Tech EU - Terra One raises 7.5 million dollars for decentralized battery storage

Under the leadership of PT1, Berlin-based Terra One has received seed funding of 7.5 million US dollars to support Europe's move away from non-renewable energy sources. The start-up wants to address the challenges of insufficient grid and storage capacities by using decentralized battery storage systems that store energy in times of low demand and deliver it at peak times. With its projects, which can supply a city of 100,000 inhabitants with electricity for up to six hours, Terra One will use the funds to expand its team and improve its battery optimization software.

Berlin-based battery storage startup Terra One has received seed financing of USD 7.5 million led by PT1, a seed VC for real asset technology.

Terra One was co-founded by serial entrepreneur Tony Schumacher and Thomas Antonioli, the former CFO of the sharing economy start-up Grover, and is intended to help Europe achieve its climate goals and wean the continent from politically sensitive and non-renewable energy sources.

As solar capacity grows and more wind turbines are being installed, the current power grid and storage capacities are inadequate, preventing a full transition to renewable energy. In 2023, for example, 19 terawatt hours of energy (enough to supply six million households) were lost in Germany due to inefficient network management and bottlenecks. Without action, these figures will rise even more in the medium term as more renewable energy is connected to the grid.

Terra One wants to solve this problem through its network of decentralized battery storage projects, which recharge when the share of renewable energy in the grid is highest (during the day or at night, when people are not eating breakfast or dinner) and electricity prices are the lowest. The units unload at peak times when the grid would otherwise have to switch to conventional power generation to meet demand and prices are significantly higher.

The largest approved battery projects can supply a city of 100,000 people with electricity for up to six hours, and the company has built a pipeline of 300 projects of more than 20 gigawatt hours (GWh). By way of comparison, 67,200 gallons of oil are required to generate just one GWh of electricity. One gigawatt of energy can power 100 million LED light bulbs and is equivalent to almost 2.5 million solar cells.

The previous investors neosfer and 468 Capital also participated in the round.

Co-founder Thomas Antonioli commented on the capital increase: “We are very excited about this financing round, which enables us to drive forward our vision of building Europe's leading battery optimizer and thus making a significant contribution to achieving climate goals. In particular, we will use the funding to further expand our team and develop our revolutionary battery optimization software and project pipeline.

Author: Lucy Adams