Reliance Joins Bill Gates, Paulson To Pump $144 M Into Energy Storage Firm Ambri Inc

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Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL), Bill Gates, Japan Energy Fund and a few other strategic partners are investing $144 million into US energy company Ambri Inc to help it commercialize and grow its daily cycling, long-duration system technology, and build a domestic manufacturing facility.

“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.”

Massachusetts-based Ambri will use the proceeds from this fund raise 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.

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As part of the transaction, RNESL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), has been selected as Ambri’s strategic partner to develop and manufacture Ambri’s batteries in India. RNESL will invest $50 million to acquire 42.3 million shares of preferred stock in Ambri.

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

Ambri has also entered into a long-term antimony supply agreement with Perpetua Resources, whose largest shareholder is Paulson & Co. Inc. Antimony is a key mineral in Ambri’s battery chemistry and this agreement would help secure a domestic source for its supply chain.

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“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.”

Partnering 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 will manufacture calcium and antimony electrode-based cells and containerised 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, said Ambri.

The company added that based on patented technology and designed to last between 4-24 hours, Ambri’s long duration energy storage systems will break through the cost, longevity and safety barriers associated with lithium-ion batteries used in grid-scale stationary storage applications. The company is securing customers for large-scale projects with commercial operation dates in 2023 and beyond.