What Gravity Power does

Gravity Power is a privately held Delaware/California LLC founded in 2009 and headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, that has developed a grid-scale, long-duration gravity-based mechanical energy storage system branded the Gravity Power Plant. The technology centers on a deep underground shaft containing a piston of reinforced rock and water in a closed-loop system; energy is stored by pumping water down a penstock to lift the piston, and electricity is generated when the piston descends, forcing water through a turbine. The system is designed to use off-the-shelf hydroelectric components (e.g., Andritz pump/turbines) and conventional mining excavation methods, with the design protected by six patents across 24 countries.

The company targets four primary customer verticals: electric utilities, renewable energy producers, government energy agencies, and geo-engineering/construction firms, with use cases spanning long-duration storage, frequency control, fast ramping, and resource shifting. Distribution is executed through direct enterprise sales augmented by a partner ecosystem comprising Stantec (top-10 engineering firm favored by utilities), The Robbins Company (EPC for shaft construction), and Freudenberg (sealing technology). The company positions the technology at approximately 4¢/KWh delivered to the grid — less than half the levelized cost of lithium-ion, per a PNNL comparison — with each plant intended to store thousands of MWh over a multi-decade operational life and approximately 80% locally sourced content.

Gravity Power operates with 1-10 employees, has no disclosed revenue, and is currently raising capital through a stock offering on the Picmi Crowdfunding platform, with a single documented funding inflow of $238,618 as of December 2023. The leadership team comprises Chairman and Acting CEO Steve Taber (serial renewable energy entrepreneur), inventor and Chief Innovation Officer Jim Fiske (MIT-trained, 30-year R&D veteran), VP Engineering & Construction and Acting CEO Tom Mason (former President of Calpine Power Company and President/COO of CalEnergy), and Business Development lead Chris Grieco, supported by a board that includes Dr. Brad Paden (UC Santa Barbara Professor Emeritus, IEEE Fellow) and the late Dr. Robert B. Weisenmiller (former Chair of the California Energy Commission).

Name

Gravity Power

Legal name

Gravity Power LLC

Website

https://gravitypower.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Gravity Power is a private Santa Barbara-based company developing grid-scale, long-duration gravity-based energy storage using an underground piston-water closed-loop system for utilities, renewable energy producers, and government energy agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Grid-Scale Energy Storage

NAICS

Hydroelectric Power Generation (221111), Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution (2211), Turbine and Turbine Generator Set Units Manufacturing (333611)

SIC

Engines & Turbines (3510), Motors & Generators (3621)

akta.pro primary industry

Gravity & Solid-Mass LDES (Lifted Weight, Rail, Mine-Shaft) (EUAFADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mechanical LDES (Pumped Hydro, Compressed/Liquid Air, Flywheels) (EUAFADAB), Pumped-Storage Hydroelectric Generation (EUACAEAC), Hydropower Turbines, Generators & Balance-of-Plant Equipment Manufacturing (EUAMAHAF), Hydropower Operations, Maintenance & Refurbishment (R&M/Life Extension) (EUACAEAG)

Keywords

• Grid-scale energy storage
• Gravity-based energy storage
• Utility energy storage
• Renewable energy integration
• Mechanical energy storage

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Barbara

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Energy Storage Facility Sales: Gravity Power builds and sells energy storage facilities (Gravity Power Plants) to utilities, renewable energy producers, and government entities. The facilities store energy when renewables are abundant and return it to the grid during peak demand periods at approximately 4¢/KWh, providing long-term energy storage infrastructure.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Gravity Power designs, builds, and sells utility-scale, long-duration energy storage facilities (Gravity Power Plants) for electric utilities, renewable energy producers, and government energy agencies. The system uses a deep underground shaft containing a piston of reinforced rock in a closed-loop water system: water pumped down a penstock lifts the piston to store energy, and as the piston descends, water is forced through a turbine to generate electricity. The technology relies on proven off-the-shelf hydroelectric components and conventional mining-based shaft excavation, delivering thousands of MWh per plant at approximately 4¢/KWh.

Product overview

Gravity Power offers a single unified product—the Gravity Power Plant—a gravity-based energy storage system that leverages existing commercial hydroelectric technologies. The system uses a deep underground shaft containing a piston of reinforced rock in a closed-loop water system. Energy is stored when water is forced down a penstock lifting the piston; power is generated when the piston descends, driving water through turbines. The company has no separate product modules, add-ons, or platform-plus-components architecture—it provides one integrated physical product solution for utility-scale long-duration energy storage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gravity Power Plant

Quantifiable outcome

• 4¢/KWh cost to return energy to grid - less than half the cost of lithium ion including round-trip energy losses
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• StanteccoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner
• The Robbins CompanycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner
• FreudenbergsupportingTechnology or Integration

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Andritz (Hydropower): Andritz is a global hydropower equipment OEM and pumped-storage hydro turnkey provider; Gravity Power explicitly uses Andritz pump-turbines in its design. Andritz is both a potential supplier and a competitor in the broader pumped-storage/megawatt-scale storage market.
• Tesla (Megapack / Energy Storage): Tesla's Megapack is a dominant, utility-scale lithium-ion storage product sold to the same investor-owned utility customers Gravity Power targets. As an incumbent with manufacturing scale and installed base, Tesla represents the largest competitive alternative in utility storage procurement.
• Fluence Energy: Fluence is a leading global utility-scale energy storage integrator offering battery-based systems, software, and services to utilities and developers. It competes broadly with Gravity Power for utility LDES and grid-services contracts.

Emerging players

• Form Energy: Form Energy is developing iron-air battery technology for multi-day grid storage, competing in the same long-duration utility storage category as Gravity Power but with a different (electrochemical) technology approach.
• LightSail Energy: LightSail Energy develops compressed air energy storage, an alternative mechanical LDES approach competing for the same long-duration utility storage market that Gravity Power's gravity-based system addresses.

Direct peers

• Hydrostor: Hydrostor develops Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) in underground caverns, targeting the same long-duration utility storage segment with a subsurface mechanical architecture. Both companies compete in underground mechanical LDES for utility procurement.
• Energy Vault: Energy Vault is the leading publicly-traded gravity-based LDES company, deploying tower- and weight-based systems targeting the same utility-scale long-duration storage market. It is the closest direct competitor to Gravity Power's grid-scale mechanical storage proposition.
• Gravitricity: Gravitricity is a UK-based gravity energy storage company that lifts heavy weights in former mine shafts to store energy — directly comparable to Gravity Power's mine-shaft gravity LDES concept and overlapping use cases for deep underground sites.
• Advanced Rail Energy Storage (ARES): ARES is developing rail-based gravity energy storage, representing an alternative mechanical-gravity LDES approach competing for the same utility-scale, long-duration storage RFPs that Gravity Power targets.
• Quidnet Energy: Quidnet Energy is developing subsurface pumped hydro energy storage using abandoned oil and gas wells, sharing Gravity Power's underground-mechanical-storage approach and targeting similar utility-scale long-duration applications.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights3 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gravity Power