Hydrostor nets $200M for its long-duration energy storage ambitions

Canadian long-duration energy storage developer Hydrostor has secured $200 million in funding from a range of investors to advance its 7 GW project pipeline across multiple continents.

The funding package includes a $150 million convertible note commitment and an additional $50 million convertible development expenditure facility from Canada Growth Fund specifically for Canadian projects. Other investors include Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and CPP Investments.

The new $200M investment will support Hydrostor’s 500 MW / 4,000 MWh Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) project in Ontario’s Lennox and Addington County, known as the Quinte Energy Storage project.

In January, the company received a conditional commitment from the DOE for a loan guarantee of up to $1.76 billion to develop the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center, which could provide 500 MW / 4000 MWh of LDES for the southern California grid. That commitment requires conditions to be met for final approval, and the money to change hands, with the company hopeful that construction would begin in 2025, and commissioning in 2030.

In addition, Hydrostor says construction is set to begin in 2025 on the company’s projects in New South Wales, Australia. These facilities will operate alongside Hydrostor’s existing commercial A-CAES plant in Goderich, Ontario, which provides services to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).

The A-CAES technology stores energy using compressed air and water, enabling grid operators to maintain power supply during periods without solar or wind generation. The system offers storage durations of eight hours or more.

The funding follows other recent developments in the long-duration storage sector. Form Energy began construction of its first iron-air battery facility in West Virginia in 2024, while Energy Vault commissioned several gravity storage systems globally through 2023.

In China, a state-backed 1.2 GWh compressed air energy storage project is under construction as well.

Comments:

Curtis VanWalleghem, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Hydrostor: “I’m thrilled to bring Canada Growth Fund onboard as one of our major investors, and equally as excited by the continued support for our company and our technology from Goldman Sachs and CPP Investments”

Yannick Beaudoin, President and CEO of Canada Growth Fund Investment Management: “Hydrostor is a Canadian-built success story, and our team is thrilled to promote their IP and accelerate their projects in Canada and globally.”