BBy Tim McDonnell, Semafor Net Zero
BInvestors in large-scale batteries say they dodged a bullet in the budget law signed by US President Donald Trump this month, and are planning for a reinvigorated buildout.
While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act significantly pared back tax incentives for wind, solar, and electric vehicles, energy storage projects can still qualify for Biden-era tax credits as long as they’re under construction before 2034.
That’s a positive sign for the stability of an electric grid increasingly swamped by data centers, since batteries are now often the most cost-effective way to get more value out of existing power plants. And it’s a win for the firms investing in new battery projects and manufacturing facilities.
“Storage came out relatively unscathed” from the OBBBA negotiations, said Gabriel Kra, managing director of Prelude Ventures, a climate tech venture capital firm. Prelude was a major backer of two fast-growing battery startups, Form Energy and Redoxblox. A third, Quantumscape, which went public in 2020, has seen its share price triple in the past month after the rollout of a new technology.
“We’re very bullish on storage,” Kra said. “It’s a really exciting place to invest right now.”
RRead on for more on the challenges battery projects still face
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