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BFD Expert Voices - Climate Deals

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Acel Power is preparing to raise as much as $50 million to ramp up production of its electric outboard motors and propulsion systems for boats, Alan has learned exclusively.

Why it matters: The funding signals the company's acceleration and strong investor interest in the electric boating field.

Details: Acel says it's seeking $30 million to $50 million in a Series A round that puts a value on the company of up to $390 million.

Of note: The Vancouver-based company allows boat builders to get motor components from a single source. President John Liu tells Alan that Acel is expected to fulfill 700 orders this year.

1 big thing: Acel raising $50M for electric boats

Illustration of an electric boat making a lightning bolt shaped wake

Venture investors have told Alan in recent weeks that they're seeing an uptick in pitches from electric boat startups. Data seems to support the anecdotes.

State of play: Electric boats are a natural extension of electric cars and trucks. If you think your buddy's muscle car is loud, try spending hours beside a gas-fed outboard motor.

Yes, but: Boats may not have the strict weight restrictions of aircraft, but it takes plenty of power to push through the water — even more when weighed down by a heavy battery.

What's happening: The past few years have seen a relative surge in deal-making, as shown above.

Swedish electric boat-makers Candela and X Shore raised about $20 million and $28.5 million this spring, respectively.

Blue Innovations Group, a Florida-based electric boat startup founded by former Tesla manufacturing chief John Vo, began accepting reservations in March.

Flux Marine, an electric outboard motor manufacturer based in Bristol, Rhode Island, raised $15.5 million in a Series A last year.

Plus, General Motors got into the game in 2021 with a 25% stake in Seattle-based Pure Watercraft.

Other players in this space include Alfastreet, Arc Boat, Cosmopolitan, Greenline Yachts, Iguana, Magonis, Marian, Mayla, Q-Yachts, Silent, Spirit, Voltari, and Zin.

Meanwhile, legacy boat and motor makers like Mercury Marine are introducing electric options.

Of note: Duffy, based in Newport Beach, Calif., claims to be one of the longest-running electric boat manufacturers. 

It's been churning out low-speed cruisers since the 1970s, boasting "we do 5 mph better than anyone else!"

What we're watching: The build-out of charging infrastructure. Marinas already equip their boat slips with electricity, but just like on land, fast-charging could require expensive upgrades.

Acel Power says it's considering building battery-boats to recharge electric craft on the go.

2. State of play: Going electric on the water

The U.S. Department of Energy yesterday announced it's doling out another $46 million to eight nuclear fusion startups.

Why it matters: The funding could reach $415 million if the companies hit certain milestones — and Congress allocates the funds.

What's happening: The DOE selected companies that it says are "advancing designs and research and development for fusion power plants."

Catch up fast: Nuclear fusion is the most elusive source of clean power. It promises near-limitless sources of emissions-free energy, but demands decades of research and billions of dollars of funding to get there. 

The latest: The companies selected under the DOE's Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program are: 

Of note: The funding, from the Energy Act of 2020, covers 18 months. 

Context: Fusion companies will need to spend at least another $7 billion to develop their supply chains.

What we're watching: Tokamaks are considered the most conventional type of fusion reactor. But multiple design types are on the DOE list, including slinky-like stellarators. 

3. DOE picks eight nuclear fusion startups

Illustration of an atom with a coin as the nucleus. 

💰 More liquid for Lucid: The upmarket EV startup is raising another $3 billion through a new equity offering.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which holds a controlling 60.5% stake in the company, is putting up $1.8 billion of the total.

🤝 Exxon’s carbon-capture deal with Nucor: ExxonMobil announced an agreement with steel giant Nucor to trap, transport and store carbon dioxide emissions from a Louisiana plant, Axios' Ben Geman writes in Generate.

It's the third carbon-capture deal Exxon has reached over the past seven months, following tie-ups with industrial gas giant Linde and fertilizer maker CF Industries.

📈 A big bet on batteries: “Nearly a decade ago, executives at chemical company Albemarle shelled out $6 billion to buy a New Jersey lithium producer, betting demand for the silvery-white metal used in batteries was poised to take off,” WSJ writes.

“Turns out, they were right. Albemarle is now the world’s most valuable lithium producer, with a stock-market capitalization of almost $23 billion.”

🐷 Flying on bacon is not as good as it sounds: Surging demand for animal fats to make biofuel has caused prices to soar — in turn spurring buyers to look to other feedstocks like environmentally harmful palm oil.

“A flight from Paris to New York powered solely by waste biofuels such as animal fats requires some 8,800 dead pigs,” Bloomberg reports. Probably not sustainable.

4. Temperature check

Illustration of an ice cream cone with a melted puddle of ice cream that looks like the earth.

