Energy Vault Inc. is combining with a blank-check company to go public in a merger that values the gravity-based energy-storage company at roughly $1.6 billion, the companies said.
Energy Vault uses a block tower system to store and release renewable energy from wind and solar operations. Employing software to gauge when power demand is low, it uses surplus renewable energy to essentially store power by constructing the tower with a crane. When demand rises, the crane unstacks the tower, producing kinetic energy by dropping the blocks so that they can turn generators and create electricity.