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BFD Expert Voices - Climate Deals

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The advanced nuclear industry is facing new challenges on the Hill that compound the private sector's woes, Nick Sobczyk reports in Axios Pro Energy Policy.

Why it matters: Don't expect recent high-profile setbacks (see NuScale) to dampen congressional enthusiasm for the technology, but there are real roadblocks to commercialization right now.

Driving the news: The ADVANCE Act — one of the main nuclear bills moving this year — appears  to have fallen out of the defense authorization bill, as we reported Tuesday.

There's also some question about whether another key provision — Sen. John Barrasso's Nuclear Fuel Security Act — will make the final NDAA. His legislation aims to boost domestic production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium for advanced reactors.

Meanwhile, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on advanced nuclear commercialization — the industry's most significant Hill scrutiny since the NuScale debacle early this month.

It'll feature testimony from John Wagner, director of the Idaho National Lab, where NuScale's project was to be sited.

Context: NuScale's small modular reactor is the only technology of its kind that has received Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval.

The company and its partner on the Idaho project, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, said they didn't have enough buyers for the power as they faced rising costs — despite a cost-share agreement with the Energy Department.

In a statement, the Nuclear Energy Institute said it has "no doubt that NuScale has a design that will deploy and bring clean and reliable energy in the future."

Yes, but: It takes a long time to get these designs approved at the NRC, and advocates on both sides of nuclear see a bleak outlook for SMRs in the near term.

1 big thing: Advanced nuclear's tough road in Congress

Illustration of a question mark with a nuclear symbol as the dot on the bottom. 

SoftBank-backed solar company SB Energy Global has lined up $2.4 billion in financing for four utility-scale solar projects in Texas, and three of those projects will be the first to use a tax credit for solar gear made in the U.S., Katie writes. 

Why it matters: The Inflation Reduction Act is looking to supercharge U.S. manufacturing of clean energy and batteries, and the domestic content tax credit is an important lever.

Details: SB Energy said it worked with J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley Renewables Inc., and Truist Bank to close about $800 million in tax equity.

Another $450 million in term debt and $1.2 billion in construction debt will come from seven financial groups: MUFG, Mizuho Americas, ING, SMBC, CIBC, Fifth Third Bank, and Société Générale.

Three of the projects will source modules made by First Solar in Ohio, domestic solar trackers from Nextracker, and steel from Texas and Georgia.

Companies like SB Energy can apply for these extra 10% tax credits if they source 40% of components from U.S. manufacturers.

Of note: The four Texas solar projects also qualify for another 10% tax credit because they're located in "energy communities" with high unemployment and fossil fuel activity, like declining coal regions.

Big picture: Low-cost Chinese solar panels and components have dominated the market, and the IRA is attempting to boost U.S. solar gear production.

That these projects were the first to tap into the U.S.-made provision shows how the full force of the IRA for climate tech is still being unlocked over a year after the law was passed.

2. The BFD: Solar company is first to tap domestic bonus

Illustration of a man working on a solar panel with a money overlay

⚡ Electric avenue: Detroit is now home to the country's first stretch of road that can wirelessly charge an electric vehicle, Joann Muller reports in What's Next.

Israeli startup Electreon installed inductive charging coils along a quarter-mile section of 14th Street in Detroit's Michigan Central, a mobility innovation district. It'll be used to test and perfect the tech before making it available to the public in the next few years.

💼 Offsets in advance: Online payments giant Stripe has introduced "Climate Orders," a program enabling businesses to "pre-order" CO2 removal through Frontier, the carbon removal consortium Stripe formed with Meta, Google and other tech heavyweights, Ben Geman writes in Generate.

Watershed, Patch and the nonprofit Terraset are among the companies or organizations already using the service. It dovetails with Stripe's existing "Climate Commitments," which lets businesses allocate a fraction of their revenue toward helping startups get tech from the lab into the field.

☀️ Dial-a-permit: Nearly two dozen cities in California have started using AI-backed software from startup Symbium to comply with the state's new instant-permitting law for residential solar panels.

"Symbium is part of a wave of software companies looking to speed up notoriously sluggish permitting timelines for renewable energy projects," per Canary Media. The startup raised a $4.1 million seed round in 2019 and an undisclosed round this year.

🛻 The Cybertruck. It's here: Tesla's angular pickup launches this afternoon, boasting a degree of unconventionality that's both its selling point and its Achilles' heel, our colleague Nathan Bomey writes in Axios Closer.

The Cybertruck is two years behind schedule, lagging behind pickup competitors like the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning and GMC Hummer EV. It's expected to cost about $50,000, at least $10,000 more than initially targeted.

3. Temperature check

Illustration of three emojis: a thermometer, a hot face, and a cold face.

