作者：纳雷恩·S·马利克包括全球大宗商品交易商维多集团在内的多家投资机构，正共同向一家电力技术公司投入近2.5亿美元资金。这家公司致力于调节能源使用模式，从而帮助数据中心更快接入电网。
A group of investors including global commodity trader Vitol SA is placing a nearly quarter billion dollar bet on a power technology company that scales shifts in energy usage so data centers can connect to grids sooner.
当前，数据中心需求持续增长以及极端天气频发正给电网带来巨大压力；与此同时，电价飙升也让消费者怨声载道。总部位于旧金山的Voltus公司首席执行官达纳·格恩西在接受采访时指出，该公司相信通过充分利用现有基础设施来调配更多能源，能够显著提升电网运行效率。目前，Voltus已在D轮融资中成功筹集到2.25亿美元。
Power grids are facing increasing strain from data center demand growth and extreme weather, and pressure from consumers over soaring electricity costs. San Francisco-based Voltus Inc. believes it can make grids more efficient by drawing greater energy from existing infrastructure and has now raised $225 million in a series D financing round, Chief Executive Officer Dana Guernsey said in an interview.
Voltus通过向企业及家庭支付费用，引导其调整用电时间以缓解整体用电压力，从而实现电网负荷的灵活调节。在极端天气条件下，该公司还能协助数据中心转移用电需求。根据Voltus发布的声明，未来该公司计划整合数千家企业与家庭的蓄电池、制冷系统等设备资源，力争到2030年将可灵活调配的能源规模从目前的约8.5吉瓦提升至20吉瓦以上。
The company provides flexibility on electrical grids by paying businesses and households to shift energy usage to ease overall demand stress. It can also shift demand from data centers during extreme weather events. Voltus plans to more than double its pool of flexible energy to 20 gigawatts by 2030 from about 8.5 gigawatts today by tapping into batteries, cooling systems and other equipment across thousands of businesses and homes, Voltus said in a statement.
“我们如今已从边缘角色转变为不可或缺的核心力量，”格恩西说道，“目前我们真正缺乏的是在恰当时段可调配的能源容量。其实能源总量并不短缺，只是无法在需要的时候及时供应。”据Voltus介绍，此次融资由美国前副总统阿尔·戈尔联合创立的可持续发展投资机构Generation Investment Management LLP牵头，参与投资的还有维多集团与Activate Capital Ltd.。
“We have been thrust from something that was fringe to something front and center that is needed,” Guernsey said. “We are really short on capacity and in many ways we are not short on energy. We are short on energy at the right time.”The financing was led by sustainability investor Generation Investment Management LLP, co-founded by former US Vice-President Al Gore, along with Vitol and Activate Capital Ltd., Voltus said.
其他参与方还包括Broadscale Group LLC、气候投资基金、NGP Energy Capital Management LLC、Ajax Strategies LLC以及All Aboard Funding Ltd.。
Broadscale Group LLC, Climate Investment Funds, NGP Energy Capital Management LLC, Ajax Strategies LLC and All Aboard Funding Ltd. also participated in the round.
“经济的繁荣离不开稳健可靠的电力系统，而像Voltus这样的企业正是推动这一系统发展的关键力量，”维托尔集团能源转型投资部门负责人R·安德鲁·德帕斯在声明中说道。“极端天气事件以及数据中心的大量涌现，都要求我们的电力系统变得更加智能且高效。”格恩西表示，Voltus计划利用这笔资金提升自身为数据中心提供专属供电能力的水准，这也是电网运营商、公用事业公司及监管机构日益看重的需求。
“Economic success is dependent upon a resilient power system, enabled by companies such as Voltus,” R. Andrew de Pass, head of energy transition investments at Vitol, said in the statement. “The demands of weather events and data centers require our power system to be smarter and more efficient.”Voltus’s aim is to use the financing to boost its ability to provide data centers with their own capacity, something increasingly demanded by grid operators, utilities and regulators, Guernsey said.
Generation Investment Management的成长型股权投资合伙人戴夫·伊士顿在采访中指出，Voltus所提供的服务属于“小众解决方案”，但在数据中心行业蓬勃发展的当下，任何新增的电力供应都具有极高的价值。“通过需求响应机制获取的兆瓦级电力，堪称速度最快、成本最低且最为环保的能源来源。”
Dave Easton, growth equity partner at Generation Investment Management, said in an interview what Voltus is doing is a “niche solution,” but the value of any added supply has increased amid the data center boom. “Demand response megawatts are the fastest, the cheapest, the cleanest you can possibly get.”