Enode
Our Investment in Enode
Enode’s API enables utilities to manage demand response from DERs across its grid, making the latter more resilient amid a growing field of electricity-consuming assets.
The transition to a renewable energy future will require new infrastructure that intelligently manages energy needs across the grid. This is especially true in the U.S., where there is both growing demand for electricity and an increasing share of electricity supply from intermittent renewables, such as solar and wind energy. Propelling this skyrocketing demand is a trend called the “electrification of everything,” describing the proliferation of electricity-powered consumer assets like EVs, electric heat pumps, home batteries, and more, that increase our reliance on the electric socket as a primary energy source. In a recent article published in The Wall Street Journal, Tufts Fletcher School Professor Amy Myers Jaffe asserts that this transformation of our energy consumption will require technologies that “reduce pressure on the grid as demand for electricity takes off.”
We’ve previously shared our belief that software plays an important role in providing a “smart” layer to manage demand from the growing number of electric devices and assets, so-called “Distributed Energy Resources” (DERs). We believe digital tools, that optimize energy supply to DERs when it is cheapest, are key to building a resilient and dependable grid. For this reason, we’re excited to share our investment in Enode as it enables utilities to become more resilient by controlling electricity demand across the growing long-tail of consumer DERs. The company, founded by Henrik Langeland, Thorvald Thorsnes, and Nikolai Heum, has made incredible strides over the past several months since its launch in Europe. And with so much more of the market to capture, we’re excited to support it as it grows its customer base of utilities.
Through Enode’s API, utilities can seamlessly and efficiently integrate with an array of consumer devices and assets.
What is Enode?
Based in Oslo, Norway, Enode enables utilities to manage energy demand across the grid by controlling the electricity consumption of devices such as EVs, chargers, solar panels, and other connected assets. It does this through its API, which provides a one-to-many connection between the utility and DERs in the network. By taking on the heavy-lifting of integrating with each discrete asset and manufacturer, Enode relieves the utility of the cost, effort, and complexity of building out those connections on its own.
Why did we invest?
An important layer to the renewable energy infrastructure
As the footprint of solar panels and wind energy turbines continues to expand, the intelligence layer will help efficiently match supply and demand in a renewables-heavy environment, improving costs, reliability, and resiliency of the grid. We believe the software layer is a crucial technology that will enable renewables to grow their share of energy supply to the grid while mitigating catastrophic events like blackouts and other systemic failures.
The DER market is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade with HVAC and EVs being the primary drivers.
Encouraging Signs of Product-Market Fit
Since its launch in the Fall of 2020, Enode has demonstrated impressive traction in terms of sales and adoption in its home market of Europe. The company’s value proposition clearly resonates strongly with utilities, which pay a monthly rate for each connected device on its grid.
The growing adoption of EVs, electric HVAC systems, and other connected devices will push the DER market to 10B devices by the end of the decade. As the “electrification of everything” gains increasing momentum, we strongly believe Enode will be an integral part of the renewable energy infrastructure of the future.
