Energy Vault, a provider of grid-scale energy storage solutions, announced its formal entry into the Japanese market through a binding agreement to acquire a pipeline of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects from a leading domestic energy storage developer.
The acquired portfolio consists of 350 MW of advanced-stage BESS projects targeted to commence construction in the second half of 2027 and reach commercial operations beginning in the second half of 2028.
The portfolio also includes 500 MW of early-stage BESS projects, providing a multi-year growth pipeline that positions Energy Vault in the Japanese energy storage market.
“Entering the Japanese market is a key component of our high-growth markets expansion strategy and represents one of the most compelling energy storage growth opportunities globally,” said Robert Piconi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Energy Vault. “This acquisition provides us with a foundational leadership position in Japan with advanced-stage, attractive storage IPP projects coupled with critical local execution capabilities necessary to deliver at the highest performance levels within the Japanese BESS market. By combining our proprietary VaultOS energy management software and global supply chain with a proven local team, we are uniquely positioned to accelerate the deployment of the flexible capacity that the Japanese grid urgently requires.”
Energy Vault’s active global portfolio of owned assets is stated to be over 1 GW of critical energy and AI digital compute infrastructure in operation or under construction, including newly announced expansions in “powered land” and “powered shell” modular data centers in the U.S. market.
In March, the company announced the acquisition of the McMurtre BESS from Belltown Power, a utility-scale renewable energy project developer. The 175 MW/350 MWh project is located in the ERCOT North market near Dallas, Texas. The McMurtre BESS is expected to receive notice to proceed in Q4 2026, with commercial operation targeted for December 2027.
According to Mercom’s Annual and Q4 2025 Funding and M&A Report for Energy Storage, there were 65 energy storage project M&A transactions in 2025, compared to 38 transactions in 2024.
