Battery energy storage provider Lightshift Energy announced that it has raised $100 million from clean energy-focused investment manager Greenbacker Capital Management (GCM), with proceeds from the financing aimed at supporting the expansion of the company’s utility-scale energy storage solutions.

Energy storage solutions and infrastructure are emerging as a key energy transition investment area. Storage forms one of the major building blocks for the rapidly expanding clean energy transition, given the intermittent generating nature of many sources of renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and the need to satisfy round-the-clock energy demand, while ensuring that energy is not wasted.

Recently rebranded from Delorean Power, Lightshift was founded in 2019 by Michael Herbert and Rory Jones. The company is developing a diverse pipeline of battery energy storage projects, ranging in size up to 250 MW across the U.S., aimed at meeting fast-growing demand from public power, investor-owned utilities and large corporate consumers.

Rory Jones, Managing Partner, and co-founder of Lightshift said:

“Rapidly increasing electricity demand and the growing appetite for renewable energy are straining our legacy energy infrastructure and creating major supply, cost and reliability challenges across the country. Our storage projects are purpose-built to address these challenges, helping our utility partners achieve major cost reductions while paving the way for reliable and sustainable growth.”

The funding includes $20 million from a GCM-affiliated investment vehicle dedicated to making growth equity investments in sustainable infrastructure development platforms, which will be used to scale Lightshift’s team, accelerate sales, and grow its pipeline; and  $80 million from a second GCM-affiliated investment vehicle that invests in sustainable infrastructure assets, which will support the construction and operations of Lightshift’s portfolio. The current investment follows a $20 investment from a Greenbacker fund in 2021.

Benjamin Baker, Head of Greenbacker’s Growth Equity Strategy said:

“Greenbacker’s expanded partnership with Lightshift Energy reaffirms our company’s commitment to expediting the integration of sustainable energy across the United States. Lightshift is uniquely positioned to assist utilities in optimizing battery storage for their systems, meeting growing demand for grid resiliency, and integrating an increasingly complex power system with energy storage solutions.”