Solar doubles, again

TECH

Corinex lands $42M for grid intelligence

What happened: Vancouver’s Corinex raised $42 million to help utilities monitor and manage grid load. United Kingdom-based Energy Growth Momentum led the round along with other European investors.

The tech: Corinex uses broadband over power lines (BPL) to enable utilities to monitor the grid. BPL adds a data signal on top of the existing electrical current, allowing smart devices across the grid to collect real-time data about energy use without building out a whole new communication and data layer.

The company is deploying in Germany, Spain and the UK, and has dozens of utility customers across Europe.

Why it matters: As demand grows and the grid becomes more complex with EVs and distributed power generation like solar panels, utilities need better visibility to manage and balance grid load.

Without tools like Corinex, utilities can’t effectively integrate decentralized power generation or battery storage or need to build out costly new communication networks.

What’s next: Corinex is riding momentum from efforts across Europe to modernize the grid and adopt more decentralized energy generation. The fresh capital will fuel expansion plans in the European market and R&D efforts.

CLIMATE CAPITAL

🏗️ Adaptis (Toronto, ON) closed a $4 million seed round for its building decarbonization platform led by Building Ventures. Adaptis offers an AI-powered cost and carbon decision platform to manage capital and decarbonization strategies for buildings.

♻️ PlasCred (Calgary, AB) received $500,000 to convert waste plastics into high-value Renewable Green Condensate, a drop-in feedstock for petrochemicals.

🔋 Northland Power (Toronto, ON) raised $120 million for its Jurassic Battery Energy Storage project in Alberta. The 80MW system will start operating next year with a 15-year fixed price contract.

MILESTONES & PRODUCT

⚡️ dcbel launched a new platform called Capacity to help utilities predict growing demand from distributed energy resources.

⚛️ Aalo Atomics unveiled the Aalo Pod, a 50MW modular reactor for data centers, offering zero-emission, scalable, and reliable on-site power with rapid deployment and built-in redundancy.

🚁 Canadian Advanced Air Mobility, a Vancouver-based aviation consortium, achieved the first hydrogen-powered helicopter flight with a pilot on board. 

🌲 CO280 signed a 12-year deal with Microsoft to remove 3.7 million tonnes of CO₂ from a U.S. paper mill.

🍎 European food waste startup Too Good To Go launched at Super C grocery stores in Quebec.

⚛️ Moltex Canada is up for sale after its UK-based parent company became insolvent. Moltex is one of two companies working with New Brunswick Power to build reactors in the province.

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NEWS

Solar leads record year for clean electricity

Clean energy continues to go up and to the right.

What happened: Low-carbon electricity sources met over 40% of global demand for the first time ever last year. Solar also hit a record, growing 29%, and is now doubling every three years.

“Solar generation took eight years to go from 100 TWh to 1,000 TWh, but it has only taken three years to double to over 2,000 TWh in 2024.” - Ember

Despite this progress, the world also hit an all-time high for electricity emissions mostly from air conditioning use in extreme heat.

Why it matters: Clean energy growth is keeping pace even as electricity demand accelerates. It’s a sign that clean energy adoption is a structural change and reliance on fossil fuels is likely to decline. 

Solar is taking off thanks to a combination of falling equipment costs, aggressive policy programs, and the rise of distributed systems. Kitchener’s Canadian Solar is one of the top solar module manufacturers, and one of the few leaders outside of China.

Yes, but: Canada is lagging on solar and wind adoption because of a reliance on abundant, low-cost hydro power and inconsistent political support from provinces (like Alberta’s renewables moratorium).

The bottom line: Doubling solar every three years is a radical shift in global energy. Faster adoption of clean energy like solar, wind and battery storage will be critical for Canada to deliver abundant, low-cost energy - and to be a leader in next-gen energy systems.

IN THE NEWS

🏗️ Party leaders pitch streamlined energy projects: Poilievre and Carney promised to speed up major projects by implementing a “one project, one review” approach to project assessment, and introducing “energy corridors” to fast-track major projects. It’s a rare point of agreement for the two, though Carney has suggested that pipelines might not be high on his list of priority projects. [CBC]

🇬🇧 UK looks to Canada for nuclear investments: The UK is looking to invest in Canadian nuclear energy projects through its export credit agency. The British government set up an office in Canada last fall to build on strong links between the two countries and policy alignment, particularly on nuclear. [The Logic]

⚡️ Alberta updates energy system: The province is moving forward with its Restructured Energy Market to deal with years of volatile prices and shortages while also limiting the need to build new infrastructure. Changes include day-ahead markets, encouraging power plants to be built in areas with existing infrastructure. The bill also enables blending hydrogen into natural gas. [G&M]

🌊 Ontario expands hydro generation: Ontario is working with First Nations to develop two new hydroelectric stations in Northern Ontario that could produce up to 430 megawatts. The province has earmarked $4.7 billion to refurbish and expand existing stations to meet a projected 81% increase in electricity demand by 2050. [CBC]

🔌 GM pauses EV production: GM will stop production at its BrightDrop EV plant in Ontario for 20 weeks. The cuts are the result of weak demand for its electric delivery vans. Tariff threats, lower business confidence, and less government support for EVs adoption are all impacting demand. [The Logic]

BIG PICTURE

Lucid Motors snaps up Nikola assets, while Polestar winds down its China business

Unilever will quit industry groups that lag on climate policy

The UK is studying blocking the sun to slow climate change

Trump signs executive orders to boost coal despite eroding economics

The US issued its first permit to store carbon from direct air capture

Insect protein startup Ÿnsect returns from insolvency with new CEO, funding

Finally, good billionaire things: Bezos is backing a $25K electric two-seater pickup

Maritime carbon price moves forward - without the US

COMMUNITY

🚀 Earth Tech 2050: Foresight Canada’s Earth Tech programs support cleantech ventures tackling the world’s most pressing climate challenges, providing mentorship, industry connections, and funding support.

➡️ See more funding opportunities.

🗓️ Removing Carbon in the Far North: Join me for this in-person conversation with TerraFixing co-founder and COO Vida Gabriel. We’re exploring how Canada’s cold climate can unlock carbon removal. Ottawa, April 23rd.

➡️ Discover more climate events.

💻️ dcbel is hiring a Community Manager to help make clean, efficient, and sustainable energy accessible to all.

➡️ Find more open roles.