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Energy Vault, which recently raised $100 million in Series C funding, has achieved another milestone. The technology company, which uses gravity-based grid-scale energy storage to accelerate global decarbonization, will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) through a merger with Novus Capital Corporation II.

The two companies jointly announced that they’ve entered into a business agreement in order to trade on the NYSE under the symbol $GWHR. The transaction values the newly combined company at $1.1 billion and is expected to provide an additional $388 million in gross cash.

Robert Piconi will lead the combined company as the Chairman and CEO. In a press release that was emailed to me, the company pointed out that the demand for clean energy is growing globally. Renewables are expected to become 90% of total energy generation by 2050, and the company wants to support this transition by doing its part to increase grid-scale energy storage capacity tenfold, which will be needed in the next ten years.

To do this, Energy Vault developed a gravity energy storage platform designed to be cost-efficient, reliable, and safe to operate while also benefitting the environment. The press release noted:

“It is inspired by pumped hydro plants that rely on the power of gravity to store and discharge energy, combined with Energy Vault’s own material science and software innovations: it has replaced water with custom-made composite blocks, made with locally sourced soil or waste material, which are lifted and lowered to store and release energy on-demand. This proprietary system is orchestrated by Energy Vault’s AI-enabled software platform that incorporates advanced computer control and machine vision. The end result is a resilient supply of power and storage capacity with a system designed to have greater operational flexibility for both short and long duration storage, high round-trip-efficiency, lower capital and operating expenses, and an overall higher asset efficiency than competitors given the lack of degradation in the storage medium over.”

Energy Vault has also worked with large global utilities and independent power producers to optimize its energy storage technology platform and to ensure flexibility. Its first commercial-scale, 5 MW energy storage system was successfully connected to Switzerland’s national grid in 2020. The focus was on ancillary service performance, system round trip efficiency, and continuous power dispatching protocols; all of which were incorporated into the company’s latest design of a modular, flexible, higher power, and compact product architecture: the EVx™ platform.

The company focuses on addressing the issue of waste from existing energy generation assets. It’s doing this through a circular economic approach to the supply chain that is built upon the foundations of recyclability and environmental sustainability. Its technology is capable of recycling waste materials. An example of such is coal combustion residuals and glass fivers from decommissioned wind turbine blades. These normally end up in landfills.

The company utilizes advanced material science in collaboration with CEMEX’s material science lab and is able to sequester the waste materials within the composite blocks of its gravity-based energy storage systems. The company also has a pipeline of customers that are trying to address the issue of sustainable disposal as well as beneficial re-use of coal combustion residuals, which are the largest industrial waste streams generated in the U.S. every year.

Robert Piconia, CEO & Co-Founder of Energy Vault, shared thoughts on the new business combination with Novus.

“Energy Vault’s technology is designed to provide a cost-efficient, flexible and sustainable energy storage solution to meet the immediate needs of utilities, power producers and large industrial energy consumers that must solve the problem of power intermittency that is inherent with wind and solar energy generation. We developed our energy storage solution to get to market quickly given the urgent and global imperative to accelerate the decarbonization of the energy sector. Through the deployment of our transformative technology, which can store clean energy for grid-scale deployments while uniquely utilizing waste materials for beneficial reuse in the process, Energy Vault is re-defining the role that energy storage companies can and should play within a circular economic framework.

“We are excited to announce our business combination with Novus and look forward to becoming a public company given our recent advances in commercial scale technology validation and rapid customer adoption, which require additional capital to meet the global, multi-continent demand. As we focus now on the execution and deployment phase of the technology, we are thrilled to partner with the team at Novus who fully supports our mission of decarbonization and brings a deep experience set in new technology market development on a global scale.”

Robert Laikin, CEO of Novus, also gave a statement:

“Energy Vault is bringing an entirely new energy storage solution to the energy market and will lower the costs for utility companies and power producers that are transitioning to renewables but who need to maintain consistent energy supply to deliver dispatchable power. Their unique approach to addressing the need for dispatchable power delivery through their creation of transformative technologies while reusing waste materials in their process, sets them apart from any other player in the market, and makes them an obvious choice as a partner.

