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BFD Expert Voices - Climate Deals

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Starting in August, a fleet of 74 electric school buses in Oakland, Calif. will be able to discharge electricity from their batteries back onto the grid.

Why it matters: The project shows how so-called vehicle-to-grid technology is finally moving beyond pilots and into commercial deployments, Katie reports.

Zoom in: The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), working with school bus operator Zum, is transitioning 100% of its fleet to electric buses that will be able to plug into 74 bi-directional chargers on a sprawling lot in an industrial area of west Oakland.

The groups say when the system starts operating, it'll be the largest project of its kind in the U.S.

Catch up quick: Vehicle-to-grid tech, or V2G, is the bi-directional charging and discharging of electric vehicles, providing an on-demand electricity source for the utility.

Behind the scenes: The groups showed Axios around the Oakland charging lot last week, demonstrated the charging process and took Axios for a ride in one of OUSD's electric buses.

How it works: Zum CEO and co-founder Ritu Narayan said V2G is uniquely suited for electric school buses because of the buses' large battery packs, the predictable bus routes and the fact that the buses are not being used during the night or the middle of the day.

As soon as the buses plug into the chargers in the Oakland lot, Zum's software takes over and uses AI to help make the complex decision of how and when to charge or discharge.

By the numbers: Zum was able to offer OUSD the electric bus service at the same cost as diesel buses by tapping into a series of grants, as well as compensation from utility PG&E for the V2G service.

Zum's co-founder & COO, Vivek Garg, said Zum invested between $28 million to $30 million into the project, making up half of the cost. Grants, like from the EPA and CARB, covered the other half of the project.

Collectively the buses will be able to provide 2.1 gigawatt hours of energy back to the grid working with PG&E, which is providing 2.7 megawatts of load for the lot.

The electric buses, made by BYD, are quiet and free of diesel emissions and will transport up to 1,300 OUSD special education students between their homes and schools.

1 big thing: Wheels on the electric bus

A row of electric school buses plugged into chargers that can send electricity back to the grid in Oakland, Calif.

A row of electric school buses plugged into chargers that can send electricity back to the grid in Oakland, Calif. Photo: Courtesy of Zum

President Biden's efforts to boost domestic solar manufacturing while cracking down on Chinese imports may not go far enough, Alan writes.

Why it matters: The U.S. has seen rapid expansion in its ability to make finished solar modules, but it lags far behind on manufacturing upstream parts like cells and wafers.

The big picture: The Biden administration yesterday said it would double tariffs on Chinese solar cells to 50%, citing unfair trade practices.

Catch up fast: Solar cells make up the modules you see atop roofs and in fields.

Cells contain wafers produced from the raw material polysilicon.

Between the lines: The Biden action is aimed at protecting U.S. manufacturing. Companies here have announced plans to bring 150 GW of module manufacturing online as of last fall.

Zoom in: Prices for cells and other upstream components have plummeted, making it exceptionally difficult for U.S. manufacturers to compete with Asian rivals.

Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act don't make up the difference.

Case in point: Massachusetts-based CubicPV in February canceled plans to build a 10 GW wafer factory, as the experts at PV Tech note.

That month, polysilicon supplier REC Silicon shuttered its Montana factory and postponed operations at its Washington plant.

State of play: U.S. solar manufacturing capacity nearly doubled last year to 16.1 GW, driven by incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act.

That's roughly half the solar generating capacity that was added in the U.S. in 2023.

Alan's thought bubble: That represents a huge manufacturing expansion. But it's still only half of what America needs for its solar energy growth.

👀 What we're watching: We're keeping an eye on manufacturing announcements across the solar supply chain.

2. The BFD: America's solar cell shortfall

Illustration of 4 narrow solar panels side by side, with a red marker drawing a fifth line diagonally across similar to a tally mark. 

Quilt, a startup backed by a group of climate tech VC investors, has launched its heat pump for homes, writes Katie.

Why it matters: The company is bringing tech industry consumer product design to the old school HVAC sector and helping raise the profile of the humble heat pump.

The big picture: The heat pumps cool and heat spaces using electricity, instead of gas or other fossil fuels, lowering home carbon emissions in the process.

Zoom in: Quilt showed off the heat pumps at a launch event last night at a home in Los Altos, Calif., which featured a conversation with Galvanize Climate Solutions' Tom Steyer, an investor in the company.

Quilt's hardware is designed to blend into a home's walls and have front panels that can be swapped, painted, or wallpapered.

The system enables room-by-room control, uses a smartphone app, and costs $6,499 per room before rebates.

Quilt plans to start selling the systems in the Bay Area this summer.

Catch up quick: The Redwood City, Calif.-based company raised a $33 million Series A last month co-led by Energy Impact Partners and Galvanize Climate Solutions, and including Lowercarbon Capital, Gradient Ventures, MCJ Collective, Garage Capital, Incite Ventures, and Drew Scott.

💭 Katie's thought bubble: Quilt is taking the same approach as Nest or Mill and trying to tackle an industrial product with Silicon Valley consumer product design.

3. Climate friendly heat pump

A Quilt heat pump mounted to a wall and lit up. Photo: Courtesy of Quilt 

🤝 Nuclear computer partnership: DOE's Oak Ridge National Lab and AI startup Atomic Canyon are working on a "safe, efficient open-source AI model for the nuclear sector," Ben Geman writes in Generate.

Atomic Canyon emerged from stealth recently, offering a search platform promising to help developers navigate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It's working with Oak Ridge to improve and expand its AI model.

