![Splight Inc. secures $12M to tackle energy curtailment](/sites/default/files/2024-07/funding-round.png)
Splight Inc. secures $12M to tackle energy curtailment
Splight, an AI startup pioneering grid operations technologies, announced the successful completion of its seed funding round, securing $12M.
This round was led by noa (formerly A/O) and included investments from Elewit, EDP Ventures, Draper Cygnus, Draper B1, Ascent Energy Ventures, Fen Ventures, Reaction Global, Barn Investments, and the UC Berkeley Foundation, among others.
This funding will enable Splight to advance its mission of addressing the global, multi-generational challenge of clean energy at scale. The company plans to expand its presence in North America and the EU, while also bolstering its development, implementation, and leadership teams to meet increasing demand.
Grid congestion, or grid bottlenecks, result from outdated contingency management methods, leaving up to half of the grid’s transmission capacity unused. These bottlenecks cause up to 40% of renewable energy generation to be wasted and delay the connection of thousands of gigawatts of renewable energy projects to the grid.
As electrification grows across industries, efficient grid operations and a reliable renewable energy supply are crucial to meet rising demand. Although Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) like rooftop solar and batteries are on the rise, the industry has lacked the technology to manage them at scale – until now.
Splight has developed an AI-based technology for advanced grid operations that addresses grid congestion by utilising inverter-based resources (IBRs) as a source of reliability. This technology significantly accelerates the deployment of DERs and batteries. By leveraging real-time data and algorithms, Splight uses IBRs as grid-friendly assets.
Splight’s technology unlocks up to twice the transmission capacity by managing contingencies in real-time, allowing terawatts of clean energy to be integrated into the grid while enhancing reliability. This no-tradeoff solution is transformative for grid operations: it prevents clean energy wastage and facilitates the rapid deployment and connection of renewable energy, DERs, and batteries using the existing transmission infrastructure.
“Our technology is proven and commercially viable: we are solving grid congestion while adding reliability. It can be deployed fast enough to inject more than 3,000GWs of clean energy within months. This round is a huge vote of confidence and will be used to expand our business globally,” said Fernando Llaver, CEO of Splight.
Thomas Vadora, CTO of Splight, said: “This investment is a significant milestone on our journey and will accelerate our growth, enhance our product offerings, and deliver huge value to our customers.”
The funding round attracted diverse investors, including climate tech and energy specialized venture capital firms, industry leaders, and university endowments. The investors have a global footprint covering the UK, the US, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina.
Kia Nejad, Investor at noa, said: “Energy curtailment is perhaps the most pressing issue for the transition to a sustainable energy system. Splight’s technology is a far more practical approach for modernizing the energy grid to meet current demands. We are excited to support Splight as they lead the implementation of scalable grid software, with an established presence amongst industry-leading customers in Europe, the US, and Latin America."