Over my 20-year career in the Energy sector, I have witnessed the explosive demand for renewables, reaching a record $88B in renewable investment in 2023. While renewables have been around for decades, advanced software technologies now offer the financial incentives that make them more viable business investments than ever – a critical requirement that encourages real strategies and progress versus historical green washing.
At Stem, it is our mission to accelerate the clean energy transition. We stand at the intersection of AI and decarbonization – two megatrends driving economic growth and resilience across industries, primed with the proven success to help energy providers and users capitalize on the opportunities these megatrends can offer. Over the past decade Stem has brought together leading energy experts and developed powerful AI technologies to help our customers deploy and are contracted to manage more than $40 billion worth of renewable energy assets across the world. We broadened our storage scope to include solar with the acquisition of AlsoEnergy and as of last year, have been able to grow our solar business twice as fast as the market. We continue to expand our footprint across two of the largest and fastest growing renewables markets in North America – Texas and California. Indeed, we are making good headway on our mission.
This Earth Day, I am especially proud of our AI-driven software and services innovations – a testament to the hard work of our purpose-driven employees, partners, and investors. In a first-of-its kind alliance with SB Energy, the company’s co-CEO Rich Hossfeld said, “Integrating storage and AI-driven software throughout our platform is critical to our mission of providing flexible renewable energy at scale.”
In Texas, Mercuria Energy Trading, a leading global energy trader with more than 20 GW of renewable energy in its investments pipeline and commitments to direct more than 50 percent of their investments into the energy transition by 2025, turned to Stem to help further optimize its renewable energy assets in the ERCOT market. In California, community choice aggregators (CCAs), Central Coast Community Energy and Silicon Valley Clean Energy, selected Stem to help lower costs and offer a more reliable renewable energy supply for the communities and businesses they serve across California.
Even in highly complex energy markets like New York City, Stem is helping customers like NineDot Energy. David Arfin, NineDot Energy CEO and Co-founder, noted that Stem “was integral in helping NineDot advance [its] environmental commitments and bringing more reliable, clean energy to the communities [they] serve.” I am looking forward to even more progress in the region as Stem expects to install more than 700 MWh of energy storage assets in New York over the next two years.
Electric cooperatives across the country are seeing the value of AI-driven software to unlock the full potential of clean energy assets. We partnered with EDP Renewables North America on an energy storage system for Mohave Electric Cooperative (MEC), a not-for-profit distribution cooperative in Arizona. Together, the solar plus storage system will help MEC provide renewable power, mitigate peak period energy use, and ultimately, stabilize energy costs for its 36,700 members. Globally, we are helping operate Hungary’s largest PV power plant, a 304 MW DC power plant that is reducing Hungary’s reliance on natural gas and increasing electricity generated from alternative energy sources.
Regardless of where our customers are in their renewable energy strategies, the regions they operate in, or their level of sophistication in managing assets, Stem is at the ready to help drive financial and environmental value at scale.
Our recent sustainability-related recognitions further validate our commitment to clean energy innovation. Athena, Stem’s AI-driven clean energy platform was named 2023 Sustainability Product of the Year by Business Intelligence Group for our “continued innovation in helping organizations progress toward their decarbonization goals.” And the Environment + Energy Leader Awards program named Athena a Top Product of the Year remarking, “’[Athena’s] analytic sophistication is providing real value for customers and helping to scale renewable and clean technologies.” These testimonials affirm the exceptional impact and excellence of Athena in driving sustainability and energy efficiency.
There is certainly more work to be done but I am encouraged with the collective progress. California’s energy grid ran on 100% renewable energy for up to several hours each day last month. Stem is a member of the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) which shared that the climate impact of U.S. solar is equal to offsetting the carbon emissions of more than 12 million people (more than the population of New York and California combined). We saw a record 19 GW of utility-scale capacity installed in 2023 and demand continues to accelerate driven by new financing strategies by developers and utilities and a surge of government policies aimed at stimulating clean energy investment.
Stem will continue innovating on behalf of our customers and the planet. Advanced AI software will continue to be a critical enabler to address immediate and emerging renewable energy challenges while uncovering new opportunities. We look forward to further collaborating with the energy sector, policy makers, and business leaders to unlock the full potential of renewable energy assets.
