Electricity Maps has recently raised a financing round of €5 million, led by climate funds Transition and Revent. This milestone marks a major step in scaling the company's global impact and strengthening its mission to provide accurate, real-time data for a greener energy future.
About Electricity Maps
Electricity Maps provides businesses with actionable electricity data across 230+ regions, helping them reduce carbon emissions effectively.
The platform empowers products and services to differentiate their offerings by enabling end-users to become more carbon-aware.
How Electricity Maps Helps Businesses
- Consumer Engagement & Flexibility
Real-time electricity data boosts user engagement and flexibility in B2C interfaces. - Carbon-aware Electricity Consumption
Optimize flexible systems to minimize costs and emissions by using electricity when it’s clean and cheap. - Carbon Reporting
Generate detailed carbon footprint reports for business customers and internal use.
Key Features
- Actionable Electricity Data:
Access historical, real-time, and forecasted data for over 230 regions. - Powerful API:
Integrate data into products via the commercial API to help end-users make sustainable choices. - Extensive Data Insights:
Explore data on carbon intensity, grid consumption mix, and renewables percentage. - Open Public Data:
Access real-time visualizations and historical data via the app, Data Portal, and personal API.
Broad Data Offering
- Global Coverage:
Data for 200+ regions across 50+ countries. - Quality & Transparency:
Peer-reviewed methodology, flow tracing, and life-cycle emission accounting ensure accuracy.
How to Use the Data
The Electricity Maps API provides seamless access to global electricity data. It simplifies integration with existing systems and allows for developing new solutions.
The API delivers hourly data on carbon intensity and electricity production/consumption with a peer-reviewed, scientific methodology.
Journey to Success
Since its founding in 2016, Electricity Maps had primarily been bootstrapped, growing and hiring only when revenue allowed.
Despite these constraints, the company achieved remarkable progress by doubling its revenue annually and expanding its app to millions of yearly visitors.
Its commercial API now handles nearly 10 million daily requests.
However, the increasing scrutiny and demand for data left users and customers wanting more. The company had struggled to meet this demand due to its limited resources for hiring and scaling.
This recent funding will change that, enabling Electricity Maps to expand its team and reach.
Why the Funding Matters
2023 was the warmest year since global records began in 1850, with temperatures averaging 1.2°C above the 20th-century norm.
Much of this temperature increase is attributed to human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily CO2 from the energy sector.
Driven by the urgent need to eliminate fossil fuels, the world is experiencing one of the most profound transformations in human history.
This transition demands large-scale electrification and a continuous supply of fossil-free electricity.
- Renewable Energy Boom: Renewable energy is booming, offering the cheapest electricity when the sun shines or the wind blows.
- Electrification Trend: Energy usage is rapidly electrifying as societies move away from fossil fuel-based transportation, heating, and industrial systems.
The increasing flexibility of new electricity demands allows usage to shift to times when electricity is both cheaper and cleaner.
This shift aligns with Electricity Maps' previous work involving heat pumps, electric vehicles, data centers, and home appliances.
Addressing Challenges with Real-Time Data
Balancing the growing demand for electricity with an intermittent energy supply requires real-time interaction with the grid via data APIs.
Moreover, the risk of greenwashing can slow down the energy transition. Electricity Maps aims to tackle these challenges by driving data-driven decarbonization.
Next Steps
With the additional €5 million in funding, Electricity Maps is poised to accelerate its mission by mapping the world's electricity grids in greater detail.
Plans include expanding the app and API to include more relevant signals.
The company is now actively seeking the brightest minds to join its team and contribute to this ambitious vision.