“We are thrilled to be joining Rob and his team at such a pivotal moment for the company and have every confidence in their ability to capture the rapidly growing energy storage opportunity. Since our IPO in early 2021, we looked at over 100 companies and we found a fantastic company, with a public company ready management team addressing a massive global market need that is underserved with existing solutions today. In our view, Energy Vault is the only grid-scale pure ESG energy storage company that exists in the market today.”

Bill Gross, CEO and Chairman of Idealab Studio, and Co-Founder of Energy Vault, touched on how Energy Vault is helping to solve one of the largest challenges with energy storage:

“We founded Idealab 25 years ago to find technological solutions to the world’s biggest challenges, and then build companies with great leadership and talent to drive those solutions to market. One of the biggest challenges the world faces today is cost-effective, large-scale energy storage, and Energy Vault is the gravity-storage breakthrough to achieve that. I look forward to supporting Rob and his team as they take this technology globally as a public company.”

 

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HEINEKEN is brewing beer with a massive 100 MWh heat battery

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HEINEKEN is brewing beer with a massive 100 MWh heat battery

Rondo Energy and energy producer EDP are installing a massive 100 MWh renewable-powered heat battery at HEINEKEN’s brewery in Lisbon, Portugal. The project will deliver round-the-clock renewable steam and reduce emissions without altering the facility’s beer brewing process.

Photo: Rondo

Brewing HEINEKEN with zero-carbon steam

The Rondo Heat Battery (RHB) will be the biggest deployed in the beverage industry worldwide. It can store electricity as high-temperature heat using refractory bricks, then convert that heat into 24/7 steam, all without burning fossil fuels.

At HEINEKEN’s Central de Cervejas e Bebidas Brewery and Malting Plant, the heat battery system will supply 7 MW of steam, powered by renewable electricity from onsite solar and the grid. That steam is identical to steam created by gas-fired boilers, but without the carbon pollution.

EDP is providing the renewable electricity and will deliver the steam directly to HEINEKEN via a Heat-as-a-Service model. Rondo is supplying the battery, and HEINEKEN gets to ditch fossil fuels without retooling its brewing process.

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Why this matters

This project is a big win for industrial decarbonization. High-temperature steam is one of the most complex parts of manufacturing to electrify, and the beer industry runs on it. HEINEKEN’s Lisbon site already uses solar panels for electricity and electric heat pumps for hot water, and this move helps it go even further.

It’s part of HEINEKEN’s “Brew a Better World” plan to hit net zero emissions by 2040 and decarbonize all of its global production sites by 2030.

Additionally, the deployment aligns with Portugal’s national target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.

The bigger picture

With the European Investment Bank and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst backing this and other Rondo projects with €75 million in funding, this Lisbon installation is just the beginning. Rondo’s technology enables energy-hungry industries to switch from fossil fuels to renewable electricity without compromising 24/7 operations.

Rondo CEO Eric Trusiewicz sums it up: “We are thrilled to be installing our first Rondo Heat Battery in Iberia, and to support HEINEKEN to reach its goals. We look forward to helping industries across Iberia cut costs and carbon, and help Iberia capitalize on the opportunity.”


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Lucid (LCID) misses Q3 earnings estimates, but there’s some good news

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Lucid (LCID) misses Q3 earnings estimates, but there's some good news

Lucid Group (LCID) reported third-quarter earnings after the market closed on Wednesday, missing top and bottom-line estimates.

With 4,078 vehicles delivered in Q3, Lucid marked its seventh straight quarter with higher deliveries. Through the first nine months of 2025, Lucid delivered nearly 10,500 vehicles, more than the roughly 10,200 it handed over in 2024.

Although supply chain issues hampered production in the first half of the year, Lucid’s CEO Marc Winterhoff said the company made “significant progress ramping production of the Lucid Gravity through Q3,” including adding a second manufacturing shift at its Casa Grande, Arizona, plant.

