Equilibrium Energy, a technology company building a next-generation clean power company, today announced its market entry into California; signing of new battery tolls with top tier developer Ormat; closing of a $39M Series B venture fundraising led by deep tech stalwart investor DCVC and including top tier institutional investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Valo Ventures; its market-leading battery management performance in Texas; and the hiring of industry veterans to join its executive ranks. The three-year old startup is combining the best of Silicon Valley technology with its deep experience in running competitive power companies to achieve its aim of accelerating society’s transition to clean energy.
Equilibrium has continued the growth of its battery tolling portfolio by adding two additional full offtake tolls with renewable energy developer Ormat. Equilibrium will take over operations of two 60 MW/120MWh Ormat projects in ERCOT in 2025.
Equilibrium also recently expanded into the California power market with its signing of an offtake toll for a 40MW/40MWh operating battery in July. Overall, Equilibrium now has 260MW / 380MWh of contracted battery tolls across ERCOT and CAISO. The company continues to build out its operational portfolio via its 6GW and growing battery tolling pipeline.
EQ started operating its first grid-scale battery in Texas in 2023. In only six months, EQ has now topped the industry in its ERCOT battery management performance for grid-scale 1-hour batteries. In 2024, Equilibrium has earned more revenue per MW than any other similarly sized grid-scale battery in Texas. Equilibrium’s leading performance leverages its unique combination of cutting edge software, ML techniques, grid fundamental modeling, and its innovative flywheel and culture. Equilibrium is beginning to work with other battery portfolio owners to leverage Equilibrium’s management capabilities in their portfolios.
“We designed Equilibrium to navigate an increasingly volatile electricity market and industry with the mission of putting a major dent in carbon emissions,” said Ryan Hanley, Founder and CEO of Equilibrium Energy. “We’ve only just started our journey, but we’ve been thrilled to work so closely with an amazing set of inventors, customers, and partners, each of which have impressive climate fighting ambitions of their own.”
Equilibrium also today announced a new $39M Series B venture funding round led by preeminent deep tech investor DCVC, which included financing from new investor Valo Ventures as well as existing investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures and a prominent university endowment. This new financing builds on the company’s $30M Series A financing led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures in 2022, and will support the continued build out of Equilibrium’s industry-leading power volatility management platform and growth of its commercial businesses.
“As the power industry continues to transition to clean energy in the face of climate change, we expect a new class of power companies will be necessary to support society’s march towards net zero,” said Rachel Slaybaugh, Partner at DCVC. “We are impressed with Equilibrium’s first principles approach to building such a next-generation power company, one designed from the ground up to fight climate change. We’re optimistic about their prospects to bend the climate curve, and excited about their impressive and growing commercial traction.”
"The most valuable power companies in the future will be those that deliver customers the lowest cost, most reliable and scalable carbon free energy," said Scott Tierney, Managing Partner at Valo Ventures. "The trajectory of electricity demand growth on the grid, coupled by the exponential growth in renewable energy resources, is creating unprecedented volatility, risk, and opportunity. Equilibrium has built the most sophisticated technology platform to orchestrate network-wide optimization of grid-scale flexible resources to manage this volatility and enable corporate customers and power company partners to confidently accelerate their transition to low cost, carbon free energy."
With its Series B funding, Equilibrium is excited to welcome new additions to its executive team. Kevin McEntee, former head of engineering at Netflix, joins as Head of Engineering. Jeffrey Woods, former Head of Strategy at JPMorgan Chase and CFO for Global Investment Banking, joins as Head of Finance and Operations. Jace Kohlmeier, former founder and head of Citadel’s high frequency trading desk, joins as Head of Trading. Caitlin Walsh, former Managing Director of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s Growth Equity team, joins as Head of Capital Markets.
Looking forward, Equilibrium’s focus is on supporting its battery developer and corporate partners’ efforts to tackle climate change by achieving and exceeding their deployment and sustainability goals.
