Opportunities In China’s Extraordinary Battery Companies
John Petersen Over the last couple years I've spent enough time in Asia to be fascinated by the growth opportunities and terrified by my own ignorance of the culture and the business dynamic. Since I know that I don't understand Asia, I tend to give Asian battery companies less attention than they deserve. Today I'll try to rectify that oversight. I'll also be adding New Energy Systems Group (NEWN) to my Chinese companies tracking list with a start date of June 30th. The first Asian company most investors think of when you mention batteries is BYD Co....
Congress Approves Billions in Energy Storage Incentives
On Friday, the House of Representatives and Senate passed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and sent the bill to President Obama for his signature. The impact on companies that manufacture advanced batteries and other energy storage devices will be staggering. The principal energy storage appropriations include: $2,000,000,000 for grants to manufacturers of advanced battery systems and vehicle batteries that are produced in the United States, including advanced lithium ion batteries, hybrid electrical systems, component manufacturers, and software designers; $4,500,000,000 for grants for “Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability” including activities to modernize the electric...
The Wanxiang Transaction Is Not Necessarily A Permanent Solution For A123’s Problems
John Petersen On Wednesday A123 Systems (AONE) announced the execution of a Non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the Wanxiang Group that will, if successfully implemented, restore A123 to a sound financial footing. Since the basic deal terms are a good deal more complex than the reports one reads in the mainstream media, I think a drill down into the detail may be helpful for investors who want to understand what a restructured A123 will look like. The critical document for this analysis is the MOU included as Exhibit 99.2 to A123's recent report on Form 8-K. The...
Arotech Zinc-Air Battery Named One of the US Army’s ‘Great Inventions of the Year’
Arotech Corporation (ARTX) announced today that the BA-8180 Zinc Air battery developed by Arotech's Battery and Power Systems Division - has been designated as one of the "Greatest Army Inventions" of the past year. The ten winning teams will be recognized June 23 by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. Arotech is primarily a defense contractor. However, they are a lead contractor for the Military looking at Alternative Energy resources.
Battery Investing for Beginners: Index
John Petersen wrote a series of popular articles last week to introduce new investors to the battery sector, following the A123 IPO. We've had a couple requests from readers who missed one part or another, so here is a quick index to the articles. Part I - Battery industry overview. Parrt II - Comparison of energy storage technologies and companies. Part III - Benchmarking Performance of battery stocks Part IV - Debunking misconceptions about electric vehicles and battery technology.
Fear, Loathing and Extraordinary Opportunity in Energy Storage
John Petersen 2011 has definitely been one for the record books; a dreadfully wonderful year for the energy storage sector that reminds me of the opening paragraph from A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before...
Vanadium Flow Battery Companies
The recent post “Lithium Technology Dominates Large Energy Storage Projects” featured companies offering utility-scale lithium battery systems. Industry research firm Navigant estimates that lithium-ion technology accounts for almost 30% of non-pumped storage capacity developed since 2011. This might be due in part to the dramatic decreases in cost for lithium ion batteries. A study completed by Bloomberg New Energy Finance found that the ‘levelized’ cost of energy for lithium ion batteries has fallen by 76% to $187 per megawatt hour in the first quarter 2019 from $800/MWh in 2012.
Is the story over for utility-scale storage? Should investors look for lithium ion battery manufacturers and forget...
White House Report: GM Volt is Not Ready for Prime Time
In it's March 30, 2009 summary determination that GM had failed to propose a viable bankruptcy alternative, the President's auto industry task force said:"GM is at least one generation behind Toyota on advanced, "green" powertrain development. In an attempt to leapfrog Toyota, GM has devoted significant resources to the Chevy Volt. While the Volt holds promise, it is currently projected to be much more expensive than its gasoline-fueled peers and will likely need substantial reductions in manufacturing cost in order to become commercially viable." This extraordinary conclusion has been public for weeks but I've not seen it...