Lucid produced 3,891 vehicles in Q3, missing estimates of around 5,600. With 9,966 EVs produced through the third quarter, Lucid will need to build over 8,000 more to meet its full-year production goal of 18,000 to 20,000.

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According to estimates, Lucid is expected to report an adjusted quarterly loss of $2.27 per share on revenue of $352 million in Q3 2025.

Lucid-Q3-2025-earnings
Lucid Q3 2025 production and deliveries (Source: Lucid Group)

Lucid Group Q3 2025 earnings breakdown

Lucid missed top and bottom-line estimates as it continues to address industry-wide supply chain issues that are hampering production of the Gravity SUV.

Although it missed estimates, Lucid reported Q3 revenue of $336.6 million, which is still up 68% from $200 million in the same period last year.

Lucid’s net loss narrowed to $978.4 million in the third quarter, or $3.31 per share, from $992.5 million, or $4.09 per share, in Q3 2024. On an adjusted basis, Lucid posted a loss of $2.65 per share.

Lucid-Q3-2025-earnings
Lucid Q3 2025 earnings (Source: Lucid Group)

In addition, Lucid said it agreed with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to increase the delayed draw term loan credit facility (DDTL) from $750 million to around $2 billion.

Given the increase, Lucid said total liquidity would have been around $5.5 billion at the end of Q3, up from the $4.2 billion it reported. Lucid ended the third quarter with $1.6 billion in cash and equivalents.

Lucid-mind-off-L4-EVs
Lucid’s midsize crossover SUV (left) and Gravity SUV (right) Source: Lucid Group

Lucid said liquidity is enough to fund it through the first half of 2027, up from the second half of 2026, as previously forecast. Lucid plans to launch production of its more affordable midsize platform in late 2026 with vehicles starting at around $50,000.

Lucid confirmed it was still on track to start production of the midsize platform later next year. However, given the supply chain issues, it now expects to hit the lower end of its production goal at around 18,000.

Lucid-Q3-deliveries-production
The Lucid Gravity debuts in Europe (Source: Lucid)

Winterhoff said the company “remains intensely focused on ramping up production and addressing the significant supply chain disruptions impacting the entire industry.”

Lucid is advancing other emerging tech, including autonomy and intelligent mobility. Through a new partnership with NVIDIA, Lucid aims to be among the first to offer Level 4 autonomous driving.

The third-quarter earnings miss comes after Rivian (RIVN) beat expectations this week, reporting higher revenue and improving gross margins.

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Robinhood doubles revenue as it beats third-quarter earnings expectations

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Robinhood doubles revenue as it beats third-quarter earnings expectations

Robinhood shares take a hit after reporting earnings beat, new CFO

Robinhood beat Wall Street expectations for the third quarter on Wednesday, extending a hot streak that has made it one of the biggest large-cap U.S. tech stocks this year.

Here is how Robinhood’s results compared to Wall Street estimates, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: 61cents vs. 53 cents expected
  • Revenue: $1.27 billion vs. $1.19 billion expected

Revenue doubled year-over-year, while net income climbed to $556 million, or 61 cents per share, up significantly from the same quarter last year, when the company posted net income of $150 million, or 17 cents per share.

Transaction-based revenue, which is a proxy for trading activity, came in at $730 million, below StreetAccount’s $739 million estimate. 

“Q3 was another strong quarter of profitable growth, and we continued to diversify our business, adding two more business lines — Prediction Markets and Bitstamp — that are generating approximately $100 million or more in annualized revenues,” finance chief Jason Warnick said in the release.

Robinhood is closing the gap with Coinbase as it pushes beyond retail trading into full-scale wealth management. The company has been aggressively offering deposit matches to lure clients from Fidelity and Schwab, and assets under management have grown with its TradePMR acquisition.

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Robinhood year-to-date stock chart.

Robinhood shares pop more than 4% in overtime on earnings beat

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