ArcelorMittal makes further investment in Form Energy via XCarb® Innovation fund

Image by ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, announced on 4 October that it has invested a further $17.5 million in Form Energy Inc. (‘Form Energy’ or ‘Form’) via its XCarb® Innovation fund. The investment, which is part of Form’s oversubscribed $450 million Series E financing round, is the second investment ArcelorMittal has made in the company, following its initial investment of $25 million announced in July 2021.

Form Energy was founded in 2017 and is developing, manufacturing, and commercialising a new class of cost-effective, multi-day energy storage systems that will enable a reliable and fully renewable electric grid year-round. It is currently engaged in a robust site selection process for its first full scale battery manufacturing facility. Starting with identifying over 100 initial sites across 16 states, Form has narrowed the site selection to three states and expects to make an announcement in this regard before the end of the year.

At the time of ArcelorMittal’s initial investment in Form, the two parties also signed a joint development agreement to explore the potential for ArcelorMittal to provide direct reduced iron (‘DRI’), tailored to specific requirements, to Form as the iron input into their battery technology. Work falling under this agreement to define the operational modifications to produce a specially modified DRI product for Form Energy’s batteries has progressed well and plans are being put in place for larger scale production trials.

Commenting, Irina Gorbounova, head of the XCarb® Innovation fund, ArcelorMittal, said, “Form has made exciting progress in advancing the development of its technology since our initial investment last year, and we are pleased to further extend our involvement with them as they work towards establishing their first large scale manufacturing facility.

 “Steel plants operate on a 24/7 basis so as we evolve our manufacturing processes to incorporate clean energy sources, sourcing solutions to overcome the intermittent nature of renewable energy has an important role to play in our decarbonisation journey. Companies like Form exemplify why we established the XCarb® Innovation fund; they can play an important role in helping our industry’s transition. Investing and partnering with companies through our fund not only helps them to develop their technologies faster, but it also leaves us well placed to directly benefit as the technology matures to industrial scale.”

The XCarb® Innovation fund was launched in March 2021. The fund supports ArcelorMittal’s ambition to lead the decarbonisation of the global steel industry. It builds on the industry-leading suite of decarbonisation technologies ArcelorMittal is developing and deploying by investing in companies which are developing technologies which hold the potential to support and accelerate the transition to low-carbon emissions – and ultimately net zero – steelmaking.

Since launch the fund has made investment commitments totalling $197.5 million, investing in companies developing technologies across several domains including: carbon capture, utilisation and storage; disruptive hydrogen technologies; clean energy technologies; and long-duration, large-scale energy storage technologies. Through the fund ArcelorMittal is also a founding partner in Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst program, a venture founded by Bill Gates which aims to combine public and private finance to ensure widespread adoption of next-generation clean technologies.