Energy Capital Partners (ECP) has closed its sixth flagship equity fund with USD $8.1 billion in commitments, exceeding its original $5 billion target. The fund will invest across power generation, renewables, energy storage, and sustainable infrastructure, with backing from sovereign wealth funds, pensions, insurance companies, asset managers, and family offices. ECP cited rising electricity demand from AI, data centers, industrial growth, and electrification as key investment drivers.

U.S. perovskite solar startup Tandem PV has acquired Oregon-based nexTC, bringing critical thin-film coating technology and expertise in-house as it prepares for commercial-scale manufacturing. The acquisition gives Tandem greater control in producing high-efficiency perovskite-silicon tandem solar panels, reducing reliance on external suppliers while accelerating process optimization. The deal follows the opening of Tandem's 40 MW commercial demonstration facility in Fremont, California, where it is producing panels for customer validation ahead of full-scale commercialization. Tandem has raised more than $100 million to date.

Hydrostor has signed a power purchase agreement with California community choice aggregator Clean Energy Alliance for 60 MW of capacity from its 500 MW / 4 GWh Willow Rock Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage project in Kern County. The long-duration storage facility, now under construction, will provide grid reliability for more than 255,000 customers and represents Hydrostor’s first utility-scale U.S. project.

Texas-based home energy and battery storage startup Base Power has raised $1 billion in Series D funding at a $13 billion post-money valuation. The company will use the capital to scale deployment of its Base Core home battery system, expand nationally, and grow its workforce. The round was led by Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, and JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, highlighting growing investor interest in distributed energy resources and grid reliability.

Amsterdam-based long-duration energy storage startup Ore Energy has raised $43 million in Series A funding to commercialize its iron-air battery technology, which uses iron, water, and air to store renewable energy for up to 100 hours. The technology works by reversing the rusting process, converting iron oxide back into metallic iron during charging and re-oxidizing it during discharge to release electricity, enabling grids to continue operating through multi-day periods of low wind and sun. Led by Plural and HV, the funding will support construction of the company’s first manufacturing facility as it targets GWh-scale production by 2028 for multi-day renewable energy storage.

US advanced nuclear startup Oklo has achieved first criticality at its Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Texas, a project supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The milestone, reached less than one year after breaking ground, establishes an operational platform for isotope production and provides experience to support Oklo’s broader commercialization of advanced nuclear technologies.