Understanding Manufacturing Economics for Grid-Scale Energy Storage
John Petersen I have a new favorite word AGGREGATION! At the risk of sounding like a reporter, I’m going to summarize a pre-holiday news story you might have missed but need to know about. In late November the PJM Interconnect, the largest of nine regional grid system operators in the US, announced that it had begun buying frequency regulation services from small-scale, behind the meter, demand response assets in Pennsylvania. The first resources brought on-line by PJM were variable speed pumps at a water treatment plant and a 500 kW industrial battery array...
Plug-in Vehicles Will Be Dirtier Than HEVs
John Petersen On June 22nd Scientific American rolled-out a Web-only article titled "The Dirty Truth about Plug-in Hybrids, Made Interactive" that summarizes a January 2008 report from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and shows why plug-in vehicles in the U.S. will, on average, be just a little bit dirtier than gasoline HEVs. You read that right – dirtier, not cleaner! I first raised the issue in an August 2009 article titled PHEVs and EVs, Plugging Into a Lump of Coal, where I estimated that plug-in vehicles would be about 25% cleaner than HEVs, but the marginal cost...
Congress Funds $1.5 Million for Electro Energy’s Battery Development Program
Electro Energy Inc (EEEI) receive $1.5 million from the 2006 budget of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for continued development and demonstration of its bipolar wafer-cell Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery energy storage program. The funding was included in the Fiscal Year 2006 Energy & Water Development bill, which was passed by the U.S. Congress today and is expected to be signed by President Bush within the next week. The 2006 funding, will bring DOE's total investment in the development of the bipolar wafer-cell NiMH battery, in the energy storage program, to approximately $6.5 million.
Hydrogenics Delivers US$ 1.5 million HySTAT Hydrogen Generator to North American Nuclear Power Plant
Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS) announced today that it delivered a HySTAT(TM) Hydrogen Plant in December to a North American nuclear plant. The high-purity hydrogen generated is being used to prevent corrosion and extend the life of stainless steel tubes in the nuclear reactor as part of an upgrade for the purpose of renewing the plant's operating permit. The hydrogen generator in this application consists of two HySTAT-A electrolyzer modules, each capable of producing 33Nm3/hr of hydrogen further demonstrating the scalability of Hydrogenics line of hydrogen generation products.
Culling My Energy Storage Tracking Group
John Petersen In my second quarter update I deleted China Ritar Power (CRTP.PK) from my energy storage tracking list because of its decision to terminate its SEC registration during a period when China-based companies with US listings were bogged down in a dense fog of suspicion. Since then the carnage in the energy storage sector has been far worse than I expected and it's time to permanently remove the companies highlighted in pink from my energy storage and vehicle electrification tracking list for the reasons described below. Current Culls In March of this year...
A Tale of Two Battery Companies
John Petersen The last few weeks have offered a fascinating object lesson for believers in Benjamin Graham's theory that "In the short run the market acts like a voting machine, but in the long run it acts like a weighing machine." Since January 4th I've watched in awe as Exide Technologies (XIDE) lost roughly 30% of its market value and Ener1 (HEV) lost closer to 40%. The difference is that Exide took a voting machine beat down because it lost a well-known but financially immaterial customer while Ener1 seems to be caught in the early stages of a...
A123′s Deal With China’s Wanxiang Would Value the Stock at $0.55 a Share
Tom Konrad CFA A123 Systems battery cell products (Source: A123) It was no secret that A123 Systems (NASD:AONE) was desperate for money. It’s also no secret that Chinese companies are interested in buying Western companies, especially when they can acquire useful technology in the deal. So this morning’s announcement that Wanxiang Group Corporation, a Chinese largest autoparts manufacturer which has significant US operations, had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to invest up to $450 million in A123 through a combination of bridge loans, convertible notes, and warrants seems...
SatCon to Provide Grid-Tied Inverters for Energy Storage System
SatCon Technology Corporation (SATC) announced that it was chosen to supply its grid-tied Starsine inverter for a ZBB Energy Corporation installation demonstrating the benefits of applying energy storage to existing transmission and distribution congestion problems. The project is one of only three selected by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and U.S. Department of Energy to showcase market-ready energy storage technologies as solutions to the growing problem of congestion on the state's power grid. The installation will be located at a PG&E substation. When completed, the system will improve transmission and distribution reliability and allow for the continued use of...