There have been plenty of headlines in the news about carbon credits and the difficulty of verifying that the specified amount of carbon is actually being removed/abated. Thus, it’s not a surprise that tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), when sold, are often sold at a discount, as the buyers are assuming an uncertain IRS audit recapture risk if certain requirements were not actually met (e.g., prevailing wage and apprenticeship, domestic content, community impact, etc.). However, these risks are perceived to be higher than they actually are because there is not a standard infrastructure to provide transparency into the underlying operational/compliance data or for operators to easily ensure that their vendors are holding up their end of the deal. Technologies that can connect all the players in this value chain is the infrastructure that is needed. Once in place, capital to fund IRA-eligible projects will become more readily available, ensuring that the expected benefits to U.S. workers and manufacturers are delivered upon.

For this Company Spotlight, we interviewed Empact Technologies’ Founder and Chief Executive Officer (Charles Dauber). Empact Technologies maximizes the impact of clean energy project tax incentives with its proprietary IRA management platform, enabling projects to meet IRS regulatory requirements for prevailing wage and apprenticeship, domestic content, and energy and low-income community incentives. Developers use Empact to secure project construction financing, ensure regulatory compliance, and protect investors from IRS recapture audit risk. For more information on Empact Technologies, please visit www.empacttechnologies.com.

Background: After 25 years of experience in the technology and energy/industrial sectors, Charles Dauber founded Warm Commerce in 2018. The company was initially focused on providing a software platform that helped operators in the energy and industrial sectors to better source and manage their vendors/service providers. When the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) went into effect in 2022, Warm Commerce’s customers in the energy transition ...............READ MORE

Based in Toronto, Heliolytics is a pioneer in the solar industry and specializes in photovoltaic (PV) system performance via aerial inspection and integrated analytics. The acquisition of this former division of NovaSource Power Services enables the combining of Heliolytics' data insights with Zeitview’s expertise in aerial inspection technologies by bringing a suite of robust solar inspection diagnostic and analytic capabilities to further Zeitview’s advanced energy and infrastructure inspections. The combined company will perform aerial inspection on over 170 GW of solar this year.

Based in West Valley City, Utah, Veracio offers mining clients a range of solutions that improve, automate, and digitally transform their orebody sciences in exploration, resource definition and production. Based in Sweden, Minalyze develops scanning instruments for core samples and software for the visualization of geological data. With the combination of Veracio’s AI and advanced analytics solutions and Minalyze’s geological data visualization technology, this strategic acquisition will transform the way the industry captures, analyzes, and interprets geological information, ushering in an era of informed decision-making in an increasingly complex and data-driven world.

Based in Houston, Texas, Blueware-Headwave Ventures (“Blueware”) is a software and services company specializing in cloud and interactive deep learning solutions for subsurface decision-making including seismic interpretation. Blueware’s data format compresses raw and interpreted seismic data sets, making them adaptable and scalable. It enables fast data access, cost-effective cloud storage, and compute-intensive workflows. The company's flagship product, InteractivAITM, is a cloud-native software solution that leverages volume data storage to deliver an interactive AI tool, compressing seismic fault interpretation timelines from months to days through the combination of expert user input and cutting-edge deep learning. Acquiring Bluware is a step forward in CMG’s growth strategy of investing in strong technologies that expand its portfolio of upstream energy solutions.

Related Press Release: CMG Announces the Acquisition of Bluware-Headwave Ventures Inc.

The Advanced Clean Energy Storage project plans to use electrolysis to convert renewable energy into hydrogen and will utilize solution-mined salt caverns for seasonal, dispatchable storage of the energy. The first project, designed to convert and store up to 100 metric tons per day of hydrogen, is under construction and is expected to enter commercial-scale operations in mid-2025 to support the Intermountain Power Project’s “IPP Renewed” initiative. Several other opportunities for the project to produce and supply hydrogen to customers in the utility, transportation and industrial sectors in the western region of the United States are in development.

Zenobē is an EV fleet and grid-scale battery storage specialist, headquartered in the UK. The company began operations in 2017 with three founders and has over the past 6 years increased its staff to >230 employees. Zenobē now operates in Europe and Australasia and is expanding into North America. Zenobē has 430MW of battery storage in operation or under construction with another 1.2GW of projects in advanced development in the UK which equates to circa 20% market share forecast by 2026. KKR plans to work with Zenobē to meet the growing demand for EV adoption from bus operators and other commercial fleet businesses globally. KKR also expects to help Zenobē expand its grid-scale battery storage capacity through the construction and expansion of new and existing sites. The investment will help Zenobē to build on its leadership positions in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, while continuing to grow across continental Europe, and also expand into North America.

