Solar thermal magazine Powin Corporation Secures $25 Million Investment in Its Energy Storage Technology
Powin Corporation today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Powin Energy Corporation, has signed an agreement for an investment of $25,000,000 from SF Suntech, Inc., a Delaware corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Limited , pursuant to a Share Subscription Agreement which also granted SF Suntech an option exercisable within two years to acquire another 30% of Powin Energy Corporation for $37,500,000.
Powin Energy owns several patented and patent-pending advanced technologies, ranging from energy storage management, grid communication controls and electric vehicle fast charging systems.
Powin Energy possesses an energy storage technology that focuses on a proprietary battery management system, which takes advantage of the rapidly growing advanced Lithium-ion battery market. By ensuring safety and optimizing performance, Powin Energy’s battery management technology transforms battery cells to scalable megawatt battery systems with an expected operating round trip efficiency of over 80%. This allows for seamless integration with large scale data centers, large-scale power plants, micro-grids, and virtually any power application. Moving forward, it is expected that Powin Energy’s technology will generate high economic value to the Group by providing a synergistic solution to existing and future projects.
Power and Energy Management Control System
To realize all potential benefits, Powin Energy uses a self-developed proprietary control system that is capable of managing all resources connected with its advanced energy storage systems. Applying experience from years of testing with grid operators and U.S. national laboratories, Powin Energy has developed many applications of energy storage such as load shifting, peak shaving, frequency regulation, demand response and ramp rate management to optimize the economic effectiveness of power generation assets and help stabilize overall electricity grids. Going into the future, Powin Energy’s proprietary control system is expected to be extensively applied to market installations and add high commercial value to the group.
DC Fast Charging Devices
Powin Energy provides high-speed, high-efficiency and cost-effective DC fast charging devices, with high-speed charging of less than 30 minutes and does not require the high infrastructure costs of 3-phase power. It is expected that this fast charging technology can be extensively used in public locations, fleet applications, car parks and retail centers for the charging of electric vehicles. In the future, this fast charging technology will have high economic value and diversify the Group’s sources of income.
Pursuant to the terms of the Share Subscription Agreement, $5,200,000 of the $25,000,000 will be used by Powin Energy Corporation to pay off a loan owing to its parent corporation, Powin Corporation, and the balance will be used by Powin Energy Corporation for working capital and other purposes. Pursuant to a related Shareholder Agreement, SF Suntech will appoint four directors from a seven-person board of Powin Energy upon completing the $25,000,000 investment. Powin Corporation will be paying a 6% finder’s fee to an unrelated party in connection with this transaction. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Share Subscription Agreement, the transaction is scheduled to close on August 29, 2014.
“This is an important milestone for Powin Energy Corporation in that it will provide us with capital and a partner to help implement our growth strategy,” said Joseph Lu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Powin Energy Corporation. Mr. Zhang Yi, Chairman of Shunfeng, said, “We view the technology of Powin Energy Corporation as of strategic significance to our strategy of developing and deploying large-scale energy storage devices throughout China and elsewhere in the world. We are very pleased to join forces with Powin Energy Corporation and its scientific and technical team in the rollout of energy storage systems.”
About Powin Energy Corporation
Powin Energy is a company incorporated in the State of Oregon. It specializes in integration and development of scalable energy storage technologies for grid-level applications, commercial customers, and transportation solutions, such as turnkey vehicle battery retrofits and electric vehicle charging stations.
About Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Limited
Shunfeng (Stock Code: 01165), listed on Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, focuses on the research & development, manufacturing and sales of wafers, solar cells and solar modules. Shunfeng also develops and finances solar power station projects in the PRC. It owns and provides operation and maintenance services to dozens of projects all over the PRC. Shunfeng is the largest independent private solar provider of solar energy in China and has delivered on-grid connection with a total annual designed capacity of 890 megawatts in 2013.
Tags: energy storage technology, Powin Energy, Shunfeng Photovoltaic International, Suntech
