Base Power, which is a distributed energy developer, is getting into home battery manufacturing in order to support the grid from the ground up in the U.S. after its successful $1 billion Series D round of venture capital.
It is well to be noted that Ribbit Capital, Addition as well as Valour Equity Partners have led the most recent round of financing for Base Power at a valuation estimate of $13 billion, as the company ramps up production of its Base Core home batteries at its Base Factory 1 in Austin, Texas, therefore home battery manufacturing, the company has disclosed.
The residential energy storage startup says traditional power generation can’t expand fast enough to meet it, while the U.S. is still undergoing changes in the broader energy landscape in terms of power demand.
To meet that demand, the Base Core system by Base Power says it’s one of the largest home battery systems as far as its U.S. market is concerned. New technology needs to work with the grid to offer that critical capacity. The battery system makes use of the cell chemistry lithium iron phosphate – LiFePO4 and has a single cabinet capacity – which is the energy stored within a unit of 39.2 kWh – and a dual cabinet capacity of 78.4 kWh for additional storage.
According to Zach Dell, Base Power Co-Founder and CEO, “We brought together the best hardware and software engineers in the world to build Core—a battery designed to protect American homes while supporting the grid. It installs in under an hour, switches over seamlessly, is built to handle extreme weather and delivers extended outage protection at a price Americans can afford.”
Base Power, which has been launched in 2023, says the quick installation on the ground comes on the back end of a year of growth in which the company expanded beyond Texas so as to enter Illinois with a total capacity of more than 500 MWh. The outcome has resulted in new collaborations with utilities El Paso Electric and Austin Energy, as well as CoServ, to offer over 200 MW of capacity by way of utility agreements throughout its battery fleet.
Interestingly, Base Power has secured more than $2.5 billion in capital to date in order to expedite the national rollout of its residential battery system, with a focus on a domestic supply chain. The COO and co-founder of Base Power, Justin Lopas, opines that “It is so important to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., especially for critical infrastructure. Base’s Factory 1 is now producing thousands of systems a month, while our deployment team enables the safe, efficient installation of them on homes throughout Texas and beyond.”