The solution for decentralised electricity storage accelerates the transition to 100% green energy
Berlin, 25th April – Berlin-based technology company Terra One, a pioneer in the field of grid-connected large-scale battery storage in Europe, has received EUR 7 million in seed funding from a renowned consortium of investors. The financing round is led by PT1, the early-stage VC for real asset technologies, with the support of neosfer, the early-stage investor of Commerzbank. In addition, 468 Capital, the DeepTech investor of former Rocket Internet CEO Alexander Kudlich, N26 co-founder Maximilian Tayenthal, serial entrepreneur Jan Beckers and the scout funds of Andreessen Horowitz and Hedosophia also participated in the financing round.
Terra One is dedicated to one of the biggest challenges that must be solved for the green energy transition and to achieve climate targets: the decentralised storage of renewable energies. Due to the increasing expansion of solar capacity and the growing number of wind turbines, we are within reach of achieving the climate targets for the generation of green electricity. However, the electricity grid and energy storage options are currently far from sufficient, hindering a complete switch to renewables. In 2023, for example, 19 terawatt hours of renewable energy were lost in Germany alone due to grid congestion – enough to supply 6 million households.
Terra One, co-founded by serial entrepreneur Tony Schumacher and the former CFO of the unicorn startup Grover, Thomas Antonioli, takes a new approach to decentralised battery storage. Terra One develops and operates large-scale battery storage projects, which are automatically charged and discharged using its own AI optimised trading software. Put simply, the batteries charge when the proportion of renewable energy in the grid is typically at its highest – and therefore the prices for electricity are at their lowest – and discharge when the grid would otherwise have to switch to conventional power generation and prices are therefore significantly higher. This volatility will significantly increase in the medium term as more renewables come online. Storage trading is marketed via the European power exchange EPEX, for which Terra One has already acquired the necessary licences.
Terra One thus fulfils two functions: Their intelligent trading on the electricity markets is already generating attractive returns, without subsidies. At the same time, the storage capacity they will produce relieves grid congestion, making it possible to reach 100% green energy.
To date, Terra One has secured almost 300 project sites on which it plans to build storage facilities with a total capacity of over 20 GWh, which would make it one of the largest storage operator in Europe. The company is financing these storage facilities via institutional and infrastructure investors, who are attracted by the potential returns and the associated ESG credentials. Terra One has already received expressions of interest from investors in the 9-digit million range.
Terra One prioritises collaboration with landowners, grid operators and communities as well as safety and environmental sustainability in the implementation of its projects.
Terra One co-founder Thomas Antonioli comments: „We are very excited about this financing round, which will allow us to drive forward our vision of building Europe’s leading battery optimiser and thus make an essential contribution to achieving climate targets. Specifically, we will use the financing to further build our team and develop our revolutionary battery optimisation software and our project pipeline.“
Nikolas Samios, Managing Partner of PT1, explains the investment decision: „We have been involved in energy storage technologies for some time, as we know first-hand that infrastructure funds are just waiting to invest 9 to 10-figure sums in this area. After extensive screening of the European market, Terra One clearly proved to be the best team and the best technology for us. We believe that what Enpal and 1Komma5° have achieved in scaling the installation of solar systems will now also be achieved with Terra One for the development and operation of large battery storage systems in the grid.“
Karim Menn, Senior Investment Manager at neosfer comments on the investment: „Terra One’s team is equipped with the right competencies to succeed in the energy storage market: high speed, a deep understanding of the technology and their approach of vertical integration combined with operational excellence. Furthermore, synergies can be created between Terra One and Commerzbank Group’s asset management business, which is increasingly focussing on renewable energy and related infrastructure projects.“
Terra One co-founder Tony Schumacher comments: „People outside the energy industry often have little idea of how much energy our projects can store. Our current largest approved battery project can power a city of 100,000 people for up to 6 hours. That’s a huge capacity that makes it possible to compensate for fluctuations in renewable energy production on a large scale. We are building important infrastructure to enable the energy transition.“
