MIT Technology Review Releases 2026 Climate Tech Companies to Watch List
MIT Technology Review released its 2026 Climate Tech Companies to Watch list, highlighting firms in China, next-generation batteries, geothermal and nuclear power for data centers, and long-duration energy storage.
According to MIT Technology Review, China remains the center of the climate and energy technology world. The country has the world's largest grid, and renewables are coming online quickly. Envision Energy, a renewables giant on the list for the second time, has installed more than 100 gigawatts of wind power worldwide and more than 50 gigawatt-hours of battery storage. Like many Chinese companies, Envision is looking beyond the crowded Chinese market and pursuing projects in Germany, Brazil and Australia, with work upcoming in Vietnam.
China is also leading innovation in key technologies, MIT Technology Review said. Major and smaller battery companies are racing to develop solid-state batteries, which could be safer and offer longer range than existing electric vehicle batteries. WeLion New Energy announced a major lab result last year, achieving 824 watt-hours per kilogram, more than three times the energy density of a standard lithium-ion battery today. Scaling lab results in battery research is difficult, but WeLion is also working to deploy semi-solid-state batteries, which could arrive faster than purely solid-state cells while improving on lithium-ion performance.
The list includes just three US companies, and two of them have received a major boost from Big Tech as companies seek to power data centers. The third, Brimstone, is focused on critical minerals. MIT Technology Review said technologies that can provide consistent power are in high demand.
Fervo Energy is bringing next-generation geothermal power to the grid by using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to make it practical in more places. The company went public in May, raising $2.2 billion in its IPO, and plans to have a gigawatt's worth of plants operational by the end of 2030.
X-energy is building helium-cooled small modular nuclear reactors. The reactors' small size gives them flexibility, and the company is working on a 320-megawatt cluster with Amazon in Richland, Washington. X-energy also has a deal with Dow that could see the technology deployed at one of Dow's chemical plants in the early 2030s.
Energy storage will be a key part of supporting the grid as solar and wind come online, according to MIT Technology Review. Form Energy appears on the list for a third time for its iron-air batteries, which could enable cheaper long-duration energy storage. The company has a 30 gigawatt-hour project in the works to help power a Google data center. It could be the world's largest battery project by capacity when it comes online, expected in phases between 2028 and 2031.
Energy Dome is using compressed carbon dioxide to store energy on the grid. MIT Technology Review said the technology is already cheaper than lithium-ion batteries for longer durations of 10 hours or more, and the company is working to scale quickly. Energy Dome now has plans for more than 30 gigawatt-hours of plants around the world, including one with Google in Ireland that is slated to come online in 2028.
Moment Energy is working to use the million EV batteries expected to reach the end of their life by 2030. The company has a facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, that repurposes used batteries for backup power.