Fourth Power secures $19 million for scaling its thermal energy storage solutions

Thermal battery energy storage Startup, Fourth Power has secured $19 million in a series A funding round to scale its thermal battery storage technology.

The latest investment round was led by the venture capital firm DCVC, with participation from Black Venture Capital Consortium and Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV).

Fourth Power will utilize the new investments to scale its thermal energy storage solution and initiate the construction of a 1 MWh e prototype facility outside Boston, which is expected to be completed by 2026. Beyond the facility, the funding will also be used for rigorous durability tests and expanding the company's engineering team.

"Our vision has always been to tackle climate change by making renewable energy – which is the most cost-effective form of power – a reliable resource for the grid to use at all hours of the day," said Fourth Power's CEO, Arvin Ganesan.

"We need utility-scale energy storage that can grow with the grid to make this a reality on a global scale. With the support of our investors, Fourth Power will accelerate our mission and reshape the clean energy landscape by making grid-scale thermal battery storage the most cost-effective solution for power production."

Fourth Power's thermal battery storage system is engineered in a way that it converts renewable energy to heat, or thermal energy which is stored until needed. The thermal battery heats liquid tin and moves it through a piping system to heat stacks of carbon blocks until they glow white hot. The system then exposes thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells to the light and converts it into electricity.

The company claims its products are designed to maximize the value of renewable energy generation and offer grid operators control and flexibility at the lowest cost compared to other energy storage options. Further, the thermal battery technology can provide both short-duration and long-duration energy storage solutions, from 5 -10 hours to meet needs now and scale with renewable deployment for needs up to 100 hours and any increment in between.

"After more than ten years of research and development, we are grateful to reach this crucial milestone in our journey thanks to our funding partners who recognized the innovation and potential of Fourth Power's thermal battery technology," said Asegun Henry, founder, and chief technology officer of Fourth Power.

"I'm proud to lead this team of engineering experts and look forward to continuing our work to develop a long-duration energy storage solution that can be significantly cheaper than existing solutions, reliable, and, importantly, scalable without the necessity of mining for lithium."

Fourth Power's thermal battery technology was developed by Dr. Asegun Henry while he was a professor at Georgia Tech, and now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Fourth Power's thermal battery technology holds several records, including the Guinness World Record for the highest temperature pumping of liquid metal at 1200°C degrees.