Terrament Co-Founder on Leveraging Existing Technologies to Scale Long Term Energy Storage

How can product leaders turn today’s climate urgency into scalable hardware and software solutions that attract capital, unlock long-term energy storage, and build the diverse teams needed to make it all work? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this podcast, host Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech & Sustainability SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing Terrament Co-Founder & COO Eric Chaves to discuss leveraging existing technologies to scale long term energy storage solutions, as well as the importance of diverse experiences to identify a co-founder and future hires.

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Show Notes

1. Terrament is developing a mechanical, gravity-based energy storage solution designed for large-scale grid applications.
2. The technology involves heavy weights in a mine shaft, mimicking the principles of pumped hydro, but able to be sited anywhere.
3. Founder Eric Chaves’s motivation was tackling long-duration energy storage to support grid stability and renewable integration.
4. CEO Katie Gardner brings vital expertise in mining engineering, project finance, and leadership to the company.
5. Teramint’s solution leverages proven mining technology, reducing technical risk and supporting rapid deployment.
6. Energy storage is critical for preventing future blackouts; US government research shows urgent need for solutions.
7. Unlike chemical batteries, Terrament aims for long-duration (10-24 hour) storage, essential for renewable-heavy grids.
8. Modular design and factory-produced components enhance scalability and deployment speed.
9. Terrament’s design philosophy revolves around simplicity, robustness, and minimal complexity to control costs and risks.
10. The market opportunity is substantial, especially as data centers increasingly require reliable, on-site, renewable-powered backup.
11. Terrament has progressed from bootstrapped prototypes to forming partnerships and entering a funded scale-up phase.
12. Pilot demonstration is planned for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, proving feasibility before scaling to underground application.
13. The roadmap targets a pilot project by 2027/2028 and a full commercial-scale plant by around 2030.
14. Major challenges include finding the right partners, investors, and engineering talent specialized in heavy industry.
15. Diversity and inclusion are central values for Terrament, seen as both a business and cultural necessity.
16. The company emphasizes using existing infrastructure and proven approaches to minimize cost and market adoption barriers.
17. Data centers’ skyrocketing energy needs make “bring your own power” (BYOP) solutions increasingly essential.
18. Terrament seeks to engage and recruit partners, investors, and key team members to accelerate growth.
19. The company encourages prospective employees to have experience in large-scale manufacturing and a mindset for simple, robust engineering.
20. Terrament views sector-wide collaboration, resilience, and a focus on tangible, responsible targets as key to addressing the broader environmental crisis.