• Invest-NL and the European Investment Fund launched a Dutch Future Fund II to allocate €200m to Dutch venture funds investing in energy transition, circular economy, deep tech, ag, and food startups. https://axios.link/410rtFU

• Bethnal Green Ventures, a UK-based firm whose focus includes sustainability, raised £33m for an early-stage fund that will aim to allocate at least half its investments to women-founded startups. https://axios.link/3R0ByOr

• Resolve Ventures, a Dublin-based growth capital fund management company, launched a €30m climate impact fund. https://axios.link/3QUtMWs

• HummingbirdEV, a Livermore, Calif.-based manufacturer of commercial vehicle electrification systems, is seeking up to $15m in a Series A. It has received $6m so far via convertible financing from Keshi Group. https://axios.link/3QUj4iw

• Vesper, a Dutch agricultural commodity data provider, raised a €5m Series A led by Keen Venture Partners and Piton Capital. https://axios.link/49W6Df1

• BeCause, a Danish sustainability software developer for the hospitality, travel, and tourism sectors, raised a $1.9m seed round from Duckling Ventures, Superangel.io and Mercato. https://axios.link/3RmaDOp

• Malta, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of long-duration energy storage, closed an undisclosed financing round from Siemens Energy Ventures and Alfa Laval, joined by existing investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Proman, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Piva Capital. https://axios.link/46BB6Mr

• Antin Infrastructure Partners raised €1.2b for a sustainable infrastructure fund. https://axios.link/49XdlRT

• Temasek and the European Investment Bank plan to invest $500m in London-based LeapFrog Investments for climate investments in African and Asian markets. https://axios.link/3N6fWPA

• Sustainable Development Capital, a London-based distributed energy investor and operator, acquired Volery, a Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm focused on the energy transition. https://axios.link/3QUty1y

• Zeekr, the premium EV division of China-based automaker Geely, is delaying its planned U.S. IPO as potential investors pegged the company's valuation below its $13b target, pre Reuters. https://axios.link/3GoTU6S

• Electriq Power Holdings, a West Palm Beach, Fla.-based energy storage and management provider, received a compliance notice from NYSE for trading below the exchange's $1 minimum average. https://axios.link/3T6W4Qa

• Israeli thermal energy storage developer Brenmiller Energy announced a planned 1-for-10 reverse share split after market close Dec. 1. https://axios.link/3uGlsSQ

• E-bike and e-scooter network operator Micromobility.com announced a planned 150-for-1 reverse stock split when the market opens Dec. 4. https://axios.link/3GsEJcM

• Liberation Labs, a Richmond, Ind.-based biomanufacturing startup, received a $25m loan backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build the company's first precision fermentation facility in the U.S., per AgFunder News. https://axios.link/3NbwjdJ

• BP expects its search for a new CEO to succeed ousted chief Bernard Looney will extend into 2024. https://axios.link/46I6fxM

• Bill Gates-backed nuclear reactor developer TerraPower and uranium fuel supplier Uranium Energy signed an MOU to secure uranium for TerraPower's demonstration reactor in Wyoming. https://axios.link/3QUeUXW

• Ontario Power Generation and Westinghouse Electric signed an MOU to potentially deploy Westinghouse large and small nuclear reactors in Canada. https://axios.link/3Gl7ZlQ

• United Auto Workers is launching a campaign to simultaneously organize workers at 13 nonunion automakers, including BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Rivian, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen. https://axios.link/3sTrEX5

• Forum Mobility, an Oakland-based developer of charging sites for heavy-duty trucks, opened its latest charging depot in the Port of Long Beach. https://axios.link/46ECBcS

• Danish energy giant Orsted received a 1.6 GW license from South Korea to develop what would be the country's largest offshore wind project, about 43 miles off the coast. https://axios.link/3N8SJwm

• Canadian donut empire Tim Hortons put its first zero-emissions truck on the road, a Volvo VNR electric semi. https://axios.link/3sP7f5x

• French e-bike maker Eclair is developing AI for a new e-bike that would learn riders' habits and automatically adjust how much assistance it provides. https://axios.link/46xXCpD

4. Hot deals

• Alison Humphrey launched a climate-focused placement agent called Arna, per New Private Markets. Humphrey was previously head of ESG and sustainability at TPG.  https://axios.link/47XSV9s

• Brian McCarthy joined engineering and consulting firm WSP as national hydrogen market lead. https://axios.link/3T4SKoF

5. It's personnel

Crane rental company Bigge Crane and Rigging Company and mobile battery company Moxion Power will be demonstrating an electric crane made by Liebherr today in San Leandro, Calif. A battery-powered crane eliminates the need for diesel on a construction site. 

6. Photo of the day: An electric crane

An electric crane made Liebherr, managed by Bigge and powered by Moxion Power mobile batteries.

An electric crane made by Liebherr, managed by Bigge Crane and Rigging Company and powered by Moxion Power's mobile batteries. Photos courtesy of Bigge Crane and Rigging 

🥃 Sip of the week: Winter brings to mind a whiskey sour, though Alan tends to forego the egg white. 

Imbibe while checking out Axios' events at COP28, including interviews with Al Gore and Microsoft sustainability boss Melanie Nakagawa. Full agenda and registration.

🧹 Katie is in the midst of winter cleaning. Very exciting.

🥹 Alan's 2.5-year-old this weekend asked "Can you play catch with me?" Sure, with a soccer ball. But time to fire up "Field of Dreams" and really lean into some feelings. 

Thank you to Michael Flaherty and Chris Speckhard for today's edits.

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

November 30, 2023

1 big thing: Advanced nuclear's tough road in Congress