Allegro Energy, an Australian-based developer of water-based redox flow battery energy storage solutions, has attracted AU$17.5 million (US$11.67 million) in Series A funding from investors including Origin Energy, Melt Ventures and Impact Ventures.
Allegro Energy makes water-based redox flow batteries and supercapacitors, which contain no scarce materials and include fully recyclable components. Allegro’s flow batteries and supercapacitors integrate a water-based electrolyte, making energy storage less expensive and safer.
The company states that this “opens up the ability to address needs at a global scale”.
The lead investor in the Series A funding round was The Grantham Foundation, an organisation set up to support natural resource conservation projects across the globe. It was founded in 2007 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham.
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Grantham was joined by another overseas investor, Chicago-headquartered Lightbank, known for its disruptive early-stage tech investments.
According to Dr. Thomas Nann, Allegro’s co-founder and CEO, the investors represent a mix of strategic and growth capital attracted by Allegro’s “unique advantages in the fast-growing long-duration energy storage (LDES) space.
“These funds will help us rapidly accelerate our manufacturing capacity. We are thrilled to be among the companies to have been given global recognition by The Grantham Foundation while also successfully drawing critical local capital and strategic support from some of the leading names in the renewable energy space,” said Dr. Nann.
Since its inception, Impact Ventures has supported Allegro’s advanced technology development, in line with their commitment to foster environmental solutions. Piers Grove, a general partner at Impact Ventures, believes Allegro’s technology has the potential to “significantly impact global long-duration energy storage”.
Origin Energy hedges bets with 12-hour duration system
Readers of Energy-Storage.news may be aware that Origin Energy, an Australian utility giant, secured a 5% stake in Allegro Energy in July 2023.
Under the terms of the partnership, the two parties will collaborate to develop a pilot project using Allegro’s redox flow batteries. The project will be located in Newcastle, north of Sydney, in New South Wales. It will first see a 800kWh battery deployed before deploying a 12-hour duration (5MW/60MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS).
Allegro said the Eraring site requires minimal preparation works prior to installation, which are expected to commence in August 2023, with the battery set to be commissioned in late 2024.
The project will be located south of Newcastle in Eraring, where Origin is currently constructing two BESS: one 240MW/1030MWh and one 460MW/1073MWh. It is situated near Australia’s largest coal-fired power plant.
The black coal power plant provides 2,880MW to the National Electricity Market (NEM). In early 2022, Origin said it would be retiring the coal-fired power plant in 2025, yet in May 2024, the New South Wales government controversially extended this by an additional two years to “guarantee a maximum of electricity supply”. The new expected closure date is scheduled for August 2027.
