Ambri Inc. secures $144M funding for its liquid metal battery technology

Massachusetts-based liquid metal battery maker Ambri Inc., announced that it has secured $144 million in funding to commercialize and grow its daily cycling, long-duration energy storage technology, and to build a domestic manufacturing facility.

The latest round of financing was led by strategic investors Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Paulson & Co. Inc., and includes Ambri's largest shareholder, Bill Gates, new investors, Fortistar, Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates, Japan Energy Fund and others.

"This financing supports the commercial growth of our company and technology," said Dan Leff, Ambri Executive Chairman. 

"Further, these funds are instrumental to driving our efforts to scale the company's operations and establish our manufacturing infrastructure to meet rapidly expanding customer demand. We are delighted that our newest shareholders, who are world class investors and strategic partners, are joining Ambri's journey."

Ambri is an early-stage company working towards commercializing low-cost, long-duration energy storage solution, known as Liquid Metal Battery (LMB). The LMB technology was invented in the lab of Dr. Donald Sadoway, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The company has stated that it will use the latest funding to design and construct high-volume manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and internationally that will supply its long-duration battery systems to meet the growing demand from the grid-scale energy storage market and large industrial energy customers, such as data centers. 

Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd. has been selected as Ambri's strategic partner as a part of this transaction to develop and manufacture Ambri's batteries in India. 

Reliance Industries sees this strategic partnership with Ambri as an important step in its journey of achieving its decarbonization goals," stated Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd. 

"Our investment in Ambri is part of our broader plan to develop the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex, which will be amongst the largest integrated renewable energy manufacturing facilities in the world and the epicenter of India's Green Economy movement," he added. 

The battery-maker has also entered a long-term agreement for antimony supply with Perpetua Resources, (the largest shareholder is Paulson & Co. Inc.) Antimony is a key mineral in Ambri's battery chemistry and this agreement is aimed at securing a domestic source for its supply chain.

"We've been looking for an opportunity to help finance important technologies for large-scale, utility grade battery storage systems," said John Paulson. 

"Ambri's novel battery technology is ready to deliver a low-cost, durable and safe battery for longer duration applications that will enable a stable grid that incorporates an increasing amount of intermittent renewable generation. Perpetua Resources, a natural resource company in Idaho, is also an ideal supply chain partner for Ambri, given that it has the largest domestic deposit of antimony, which is a key mineral in Ambri's battery chemistry."

Through its partnership with developers of renewable projects, Ambri is now able to scale for projects from 10 MWh to over 2 GWh around the globe. 

The company stated it will manufacture calcium and antimony electrode-based cells and containerized systems that are more economical than lithium-ion batteries, capable of operating safely in any climatic condition without requiring supplemental air conditioning, and meant to last for over 20 years with minimal degradation. 

Ambri claims, its storage systems are particularly well suited for high-usage applications, such as shifting energy from daytime solar generation to evening and morning peak load times. The batteries are designed to last for durations ranging from 4-hours to 24-hours. The company is securing customers for large-scale projects with commercial operation dates in 2023 and beyond.