mortenson Energy Services, a provider of operations, maintenance, and repair of assets for wind and solar projects. The partnership is expected to provide advanced services to customers. Pearce entered the renewable sector a year ago with World Wind & Solar and MaxGen Energy Services acquisitions. Pearce Renewables also acquired A & A Wind Pros to add wind turbine cleaning and yaw puck services.

Alternus Energy Group, an independent power producer, announced the acquisition of 60% of the share capital in Unisun Energy, a Netherlands-based developer, engineering procurement and construction, and operations and maintenance services provider of clean and sustainable energy solutions across Europe. The acquisition makes Alternus a fully vertically integrated independent solar power producer with activities in all solar PV value chain elements from project development and construction to operations and maintenance.

State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has granted a PHP750 million (~$15.7 million) revolving credit line to a fledgling energy firm to manufacture and export cost-effective and sustainable energy storage systems for power generation activities renewable energy companies, a top official said. In a statement, DBP president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Herbosa said the bank’s funding assistance to Amber Kinetics Philippines would partially finance its working capital and other short-term operational requirements for the domestic and export sale of its novel Flywheel Energy Storage System.

Pawame, a UAE-based off-grid solar startup, has secured $1.7 million in grant commitments, plus $750k in equity, including $250k from Launch Africa. The company has also announced that it is launching a $5 million Series A funding round to further boost its growth and expansion into Africa. Pawame offers a portfolio of solar home systems in remote areas of Kenya on a micro-financed basis, using mobile money repayment, making it affordable to access clean and reliable energy.

Ecotricity, a green energy company, has confirmed the sale of its Electric Highway – the national charging network for electric cars to GRIDSERVE. The sale will enable Ecotricity to push new boundaries in its green energy business, with innovations like Britain’s first Green Gasmill – a process of making natural gas for the grid simply from grass. It will also bring forward a series of solar and battery storage projects to be built without government support while expanding its Sky Mining facility – a carbon capture and storage process that turns atmospheric carbon dioxide into lab ground diamonds, known as Skydiamond.

For reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors, click here.

Read last week’s funding roundup.