Lyten is an advanced technology company and pioneer in 3D graphene supermaterials. Lyten’s decarbonization supermaterials are being tuned for a wide range of applications, including the next-generation Lithium-Sulfur batteries for use in the automative, aerospace, defense, and other markets; a next-generation polymer composite that can reduce the amount of plastic used by up to half while maintaining structural and impact strength; and next-generation sensor arrays that significantly increase detection sensitivity and selectivity for use in automotive, industrial, health, and safety applications. Funding will be used to scale manufacturing and commercialize Lyten’s first three product lines: Lithium-Sulfur batteries, lightweighted composites, and next generation IoT sensors.

Related Press Release: Lyten Raises $200M in Series B Equity Round

Heliene is one of North America’s fastest-growing domestic module manufacturers serving the utility-scale, commercial, and residential markets. With an in-house logistics team and remarkably responsive support staff, Heliene delivers competitively priced, high performance solar modules precisely when and where customers need them to accelerate North America’s clean energy transition. Founded in 2010, Heliene consistently ranks as a highly bankable module manufacturer and has production facilities located in Canada, and the USA. The funding supports a previously announced 1.5 GW long-term module supply agreement with Nexamp and will enable Heliene to expand manufacturing capacity, create new jobs and bolster the U.S. solar supply chain.

Founded in 2019, Ambient Photonics (“Ambient”) is a leader in low-light energy harvesting technology for connected devices. Ambient will leverage the funding to expand its manufacturing capabilities and drive mass-market adoption of its proprietary low-light energy harvesting technology, which replaces disposable batteries in connected devices, such as remote controls, keyboards, mice, electronic shelf labels, and sensors. The company recently inaugurated its flagship manufacturing facility in Scotts Valley, California.

Founded in 2021, Lydian aims to produce sustainable, CO2-derived fuels and chemicals. Lydian's proprietary, high-temperature electric reactor enables the production of the world's lowest cost e-fuels, a category of drop-in alternatives to transportation fuels made from captured CO2 and renewable electricity. Lydian also aims to produce carbon-negative versions of many other industrial chemicals. Lydian plans to use the new funding to build an integrated pilot plant in 2024 which will be capable of producing over 5,000 gallons of SAF per year. Lydian is already producing small quantities of e-fuel in its Cambridge-based lab.

Related Press Release: Lydian Raises $12M for Energy-Efficient E-fuels

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Yotta Energy is delivering a green future with 'Energy Made Simple' solutions that incorporate solar, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging technologies into commercial buildings. Yotta has developed a unique PV-Coupled™ architecture, a smart energy storage solution designed to scale with rooftop solar PV projects effortlessly, in addition to a number of electric vehicle charging products to create a holistic ecosystem of renewable energy technologies. The funding will help the company scale up manufacturing and accelerate the deployment of its SolarLEAF battery technology.

Vaulted Deep (“Vaulted”) is a biomass carbon removal and storage carbon removal company dedicated to the geologic sequestration of organic wastes. Vaulted intercepts sludgy organic wastes – like biosolids, agricultural & livestock waste, paper sludge, and others– before they are dumped in a landfill or waterway or are left on land to decompose and pollute the air or water. Vaulted's exclusive use of Advantek's patented deep well slurry injection technology, initially developed to remediate legacy waste deposits from oil and gas developments, will sequester the tons of carbon trapped in these organic wastes deep in the earth.

OnSight Technology is a leading robotics and computer vision company that specializes in developing advanced solutions for the Utility and Commercial Solar Industry. By combining state-of-the-art technology with deep industry knowledge, OnSight Technology aims to transform traditional processes and drive efficiency, productivity, and safety. With this injection of funds, OnSight Technology is poised to propel its computer vision and autonomous driving initiatives to new heights, enabling OnSight Technology to strengthen its research and development capabilities, attract top-tier talent, and forge strategic partnerships to further refine and enhance their AI algorithms.

Energy Technology Musings

Why Aren’t IRA Tax Credits More Widely Traded?