{ "componentChunkName": "component---src-templates-storyblok-entry-js", "path": "/press/seriesb/", "result": {"pageContext":{"story":{"id":"storyblokentry-223193516-default","name":"seriesb","created_at":"2022-11-22T00:14:41.674Z","uuid":"9e4a1aec-cd4f-4c69-b1e0-efccc66634c1","slug":"seriesb","field_component":"press_release","field_slug_override_string":null,"full_slug":"press/seriesb","content":"{\"_uid\":\"3713801b-acc9-48cd-98bc-b6f2357330c6\",\"theme\":\"dark\",\"title\":\"Swell Energy Raises $120 Million to Bring Total Solar and Battery Virtual Power Plants to 600 MWh\",\"content\":\"LOS ANGELES, Calif.—November 22, 2022—As homeowners and businesses embrace\\nmore renewable energy and battery storage to manage costs and increasingly frequent power\\noutages, and as utilities seek to provide cleaner and more reliable energy to customers, Swell\\nEnergy announced today that it has raised $120 million to further its popular virtual power plant\\n(VPP) programs. The round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Greenbacker Development\\nOpportunities Fund I, LP, with participation from an Ares Infrastructure Opportunities fund and\\nOntario Power Generation Pension Fund.\\n\\nThe funding announced today will support Swell’s development of 600 MWh of VPPs through\\nthe deployment and aggregation of 26,000 energy storage systems located at homes and\\nbusinesses across the United States. Swell VPPs provide a variety of grid service capabilities\\nthrough projects in utility territories across Hawaii, California, and New York, aiding utilities in\\ntheir mandate to deliver cleaner energy to customers and reduce the grid’s dependence on\\nfossil fuel peaker plants.\\n\\nSwell creates VPPs by linking utilities, customers, and third-party service providers together,\\nand by aggregating and co-optimizing distributed energy resources through Swell’s GridAmp™\\nsoftware platform. In particular, working with utilities, Swell delivers value to its network of\\ncustomers through bill savings, GridRevenue™ and energy security, creating a cohesive\\nnetwork of solar-powered batteries that supports overall grid reliability and stability, while\\npotentially reducing grid operating costs.\\n\\n"By coordinating distributed energy resources across the grid to intelligently meet fluctuating\\ndemand, Swell’s AI- and machine learning-driven platform helps address a major challenge of\\nthe energy transition, while also lowering customers’ bills,” said Ben Parton, Director at\\nSoftBank Group. “We are excited to support Swell’s team as they accelerate clean energy\\nadoption.”\\n\\n“Swell’s business model is an innovative application of existing technology directly solving two\\nlarge issues plaguing the grid and renewable energy adoption: transmission and load shifting,”\\nsaid Ben Baker, Managing Director and Principal of Greenbacker Development Opportunities\\nFund. “We couldn’t be more pleased to partner with Swell, its impressive management team,\\nand the existing investor base. The company’s three business verticals—Grid Services,\\nFinance, Development—are mutually beneficial, and together will swiftly expand the proliferation\\nof renewable resiliency, providing value to both customers and utilities.”\\n\\nIn addition to the project finance opportunities with current utility partnerships, Swell is also\\npursuing development in otherwise underserved markets where critical grid services are\\nnecessary to strengthen and modernize infrastructure. In regions where local grids must evolve\\nto accommodate more renewable energy and electric vehicle adoption, Swell’s VPP programs\\ncan provide increased grid flexibility while precluding significant investment in new fossil fuel\\ngeneration.\\n\\nFor these utilities, Swell increases the stock of dispatchable behind-the-meter assets,\\naggregates these assets for grid services participation, and dispatches distributed energy\\nresources to create ongoing value for the grid, all while creating an improved experience for the\\ncustomer. Swell analyzes and identifies each region's distinct utility needs and grid stresses,\\nthen delivers the appropriate grid services through flexible energy storage solutions, helping\\nwith load management, renewable energy balancing, and ancillary grid services.\\n\\n“Swell is at the forefront of executing on the promise of virtual power plants, which we believe\\ncan be one of the most important and necessary advancements in smart grid service\\ntechnologies available,” said Keith Derman, Partner and Co-Head of the Ares Infrastructure\\nOpportunities strategy. “Ares has been working with Swell since its Series A raise in 2019, and\\nwe are excited to continue building upon that relationship with this follow-on investment.”