There’s been a lot of talk about remaking the electric grid in the U.S. and in Europe, preparing it for a tidal wave of intermittent renewable power and instant-on batteries. It’s happening in fits and starts, with utilities themselves alternately embracing and pushing back against the new, more distributed future. That’s been complicating grid upgrades.
But in places where the grid is unreliable or non-existent, where incumbent resistance doesn’t exist, potential disruptors are popping up. For years, setting up electric grids on islands or in remote territories was a costly proposition since their relatively small sizes ran counter to fossil fuels’ economies of scale. Now, though, renewables are flipping the script.
Yes, even renewables benefit from economies of scale. Scale can be relatively easy to find in places like the U.S., where projects might be large and financing easy to obtain, but in developing countries, it’s all harder to come by. Odyssey Energy Solutions is hoping to change that.
In an exclusive with TechCrunch+, the startup announced today that it has raised $5.43 million in a seed round led by Equal Ventures with Twelve Below, Abstract Ventures, Founder Collective and MCJ Collective participating. The new funds will go toward expanding its platform that enables the planning, financing, building and operating of renewable energy projects in developing economies.