T1 Expands Energy Storage
T1 Energy Acquires KORE Power's NRI for $32M to Boost Battery Storage, AI Infrastructure
T1 Energy, the Texas-based solar and storage company, agreed to acquire KORE Power for about $32 million in equity, cash, and assumed debt, aiming to formally enter the battery energy storage and AI data center infrastructure markets with a deal expected to close in Q2 2026. The centerpiece is KORE’s NRI division, an engineering-focused storage integrator that has deployed roughly 1,100 BESS projects worldwide and develops its software and controls in the United States, which T1 plans to rebrand as T1 NRI. T1 expects the transaction to be EBITDA-accretive, with positive EBITDA targeted for 2026 and additional contribution in 2027. Commentary on the move frames it less as a wager on new battery chemistry and more as buying the operating layer needed to deliver “24/7” power as AI-driven electricity demand strains grid interconnections and encourages on-site or dispatchable capacity. Other reporting notes T1 has faced investor skepticism ahead of the announcement, including a weak GF Score and substantial insider selling over recent months.
Key Points
KORE Power previously pursued battery-cell manufacturing: it “planned to build a multi-gigawatt-hour capacity battery manufacturing plant in Arizona” to become the first U.S.-owned lithium battery plant, but “plans for that factory were officially confirmed to be abandoned last year.”
T1 Energy is not just a solar company; it is “a rebrand of the energy storage company FREYR” and currently operates “a solar panel assembly facility outside Dallas” while also building “a solar cell manufacturing facility near Austin, Texas.”
In comments accompanying the deal, T1 CEO Dan Barcelo said the NRI team brings “extraordinary capability, knowledge and customer relationships” and that NRI’s “track record” is “complementary” to T1’s mission of building “domestic solar and battery supply chains.” KORE Power CEO Jay Bellows added that the combination is expected to provide customers a “one-stop solution for generation, storage, system design and ongoing operations.”
T1’s acquisition economics include more than the stated $32 million: the company said the transaction also involves a “total potential equity-based earn-out for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.”
The deal narrative is backed by an industry-growth forecast from Rystad Energy cited by T1: the “installed base of 45 GWh of utility-scale BESS in the U.S.” is projected to grow to “143 GWh in 2035.” Separately, after the announcement, T1 shares “experienced a pre-market decline of 2.3%.”
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