通用汽车公司（GM）领投了Peak Energy的1亿美元B轮融资，以帮助该能源存储初创公司在加州工厂扩大生产规模。
By Michelle Ma (News) General Motors Co. led a $108 million Series B funding round for Peak Energy to help ramp up manufacturing at the energy-storage startup’s California plant.
Peak 是众多旨在提升大规模储能系统制造能力的初创企业之一。公司表示，其基于钠离子的技术比锂离子电池单元能承受更高的运行温度，具备成本和安全优势，使其成为数据中心、电网和独立电力生产商的理想解决方案。
Peak is among the startups racing to boost manufacturing for grid-scale storage systems. The company says its sodium ion-based technology can tolerate higher operating temperatures than lithium-ion battery cells, offering cost and safety advantages that make it an attractive solution for data centers, grids and independent power producers.
在钠离子电池需求即将爆发的关键时期，Peak 正在扩张。根据彭博新能源财经（BloombergNEF）的预测，到2035年需求将达到257吉瓦时，而2025年仅为1吉瓦时左右，届时该技术或将占据近10%的静止储能市场。
Peak is expanding at a pivotal moment for sodium-ion batteries. Demand is forecast to reach 257 gigawatt-hours by 2035, up from just over 1 gigawatt-hour in 2025, by which time the technology may account for almost 10% of stationary storage, according to BloombergNEF.
GM风险投资部门在周三发表声明称：“我们相信它在能源存储市场具有巨大潜力，作为一种安全、成本效益高且使用丰富、国内来源材料的解决方案。”GM风险投资部门总裁Kevin McCabe在声明中表示。
GM Ventures invested in Peak “because we believe it has significant potential in the energy-storage market as a safe, cost-effective solution using abundant, domestically sourced materials,” said GM Ventures President Kevin McCabe in a statement Wednesday.
此次投资紧随6月份两家公司宣布合作推进该技术在美国发展的公告。GM正在其密歇根州电池实验室研发钠离子电池单元，Peak 计划将其用于自身的能源存储系统。
The decision follows an announcement in June that the two companies are partnering to advance the technology in the US. GM is developing sodium-ion cells at its Michigan battery labs that Peak plans to later use in its energy-storage systems.
“我们希望尽可能加速供应链的建立，”Peak首席执行官兼联合创始人Landon Mossburg表示。“它已经在中国加速了。”
“You just want to catalyze this supply chain as much as possible,” said Landon Mossburg, Peak’s chief executive officer and co-founder. “It’s already catalyzed in China.”
Peak 表示，其已有约11亿美元的客户订单，其中大部分来自与Jupiter Power的4.75吉瓦时协议以及与Energy Vault的1.5吉瓦时协议。公司正从旧金山试验线发货小批量产品，Mossburg称公司预计将在第一季度完成首个商业设施，并随后不久开始生产电池系统。
Peak reports that it has about $1.1 billion in customer orders, most of that from a 4.75 gigawatt-hour agreement with Jupiter Power and a 1.5 gigawatt-hour deal with Energy Vault. Peak is also shipping small volumes from a pilot line in San Francisco, and Mossburg said the company expects to complete its first commercial facility in the first quarter, with battery systems rolling off the line shortly thereafter.
钠离子电池市场仍远未成熟，且其成本依然高于锂离子电池替代品。这两项技术还面临相同的贸易压力，目前大部分制造产能集中在中国和亚洲其他地区。
The market for sodium-ion cells remains far from mature, and they continue to be more expensive than lithium-ion alternatives. Both technologies also face the same trade pressures, with the bulk of manufacturing currently concentrated in China and other parts of Asia.
尽管如此，据Peak的投资者格雷格·赖肖表示，钠离子电池为本土制造提供了一条更简便、更廉价的路径。他说，这种电池所需的材料在美国很容易获取，而且随着技术成熟，成本预计会下降。
Still, sodium-ion offers an easier and cheaper path to domestic manufacturing, according to Peak investor Greg Reichow. Materials for the cells are readily available in the US and costs are expected to fall as the technology matures, he said.
“锂离子电池目前非常便宜，因为它们的规模非常大，”风险投资公司Eclipse Capital的合伙人赖肖说。“当你审视钠离子电池中的基础材料以及转化这些材料的实际成本时，它最终的成本会更低。”
Lithium-ion batteries “are very cheap right now because they’re at a very high scale,” said Reichow, a partner at venture firm Eclipse Capital. “When you look at fundamental materials that are in sodium-ion and the actual costs that it takes to transform those materials, it will ultimately be lower cost.”