JLL advised Accelergen Energy on the sale of development-stage battery energy storage assets in Utah to DESRI in Q1 2026. The transaction marks a notable transfer of early-stage BESS projects in a U.S. market where most recent deal activity has concentrated on operational or near-ready assets.

The key shift: buyers are selectively re-entering development-stage BESS-but only for assets with clear execution pathways. This is a departure from 2025 behavior, where investors overwhelmingly prioritized de-risked, grid-ready storage projects with proven revenue visibility.

Across 2025, U.S. BESS M&A was dominated by operational and in-construction assets, with private equity players targeting stable cash flows and arbitrage-ready systems. Early-stage acquisitions slowed significantly due to permitting risks and policy uncertainty . However, the Accelergen–DESRI deal signals that certain development pipelines-likely with interconnection progress or locational advantages-are regaining traction.

This aligns with broader buyer behavior. Platforms like GridStor and Enfinity continued acquiring early- to mid-stage storage assets in 2025, but only where execution risk was manageable and timelines to COD were visible. Utah’s growing relevance as a flexible capacity market further supports this trend, particularly as storage demand rises alongside grid volatility.

Commercially, this matters because it reopens liquidity for developers holding mid-stage BESS pipelines. Instead of waiting for RtB milestones, sellers can now exit earlier-if assets demonstrate credible path-to-market.

This transaction signals a two-speed market: fully de-risked assets remain premium targets, but high-quality development-stage BESS is back in play-selectively.

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