\\n\\nBusinesses and homeowners participating in these programs benefit from Swell’s VPPs by\\npaying less for their solar energy generation and storage systems, potentially reducing the risk\\nof a local power outage, and keeping their homes and businesses securely powered through\\nany outages. For example, Swell works with multiple California utilities to help expand\\nresidential participation in capacity bidding programs. Homeowners with solar and energy\\nstorage systems support the reliability of their local grids while reserving battery power for\\npersonal emergency use. The efforts are part of the California Public Utility Commission's goals\\nto reduce the state's load during California Independent System Operator emergency power\\nevents.\\n\\n"Utilities and investors have understood the importance of virtual power plants for some time\\nnow; this funding further signals that the capital markets see tremendous value in this new asset\\nclass," said Suleman Khan, CEO of Swell Energy. "Virtual power plants are the key to a cleaner\\nenergy future at scale. Through the use of our GridAmp software, we are dedicated to enabling\\nan accelerated transition to a carbon-neutral future compatible with the needs of both utilities\\nand the communities they serve."\\n\\nThis latest financing round brings Swell’s total equity capitalization to date to $152 million,\\nincluding prior investments made by an Ares Infrastructure Opportunities fund, Aligned Climate\\nCapital, Third Sphere, and others. Citi acted as sole placement agent on this transaction.\\n\\n\\n\\n**About Swell Energy**\\n\\nSwell Energy is creating a greater grid for the greater good. The energy management and smart\\ngrid solutions provider is accelerating the mass adoption of distributed clean energy\\ntechnologies by enabling consumers to take control of their energy use and cost, achieve\\nenergy security, and participate in the transactive grid. Swell Energy provides homeowners and\\nbusinesses with financing and virtual power plant programs while partnering with trusted local\\nsolar and solar+storage companies for seamless, high-quality installations. By creating a critical\\nmass of dynamic and responsive clean energy resources within utility service areas across the\\nUnited States, Swell Energy also delivers resilient virtual power plant networks and grid-\\nbalancing services to utilities, which are fundamental to our future, carbon-free, distributed\\nrenewable energy system. For more information, visit www.swellenergy.com and follow the\\ncompany on [Facebook]([](https://www.facebook.com/swellenergy)), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/swell-energy) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Swell_Energy).\\n\",\"component\":\"press_release\",\"attachments\":[{\"id\":6434225,\"alt\":\"Swell Energy Raises $120 Million to Bring Total Solar and Battery Virtual Power Plants to 600 MWh.PDF\",\"name\":\"\",\"focus\":null,\"title\":\"Swell Energy Raises $120 Million to Bring Total Solar and Battery Virtual Power Plants to 600 MWh.PDF\",\"filename\":\"https://a.storyblok.com/f/89720/x/75f9d2c4cc/swell-energy-raises-120-million-to-bring-total-solar-and-battery-virtual-power-plants-to-600-mwh.PDF\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"fieldtype\":\"asset\"}],\"header_image\":{\"id\":3879026,\"alt\":\"\",\"name\":\"\",\"focus\":null,\"title\":\"\",\"filename\":\"https://a.storyblok.com/f/89720/1000x666/5528ac7ea7/landing-image-neighborhood.png\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"fieldtype\":\"asset\"},\"publish_date\":\"2022-11-22 00:00\",\"short_description\":\"Financing to accelerate the company's mission to deploy 26,000 energy storage systems in homes and businesses and integrate with Swell’s 600MWh of virtual power plants across the US. Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Greenbacker Development Opportunities Fund I, LP led the round; an Ares Infrastructure Opportunities fund and Ontario Power Generation Pension Fund also participated in the raise.\",\"disable_header_overlay\":false,\"_editable\":\"\"}","is_startpage":false,"parent_id":21223873,"group_id":"c789c920-f415-4b64-9930-a661287aa035"}}}, "staticQueryHashes": ["1270496224","3055164078","3137563343","3265817369","656363813","664806971","994154402"]}