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Smart Energy Finances: Growth financing for AI-based network resilience

Smart Energy Finances: Growth financing for AI-based network resilience

Image courtesy Prosus Ventures

This week’s Smart Energy Finances looks at an investment round for Neara, an Australian company that has developed a platform that uses AI to help utilities design networks, enhance wildfire and vegetation management programmes and bring renewable projects online faster.

Also on the radar is a partnership between ABB and Export Development Canada to make debt financing of up to $2.9 billion available to ABB clean tech customers in Canada and abroad, as well as Series A financing of RMB400 million ($54.7 million) for Shanghai Electric Energy Storage Technology.

AI-based network modelling

Neara, an infrastructure modelling platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create 3D, network-wide models for engineering-grade simulations and analytics, has received a new bout of funding to develop its platform.

The platform enables utility operators to design networks, enhance wildfire and vegetation management programmes and bring renewable projects online faster using their existing infrastructure.

The Sydney, Australia-based company has received a AU$10 million ($6.4 million) capital raise extension and a novel case study to double existing line capacity for renewable energy.

This increases the total Series B funding for Neara to AU$24 million ($15.3 million).

Neara will use the new investment to accelerate expansion of its AI platform in US and European markets and develop its new System of Enablement functionality.

System of Enablement

According to the company, the new model removes many of the constraints that prevent renewable generation from connecting to the grid, particularly regarding network availability and accessibility.

Neara chief commercial officer Jack Curtis commented on the platform, which he states enables utilities to make system-wide decisions:

“Our System of Enablement delivers one unified model to resolve critical macro issues, from designing stronger grids to mitigating damage caused by catastrophic weather events, as well as bringing renewable energy online faster using existing network infrastructure.”

Using the investment for its growth, Neara will offer “enterprise-grade, 3D network modelling technology”, they state in a release, that uses AI and machine learning to aggregate broad spectrums of data sources into one digital simulation environment.

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The System of Enablement will also enable insights into how existing electricity network infrastructure can be optimised to remove renewable integration constraints associated with network availability and accessibility.

Utilities can use the model to simulate how their assets will respond in the real world under any condition, based on hundreds of network and environmental variables.

These models aim to help eliminate network monitoring blind spots in stress-testing grid resilience and improve severe weather response while reducing reliance on manual field surveys.

A growing investment agenda

Neara’s financing round featured participation by Prosus Ventures and was supported by Neara’s existing investors, Skip Capital and Square Peg Capital.

The investment marks a first for Prosus Ventures in the utilities domain, traditionally investing in tech growth opportunities in fields such as logistics, fintech, health, blockchain and more.

The round comes as severe weather and wildfires continue to cause significant stress on power grids across the globe, in some cases causing blackouts

This is resulting in greater investments into power grids and networks. For example, the National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR research stimulation programme announced in August is giving research into weather-proof smart grids a $375,000 boost.

$2.9bn debt financing for ABB customer clean tech projects

Electrification and automation tech developer ABB has announced a partnership with Export Development Canada (EDC), whereby financial and insurance support will be doled out to ABB customers across the globe.

The $2.9 billion partnership between the Swedish-Swiss tech major and the financial Crown corporation will see projects from ABB customers have access to new debt financing.

The partnership seeks to encourage investments in sustainable technologies and initiatives in Canada and worldwide in the areas of electrification and automation.

EDC will offer ABB customers financial and insurance solutions, with a maximum limit of $2.9 billion, to support strategic projects in clean technologies, advanced manufacturing, digital technologies and future resource sectors.

Particular emphasis will be placed on strategic investments in growth-oriented technologies and solutions, including green hydrogen production, sustainable transportation solutions and the transition from fossil-based activities to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the terms of the three-year partnership, commercial financing will be extended on a project-by-project basis.

This partnership aims to stimulate both global and local investments, although collaboration with innovative Canadian start-ups is also an essential component.

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$54.7 million for Shanghai energy storage business

Shanghai Electric Energy Storage Technology has secured RMB400 million ($54.7 million) in Series A financing to enhance its energy storage business.

Key areas of focus include research and development of new systems, improvement of the industrial supply chain structure and construction of 100 Mbps stacks for vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) energy storage systems.

The company, a subsidiary of Chinese power generation and electrical equipment manufacturing company Shanghai Electric, develops kW- and MW-level flow battery energy storage products for use in grid-side energy storage, distributed smart microgrids, energy power generation and grid connection and other fields.

The company has to date successfully developed 5kW/25kW/32kW/65kW series stacks and delivered more than 50 vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) energy storage projects.

The financing will also support corporate governance enhancements, talent development and the strengthening of research and innovation capabilities for the company.

Looking ahead, Shanghai Electric Energy Storage has plans to launch a Series B financing campaign in 2024.

Upon completion of the Series A, the post-investment valuation of Shanghai Electric Energy Storage is forecast to surpass RMB2.2 billion ($300.9 million).

With the grid becoming more of an investment target, what other initiatives have you seen gaining capital attraction? Let me know.

And make sure to follow Smart Energy Finances for the latest in finance and investment news coming from the energy sector.

I will also be in Singapore from October 11 to 12 attending the Bentley Year in Infrastructure awards. Will I see you there?

Cheers,
Yusuf Latief
Content Producer
Smart Energy International

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