Gridmatic confirms second closing of $50m storage fund

Power marketer Gridmatic has confirmed the second closing of its first energy storage fund, bringing capital commitments to $50 million. 

The fund will oversee the management of up to 500 MW of battery capacity in the ERCOT and CAISO markets.

CAISO and ERCOT, which respectively manage California’s and Texas’ grids, remain the two strongest markets for energy storage with pipelines of 43.7 GW and 32 GW respectively  in planned project capacity. Gridmatic has already begun operating a 50MW / 100MWh battery storage system in Texas, which is backed by the fund.

Gridmatic establishes multi-year offtake contracts to operate energy storage systems using its AI algorithms, ensuring steady revenue streams for projects. This enables developers to obtain the necessary financing for projects and recycle their capital into the development of additional storage systems. By decoupling active management of the batteries from project development, Gridmatic says its fund derisks the operational phase of a project for storage owners.

Gridmatic says its AI-enabled optimisation can boost revenue generation for grid-tied storage systems by as much as 46 per cent.

Erin Kogan, chief financial officer at Gridmatic, says: “Gridmatic’s energy storage fund presents a unique opportunity for investors to help drive battery growth and capitalise on energy market volatility. The need to grow the grid’s reserve of AI-optimised energy storage, bolstered by our strong early returns in the initial months of operation, drove strong interest from leading energy investors in our fund.”