Swell Energy raises $120M to expand its virtual power plants

Swell Energy today announced that it has raised $120 million to grow its virtual power plants (VPPs). Virtual power plants allow clean energy to be quickly added to the grid to address frequency and voltage imbalances, local disruptions, and keep the grid stable.

The round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund I, LP, and brings Swell’s total equity capitalization to date to $152 million.

This series B raise will help Santa Monica-based Swell Energy work toward its goal of 600 MWh of VPPs through the deployment and aggregation of 26,000 energy storage systems at homes and businesses across the US.

Swell’s VPP programs help reduce the use of fossil fuel peaker plants by utilities and provide other grid services by integrating solar, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging with the utility to provide a more reliable and cleaner grid.

Businesses and homeowners who participate in VPPs pay less for their solar energy generation and storage systems, potentially reducing the risk of a local power outage, and keeping their homes and businesses securely powered through outages.

For example, Swell works with multiple California utilities to help expand residential participation in capacity bidding programs. Homeowners with solar and storage support the reliability of their local grids while reserving battery power for personal emergency use. The efforts are part of the California Public Utility Commission’s goals to reduce the state’s load during California Independent System Operator emergency power events.

Photo: Swell Energy

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