Google taps Form Energy for $1 billion battery deal

Google announced earlier this week that it is building a new data center in Minnesota. The facility will be powered by a combination of wind, solar, and a specialized battery system built by startup Form Energy. While Google initially announced the project without disclosing the price tag, the battery deal is worth about $1 billion, according to The Information. This massive contract represents a significant financial milestone for the energy storage startup, which has spent years developing its technology to handle grid-scale storage.

The project relies on Form Energy’s iron-air battery technology, which is designed for long-duration energy storage. An iron-air battery operates by using oxygen to rust iron and release electrons, a process that can be reversed to charge the battery. This technology allows the battery to discharge for days on end, providing a solution for long-duration energy storage. For the Minnesota facility, the system is designed to deliver long-duration storage to smooth the intermittent output of renewable energy sources.

The technical specifications of the deployment include:

• Continuous delivery capacity: 300 megawatts of electricity
• Discharge duration: 100 hours of continuous power
• Wind power capacity: 1.4 gigawatts
• Solar power capacity: 200 megawatts

By discharging power over multiple days, the battery system helps ensure a steady supply of electricity to the data center even when wind and solar generation fluctuates.

The agreement represents the first major customer win for Form Energy, which has been chipping away at its technology for years. Although the startup has built a factory in West Virginia to manufacture its systems, it had not previously landed a major customer. Following the Google deal, Form Energy CEO Mateo Jaramillo stated that the company is in the process of raising a $500 million funding round. Prior to this upcoming round, the startup had raised $1.4 billion to date, according to PitchBook data. Backed by this commercial momentum and new capital, Form Energy plans to go public next year.

Why it matters

This deal marks a critical commercial validation for Form Energy, which had previously lacked a major customer, while providing the capital and momentum needed for its planned IPO next year.