• Pixxel, an El Segundo, Calif.-based hyperspectral Earth-imaging provider, raised a $36m Series B that included Google, Radical Ventures, Lightspeed, Blume Ventures, Growx, Sparta and Athera. https://axios.link/45EMacs

• NexWafe, a German solar wafer manufacturer, raised €30m from existing investors Reliance New Energy Limited, Aramco Ventures and ATHOS Venture GmbH to build a commercial factory in Bitterfeld, Germany. New investors Malcolm Turnbull and Keshik Capital participated. https://axios.link/3N4SHpt

• Ceibo, a Chile-based copper-extraction technology developer, raised a $30m Series B led by Energy Impact Partners. CoTec Holdings, Audley, Orion Resources, Unearth and Pincus Green participated, along with existing investors Khosla Ventures and Aurus Ventures. https://axios.link/43zCy0S

• NRG Energy entered into a definitive agreement to sell its 44% equity interest in the nuclear-powered South Texas Project Electric Generating Station to Constellation Energy for $1.75b. https://axios.link/3N7eDAj

• PSEG completed the sale of its 25% equity interest in the 1 GW Ocean Wind 1 project to Ørsted North America. https://axios.link/3MOdAE2

• Toyota is investing another $2.1b in its North Carolina battery plant. The site, currently under construction, will supply batteries for a new three-row electric SUV to be built at Toyota’s Kentucky plant starting in 2025. https://axios.link/43hDQ0I

• Nexamp, the Boston-based renewables developer and operator, closed $400m in tax equity and debt commitments led by Bancorp Impact Finance and Mitsubishi UFJ Finance Group, respectively, to develop solar and storage projects in rural and underserved communities in Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York. https://axios.link/42fr2Xl

• EVCS, the LA-based fast-charging network operator, received $1.9m from the California Energy Commission Rural Electric Vehicle program to install 30 DC fast chargers and eight Level 2 chargers in underserved areas in northern and central California. https://axios.link/42deLm5

• Nova Infrastructure, a middle-market infrastructure investment firm, partnered with Nopetro Energy to create an RNG-focused development firm, Nopetro Renewables, which plans to build a landfill-gas-to-RNG plant in Vero Beach, Fla. https://axios.link/42cNwbz

• LyondellBasell, the Netherlands- and Houston-based chemicals company, signed an MOU with French engineering firm Technip Energies and Chevron Phillips Chemical to potentially design, construct and operate a demonstration electric furnace for olefins production. https://axios.link/3N8Fmwg

Olefins are raw materials used for products such as food packaging, detergents, adhesives and rubber.

• Advent Technologies, a Boston-based fuel cell manufacturer, signed an MOU with French aerospace company Safran Power Units to develop high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology for the aerospace sector. https://axios.link/3qnQHQs

• Tree Energy Solutions, a Dutch fuels developer, announced an agreement with TotalEnergies to develop a large-scale synthetic gas production site in the U.S. https://axios.link/3N3WgfH

• Automaker Stellantis signed a binding term sheet with Australian lithium- and renewable energy developer Vulcan Energy Resources to develop the first phase of geothermal projects to decarbonize Stellantis’ Mulhouse industrial site in France. https://axios.link/43DDamd

• Lightship, the SF-based electric RV manufacturer, signed a lease agreement for a 32,000 square-foot facility in Broomfield, Colo., to house the pilot manufacturing facility for the company’s solar and battery-powered travel trailer. https://axios.link/3WMas0f

• Orica, an Australian explosives maker, is planning to expand into supplying chemicals for the battery sector, the company’s CEO said, per Reuters. https://axios.link/3WJsC2p

5. Hot deals

• NRG Energy appointed head of strategy and M&A Bruce Chung to succeed Alberto Fornaro as CFO. Fornaro is pursuing other interests but will remain a strategic adviser to NRG until Sept. 1. https://axios.link/3P7yYXV

• Mercedes-Benz Mobility appointed Andrew Cornelia as president and CEO, and Christopher Trainor as CFO of Mercedes-Benz HPC North America, responsible for launching and operating the Mercedes-Benz EV charging network in the U.S. and Canada. https://axios.link/3WI8Btg

• Toyota Motor North America appointed research and development EVP Shinichi Yasui as chief project leader, hydrogen factory, at Toyota Motor Corporation. https://axios.link/3WL9YY7

• Climate Nexus, the NYC-based nonprofit communications firm, hired Isis Dallis as executive director. Dallis was previously managing partner of Matter Unlimited. https://axios.link/45Qf2y

• Watershed, the enterprise emissions analytics provider, appointed former SEC chair Mary Schapiro to its policy advisory board. https://axios.link/3N7KFwf

• ClearPath, the D.C.-based nuclear energy research and advocacy nonprofit, added GE chief sustainability officer Roger Martella to its advisory board. Martella is also head of engagement, government affairs and policy for GE Vernova. 

• TYLin, the SF-based infrastructure consulting firm, hired Daven Oswalt as SVP, water sector growth leader. Oswalt was previously SVP at AECOM. https://axios.link/3C7tfJO

6. It's personnel

Welcome to Thursday! Almost there, friends.

🍦 Alan and Terry got their first Jersey Shore ice cream of the summer yesterday. Alan forgot that soft-serve is the way to go — which means he'll just have to go back today to make up for the mistake. 

Thanks to Michael Flaherty and Phoebe Neidl for today's edits.

And thank you for reading Climate Deals! Please share with your friends, family and especially friends with boats.

June 01, 2023

1 big thing: Acel raising $50M for electric boats