Torus Secures $200 Million Investment From Magnetar to Accelerate Modular Power Plant Deployment
Torus Inc., a rapidly growing full-stack energy platform that provides storage, management, security, and generation solutions, announced today a landmark $200 million investment from Magnetar, a leading alternative asset manager. This investment marks a pivotal moment for Torus as it accelerates the commercial rollout of its proprietary modular power plants designed to serve utilities, data centers, and large-scale commercial and industrial customers across the United States.
A New Era of Distributed Power Plants
At the heart of Torus’ mission is the development of a new kind of power plant — one that is compact, modular, highly secure, and distributed by design. Traditional centralized power plants have long been the backbone of the grid, but they face increasing challenges in keeping up with surging electricity demand, rising costs, and the integration of intermittent renewable energy sources. Torus aims to address these challenges by rethinking what a power plant should look like in the 21st century.
Torus’ systems are small, hybrid energy platforms that combine the high-speed capabilities of mechanical flywheels with the long-duration storage capacity of advanced batteries. This unique combination provides both the fast inertia of mechanical storage and the endurance of chemical storage in a single, compact unit. Each system is equipped with enterprise-grade software and cybersecurity features, enabling it to sit at the edge of the grid or within customer facilities while responding to grid conditions in milliseconds.
When linked together, these units form what Torus calls a “distributed grid operating system” — a networked layer of power plants that utilities and businesses can rely on for reliability, scalability, and security. This distributed approach represents a critical foundation for a modern, decentralized energy economy and has the potential to redefine how power is generated, stored, and delivered in the decades ahead.
Expanding Utility Partnerships
Torus’ progress is not just theoretical. The company has already secured regulatory and technical approvals that open the door to partnerships with regulated utilities. One of its most significant collaborations is with PacifiCorp, a major utility serving six Western states.
Earlier this year, Torus signed a 70-megawatt (MW) demand response agreement with PacifiCorp, which was filled within just six months. Building on that success, the two companies recently expanded their partnership through a memorandum of understanding that could cover up to 500 MW of demand response capacity. This represents one of the largest commitments of its kind for an American-made, grid-responsive storage solution.
Through these partnerships, Torus is demonstrating that its technology is not just an innovation in the lab but a practical, scalable solution that utilities can deploy today. The systems will support grid reliability and resilience across Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Northern California, regions that are experiencing rapid growth in renewable generation and electricity demand.
Growing Adoption Across Industries
While utilities represent a critical market, Torus’ technology is also finding strong adoption among industrial and commercial operators that require reliable, resilient power. Customers such as Varex Imaging, PWDR Resorts, Ash Grove Cement, and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) have already deployed Torus systems to ensure uptime in mission-critical environments.
For these customers, even momentary power disruptions can result in costly downtime, safety risks, or service interruptions. By leveraging Torus’ hybrid systems, businesses can secure continuous operations while also contributing to broader grid stability. This dual value proposition — supporting both the facility and the grid — makes Torus’ offering uniquely attractive.
Meeting the Surge in Data Center Demand
Perhaps no sector illustrates the urgency for innovative power solutions more than data centers. Fueled by explosive growth in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and cloud computing, data centers are rapidly becoming one of the largest sources of electricity demand worldwide.
Traditional backup solutions, which often rely on chemical batteries alone, are struggling to keep up with the dynamic, high-speed loads that AI workloads demand. Torus’ technology offers a superior alternative. By combining inertia, millisecond response times, and ultra-high reliability (with 99.9% uptime), the company provides a platform that can smooth out AI’s dynamic power usage while also serving as a valuable grid resource at the sub-transmission and distribution levels.
For hyperscale operators, this means increased reliability, lower risk of downtime, and the ability to scale quickly in response to surging demand. For utilities, it means access to flexible, distributed resources that can balance the growing strain from electrification and AI-driven loads.
Scaling Production: The GigaOne Facility
Founded in 2021, Torus has moved at remarkable speed from prototype to scaled manufacturing. Its initial operations in Springville, Utah, quickly grew into a 40,000-square-foot facility capable of producing more than 400 MW annually.
The company is now preparing for its next leap: the opening of GigaOne, a 540,000-square-foot manufacturing campus in Salt Lake City. Once fully operational, GigaOne is expected to scale production to over one gigawatt per quarter within three years, a capacity that will position Torus as one of the most significant players in the distributed energy storage and generation market.
A portion of the $200 million investment will support the development of GigaOne, but the majority of the funding is earmarked for accelerating the deployment of systems into the field to meet rapidly growing customer demand.
Leadership and Investor Perspectives
Torus’ leadership emphasized that this investment represents not just capital but a vote of confidence in a bold new utility model.
“With this investment, we’re building the world’s first distributed utility — connecting small inertial power plants that deliver grid-scale performance at the edge,” said Nate Walkingshaw, CEO and co-founder of Torus. “Our technology has already been deployed more than 230 times this year with over 1 GW of facility-managed power, proving it’s no longer experimental but essential.”
Magnetar, the lead investor, underscored the importance of combining cutting-edge technology with strong financial backing.
“Scaling transformative, capital-intensive industries requires more than technology — it requires patient, flexible capital,” said Dave Snyderman, Managing Partner and Global Head of Alternative Credit & Fixed Income at Magnetar. “Torus is at the forefront of redefining energy infrastructure, and this investment will allow the company to accelerate its growth and bring this new utility model to market at scale.”
Neil Tiwari, Managing Director at Magnetar, echoed these sentiments: “Torus has built one of the most compelling distributed utility platforms we’ve seen. The architecture is reliable, it scales, and it’s coming to market at a time when demand from AI and electrification is surging. We’re excited to leverage our experience investing in high-performance data centers and AI infrastructure to support Torus’ proven team as it builds the grid of the future.”
