Hydrostor, a Canada-based long-duration energy storage solution provider, announced that it had secured $250 million funding from the Private Equity and Sustainable Investing Businesses within Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

The company is expected to utilize proceeds to develop and construct its 1.1 GW/8.7 GWh of advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) projects in Australia and California. The fresh funding would also be used to expand the company’s project development pipeline globally. The company had announced in May 2021 that it would develop 1 GW of long-duration energy storage in California. Spread between two sites, the projects represented a combined investment of over $1.5 billion.

According to Hydrostor, its patented A-CAES technology provides long-duration energy storage to enable renewable energy transition. The new technology utilizes proven components from mining and gas operations to develop a scalable energy storage system that is cost-effective, low-impact, and has over 50 years of lifetime. The technology can store energy from five hours to multiple days as per the requirements.

Goldman Sachs is expected to fund its investment in tranches tied to project milestones to match Hydrostor’s capital requirements and enhance project execution throughout development, construction, and operation. The funding would also support Hydrostor’s global development and marketing initiatives, including its project pipeline expansion and capabilities in the market with significant near-term demand for long-duration energy storage.

Ford Capital Partners and CIBC Capital markets were financial advisors to Hydrostor, and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg served as legal counsel.

Curtis VanWalleghem, Chief Executive Officer and 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 solutions as well as the strength of our pipeline of potential projects.”

In August 2021, Hydrostor received $10 million of growth capital from BDC Capital to advance its pipeline of long-duration A-CAES storage projects.

According to Mercom’s 9M and Q3 2021 Funding and M&A Report for Storage, Grid & Efficiency, battery storage companies raised a record $11.4 billion in corporate funding through 73 deals in 9M 2021, a 244% increase compared to $3.5 billion raised in 35 deals in the same period last year.