Finnish startup Cactos raises over €26M to increase its battery energy storage system portfolio
The increasing popularity of electric vehicles, combined with the volatile energy markets, is boosting the demand for smart energy storage systems.
HELSINKI, Finland (January 11th, 2023) Cactos, a developer of smart energy storage systems, has raised over €26M worth of equity investments in its Cactos Fleet Finland Limited Partnership (Company) to finance the growth of its battery energy storage system portfolio. Lead investors in the round are OP Finland Infrastructure LP and the Finnish Climate Fund. Cactos Fleet Finland LP aims to raise a total of €70M in capital, consisting of €35M in equity and €35M in debt. The company intends to invest all of its capital into smart energy storage units in an investment period of approximately two and a half years and with an expected operational period of approximately ten years.
“We established Cactos Fleet Finland LP because the energy transition requires significant investment in infrastructure, especially in assets capable of participating in demand response and grid services. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are an excellent way to create more flexibility in consumption, as well as balance the grid as a whole. But smart energy storage units can do much more – that’s why Cactos Fleet Finland LP provides best-in-class behind-the-meter smart energy storage systems on a lease basis to clients who can utilize them to optimise local consumption and production, ensure resilience of electricity supply as well as to participate in grid level operations, such a frequency balancing,” says Cactos founder and CEO Oskari Jaakkola.
The company’s smart energy storage systems are installed in premises where they offer clients a hedge against price volatility, level out local demand peaks, offer backup power, and optimize the use of the property’s own electricity production, where applicable. Together, all units owned by Cactos Fleet Finland LP are aggregated through Cactos proprietary software platform, Cactos Spine, to create a large virtual battery that supports the stability of the transmission system. This supports and enables the growth in renewable energy by balancing generation and consumption, and provides revenue for the company and clients.
“Large housing, real estate, and logistics companies need solutions to tackle, for example, large energy consumption peaks caused by simultaneous charging of multiple electric vehicles and to protect themselves from electricity market volatility. An energy storage unit together with our cloud computing service, Cactos Spine, automatically optimizes these functions,” Jaakkola explains.
The current financing round enables the large-scale deployment of smart energy storage systems. In December 2023, the company owned approximately 50 Cactos One battery energy storage units, and thanks to the latest financing, its portfolio will grow to more than one thousand units in the coming years. The largest system currently owned by the company is a 2.5 MWh Cactos One energy storage system installed in a logistic center in Tuusula, Finland.
All energy storage units owned by Cactos Fleet Finland Limited Partnership are developed and manufactured by Cactos. The models include the Cactos One Classic unit made from second-life Tesla EV batteries and the first-life lithium iron phosphate battery-based Cactos One Cardo. All units are automated by the Cactos Spine cloud system.
"The growth in weather-dependent electricity generation has also increased the volatility of the electricity markets and the need for energy storage. We are happy to be able to work together with Cactos to offer solutions that benefit the customers and simultaneously improve the stability of the entire electricity grid," says Tuomo Urrila from OP Finland Infrastructure LP.
"The green transition requires the electrification of all sectors of society. As domestic electricity demand and highly weather-dependent renewable energy production increase, local infrastructure supporting clean electricity production will be a critical factor for the success of the future energy system. What's interesting about Cactos' investment company is that the energy storage systems are offered to the customers with a service model and can therefore be put into use quickly,” says Toni Mikkonen, interim CEO of the Finnish Climate Fund.
The company’s customer base includes the logistics company Logitri Oy, Ahola Group Oy, Heka Oy, and Keskusosuuskunta Oulun Seudun Sähkö. In particular, large logistics companies and vehicle charging stations are interested in smart energy storage systems, as the electrification of transportation requires investments in charging infrastructure. In addition, the increase in the production of solar power, together with the fluctuation of electricity market prices, has increased the demand for electricity storage systems that can smartly store and release stored solar energy when needed.
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For additional information:
Oskari Jaakkola, CEO
+358 41 4626520
oskari@cactos.fi
About Cactos
Cactos’ smart energy storage system secures critical power supply locally and allows for efficient utilisation of renewable energy internationally. The units are made out of lithium iron phosphate batteries and upcycled Tesla batteries. The energy storage units offer high-capacity backup power and perform local energy optimisation operations, bringing economic benefits and resilience to our clients and grid operators. Established in 2021, Cactos builds its units in Northern Finland, in a town called Muhos, and has multiple large clients in a variety of sectors and industries.
For more information, visit https://en.cactos.fi.
About Cactos Fleet Finland LP
Cactos Fleet Finland LP, an investment company focused exclusively on battery energy storage, is an EU Taxonomy Regulation (SFDR) Article 8 investment company, whose investments promote environmental factors. Among other things, the company's battery energy storage systems support the charging of EV’s by limiting peak demand and enable more efficient utilization of locally produced renewable energy. The grid services provided by the company's BESS’s enable the increase of renewable energy generation in the grid and support the electrification of society. Between the beginning of 2023 and December 2023, Cactos Fleet Finland LP's BESS’s had supported the Finnish transmission system for more than 5,000 hours, i.e. more than 60% of the time. Cactos Fleet Management Finland Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cactos Ltd, acts as the general partner of Cactos Fleet Finland LP.
About OP Finland Infrastructure LP
OP Finland Infrastructure LP is a fund investing in Finnish infrastructure. The fund is managed by OP Asset Management Ltd, part of OP Group. The fund has committed capital of EUR 260 million from Finnish investors. The fund has an evergreen structure which enables the fund to be a truly long-term partner for owners of Finnish infrastructure. Investment operations are carried out in co-operation with Access Capital Partners.
About the Finnish Climate Fund
The Finnish Climate Fund is a Finnish state-owned special-assignment company. Its operations focus on combating climate change, boosting low-carbon industry and promoting digitalisation. The Climate Fund invests in large-scale projects in which the fund’s investment is crucial to enable the project’s realisation in the first place, on a larger scale or earlier than it would with funding from elsewhere.
