LUGANO, SWITZERLAND & WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF.-- September 16, 2022 -- Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NRGV) (“Energy Vault”), a leader in sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, today announced further development for the EVx gravity energy storage platform in China. Specifically, a mandate has been issued announcing an initial 2-gigawatt hour (2 GWh) gravity energy storage project and the deployment of Energy Vault’s Energy Resiliency Centers (ERC’s) at the zero carbon industrial parks in China that will deploy Energy Vault’s EVx™ gravity energy storage technology.

In partnership with Atlas Renewable, EIPC (a policy oriented supporting organization (NGO) of the Investment Association of China), in conjunction with China Tianying (CHINA SHG: CNTY) and selected provincial and local governments, will develop five national zero carbon industrial parks, some of which will be built in previously underserved economic regions throughout China. The parks will utilize Energy Vault’s gravity energy storage technology and its Energy Management Software platform to support China’s mandated climate change and environmental policy: Carbon Peak in 2030 and Carbon Neutrality in 2060 - commonly referred to as “30-60.” The intention of the zero carbon industrial parks and deployments of Energy Vaults’ EVx platform is to support the acceleration of China’s progress toward their “30-60” goals.

As previously announced in February 2022, Energy Vault and Atlas Renewable signed a licensing and royalty agreement for the deployment of Energy Vault’s gravity energy storage technology in China which followed a $50 million equity investment into the company as part of the IPO earlier this year on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The companies immediately commenced the construction of a first 25 megawatt (MW), 100 MWh system outside Shanghai in the province of Rudong, which broke ground in March 2022 earlier this year.

The first announced site has been confirmed for a 2 GWh system supporting the local industrial development in association with the Tong Liao Municipal People’s Government located in Inner Mongolia which has a significant indigenous minority population. This agreement is a major step forward to support China’s new Gobi Desert Renewable Initiative announced in March 2022 and broad economic development goals, including enabling economic prosperity in underserved areas in alignment with China’s energy and economic policy in the Gobi Desert.

“This mandate demonstrates a strong endorsement and demand for the deployment of our gravity energy storage technology throughout China to help them execute their transition to clean energy and to meet their decarbonization goals,” said Robert Piconi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Energy Vault. “Together with Atlas Renewable, CNTY and the EIPC, we are making significant progress ahead of our original plans on the deployment of the first 100 MWh EVx system to support grid resiliency and delivery of renewable energy to the Chinese national grid, as well as additional development and deployment of additional EVx systems in China as this announcement demonstrates. We look forward to further deployment of our gravity and energy management software technology throughout China under this mandate.”

China Tianying Chairman Yan Shengjun remarked: “We have forged a strong partnership with Energy Vault at the leadership level and in several technical areas and are contributing to expand the local supply chain and other areas of efficiency at our first 25 MW, 100 MWh commercial scale system in Rudong. This will allow for additional improvements in constructability and capital cost optimization for all projects that Energy Vault and CNTY will collaborate on in the future, both in China and as a part of Energy Vault’s other regional expansions. We are grateful for our selection by a remarkable visionary, Robert Piconi and Energy Vault, to work on contributing our efforts to the great national policy of 30-60 for what it means to our homeland and the world.”

Mr. Zhang Jie, General Secretary of EIPC, stated: “EIPC is fulfilling its role as a resource for all parties, domestic and foreign, to actively pursue the goals of 30-60 that have additional benefits for enabling economic development goals.”

Atlas Renewable, CEO Eric Fang added: “China understands that its investment in producing renewable power must be balanced with the ongoing costs of producing that power and the critical need to store renewable power. Losing electrical power between production and consumption represents the fundamental challenge to address: estimates range from 6-10% national power loss in transmission and competition to access the grid. Energy Vault solves several critical issues in electrical power management by utilizing its gravity storage technology along with its AI software orchestration solutions that help with economic dispatching of power and power grid efficiency.”

Atlas Renewable Chairman Neil Bush remarked: “Intermittency is a key challenge in the transition to renewable energy. China’s commitment to deploy Energy Vault’s innovative gravity storage solution and the collaboration between the technical teams in building the first EVx resilience center is evidence of a global collaboration that should be modeled in addressing climate change.”