Janus Continental Group (JCG), a conglomerate with businesses in the Energy, Hospitality and Real Estate sectors across three continents, has invested $13m in Highview Enterprises, a developer of liquid air long-duration energy storage systems, called the CRYOBatter.

JCG’s investment arm Janus Capital took part in the funding round alongside Sumitomo Heavy Industries and TSK, raising a total of $70m.

JCG’s subsidiary, Great Lakes Africa Energy (GLAE), will license Highview Power’s cryogenic energy storage technology to co-develop large-scale renewable energy generation and storage projects.

The investment will tackle the renewable energy storage gap that currently exists across Africa, where nearly 600 million people live without access to electricity.

The investment is hoped to increase regional uptake of renewable energy and storage.

JCG believes in a diversified energy solution for Africa, and technology like Highview Power’s will facilitate an increase in the use of renewable energy, reducing regional dependency on fossil fuels and bringing accessible energy to underserved communities.

Highview Power’s liquid air long duration energy storage systems offer multiple gigawatt hours of storage, is scalable with no size limitations, and produce zero emissions.

Unlike other long-duration energy storage solutions, such as pumped hydro-power or compressed air, the CRYOBattery has no geographic constraints and has a small footprint, even at gigawatt levels.

At utility-scale, Highview’s storage systems paired with renewables are equivalent in performance to fossil fuels and nuclear baseload power.

The Great Lakes and Southern Africa regions currently suffer from frequent power shortages.

This is symptomatic of a wider $108bn infrastructure deficit in Africa, which contributes to the continent’s low levels of electricity access.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that by 2035, developing nations will constitute 80% of total global energy production and consumption.

JCG believes that a large proportion of this demand must be met by renewable energy, and long-duration energy storage is key to unlocking its full potential.

JCG’s subsidiary, GLAE is part of its commitment to creating energy infrastructure in under-served areas.

GLAE is currently developing a 250 MW gas-powered plant in Mozambique.

Rikin Shah, CEO of JCG, will join the Board of Directors at Highview Power.

He brings extensive experience in building adaptable business models to support sustainable and profitable growth in sub-Saharan energy markets.

Shah said: “We believe there is a huge joint opportunity for JCG and Highview to unleash the potential of renewable energy across Africa. We saw enormous value in investing in Highview, both strategically to develop new technologies in the energy space, and operationally to support JCG’s wider growth and business goals.”

“Highview is an inspirational example of true innovation in energy, and the synergy between their team and ours motivated JCG to make this investment. Together, we’re confident that our two businesses can create lasting, positive impact in the African energy sector.”