Moment Energy, the Coquitlam-based company that repurposes used electric vehicle batteries to make larger-scale power banks, has raised another $22 million towards the construction of a new giga-factory in Texas, with Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN) among the investors.
The company has just closed on a Series A funding round co-lead by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and Voyager Ventures, according to a Thursday announcement. This follows on $28 million (US$20.3 million) in funding raised in October 2024 from the U.S. Department of Energy to locate a new manufacturing plant in Taylor, Texas.
In total, Moment Energy has $75 million (US$52 million) raised to date.
Founded in 2020 by four graduates of the Mechatronic Systems Engineering program at Simon Fraser University, Moment Energy addresses the problem of what to do with old EV batteries when they start wearing down. Recycling them is cost prohibitive. So the company developed a process for reusing them.
When chained together, multiple lithium-ion batteries can still have enough charging and discharging capacity for larger-scale energy storage, which can be important for integrating intermittent wind and solar power into grids.
Moment Energy buys used batteries from automakers such as Mercedez Benz and Nissan North America, and stacks them into larger rechargeable energy storage systems that can be used by industries or power utilities for load balancing and peak shaving — the process of smoothing out electricity flows by using battery storage to deal with demand spikes.
Moment plans to build a new giga-factory in Texas that would create 250 new jobs there. The total estimated cost of the new factory has not been revealed.
“This funding marks a pivotal milestone for Moment Energy, enabling us to further advance our operations and lead the charge in transforming retired EV batteries into valuable battery energy storage systems,” said Moment Energy co-founder and CEO Edward Chiang.
“By providing a new path for second-life batteries, we’re able to enhance grid stability, increase lithium security in North America, and support renewable energy integration. We serve as a catalyst for an exciting new circular economy that increases energy security as energy demand rises.”
Moment Energy is one of seven B.C. cleantech companies to make the Cleantech Group's 2024 global Cleantech 100 list.