4. Temperature check

Illustration of a pattern of repeating thermometers with different temperature levels.

• PeakBridge, a Luxembourg foodtech and agtech investment firm, raised $187m for its Growth Fund II, targeting Series A and B startups in Europe and Israel, per AgFunder News. https://axios.link/3UL1BuS

Momentus Capital, an impact-driven investor and lender based in Arlington, Va. and San Diego, raised $171m to back growth-stage companies in underserved communities, per ImpactAlpha. https://axios.link/3QMU25J

• Cylib, a German lithium-ion battery recycler, raised a €55m Series A led by World Fund and Porsche Ventures, joined by Bosch Ventures, DTCF NRW.Venture, and insiders Vsquared Ventures, Speedinvest and 10x Founders. https://axios.link/3ymNR27

• Shilling, the VC arm of Portuguese private equity firm Draycott SCR, raised a €50m Opportunity Fund targeting growth-stage startups with investments of up to €5m. https://axios.link/3WNjwnD

• Swift Ventures, a Lafayette, Calif. early-stage VC firm that's invested in EV charging and home energy analytics, raised $43.4m for a Fund II, per an SEC filing. https://axios.link/3JXR8Ye

• David Energy Systems, a Brooklyn retail electricity provider, raised $15.8m toward a targeted $25m, per an SEC filing. https://axios.link/4bAjgfI

• Trawa, a German renewables procurement service for SMEs, raised €10m in seed funding led by Balderton Capital, joined by AENU, Speedinvest, Magnetic, and TinyVC. https://axios.link/3ymB6EN

• GridMatrix, an SF data provider for reducing traffic congestion (and therefore emissions) has raised ~$3m toward a targeted $4.4m, per an SEC filing. https://axios.link/3QKl0uY

• Correntics, a Swiss climate risk analytics provider for the ag and food sectors, secured a €1.5m Eurostar grant. https://axios.link/3WHKTiJ

• Norwegian firm FSN Capital raised €400m for a Compass Fund targeting purpose-driven companies in northern Europe. https://axios.link/4akHBVR

• Africa Finance Corp. has raised $140m toward a targeted ~$1b to back green industries and climate resilience, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3UKwoZ3

• KPS Capital Partners agreed to buy Innomotics, the large motors unit of Siemens, for ~€3b, per Handelsblatt. https://axios.link/3WJ11AG

• TotalEnergies will continue to be listed in France, even as it explores a listing in New York, per Reuters. https://axios.link/3V13p4j

• India renewables developer ReNew signed a three-year, $1b debt financing MOU with Societe Generale to develop ReNew's project pipeline in India and global markets. https://axios.link/4ajnx69

• NYC infrastructure investor Stonepeak is working with Singapore battery storage developer CHC to develop storage projects in Japan. https://axios.link/4bhcvQl

• Infinite Mobility, a Norwegian developer of solar-powered ebikes for last-mile delivery and commuters, started shipping samples to potential distributors in Europe. https://axios.link/4dDOMLG

• Carteav, an Israeli developer of low-speed autonomous EVs, is rolling out vehicles in a private community in Florida in the company's first U.S. deployment. https://axios.link/3WIlSUM

5. Hot deals

• Melissa Gander was promoted to CEO of UK energy software provider Kaluza. Gander was previously COO. She succeeds Scott Neuman. https://axios.link/3V1JrX2

• Jana Mosley was named president and CEO of Toronto Hydro, effective Sept. 3. Mosley is president of Enmax Power. She succeeds Anthony Haines, who held the roles since 2009. https://axios.link/4bkLeME

• Deanna White was named COO and interim CEO of Surf Air Mobility, the Hawthorne, Calif. electric aviation company. White was previously CFO and senior advisor to the company. She succeeds founder Stan Little. https://axios.link/4bEkmHj

• Armand Lumens was named CFO at LNG company MidOcean Energy. Lumens was previously group CFO of Neptune Energy. https://axios.link/3WJWD4e

• Dave Moxey was named chief marketing officer of Workrise, an Austin workforce management and payments system for the energy industry. Moxey was previously CMO at Cloudera. https://axios.link/4boWfNi

6. It's personnel

Our colleague Alex Fitzpatrick got an up-close look at Beta Technologies' ALIA electric aircraft at his home base in Albany yesterday — including the chance to watch a takeoff, low approach and taxi.

It's got a space-age design and is impressively quiet for an aircraft of its size.

This version takes off, flies and lands like a conventional airplane, powered by an electrically driven pusher prop in the back.

But Vermont-based Beta is also making a VTOL — that's "vertical takeoff and landing" — variant.

The company is testing its aircraft on an experimental basis in hopes of full certification by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2025.

It's exploring commercial, cargo and military applications.

Go deeper: Meet Beta Technologies' new electric plane

7. Spotted: Beta's electric plane

A photo of Beta Technologies' ALIA electric aircraft, sitting on the tarmac beneath blue skies at Albany International Airport in New York.

Beta Technologies' ALIA electric aircraft at Albany International Airport yesterday. Photo: Alex Fitzpatrick/Axios

Situational awareness: CNX Resources and KeyState Energy agreed to build a $1.5 billion sustainable aviation fuel hub at Pittsburgh International Airport, but only on the condition of a certain methane tax credit, the AP reports. 

🏈 Katie learned about sports and private equity yesterday.

🐟 Alan and Terry's neighbor dropped off some striped bass he'd caught that morning. Crunched on time, they whipped this up. It was 👌

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 school bus users.

May 15, 2024

1 big thing: Wheels on the electric bus