Arotech Receives Additional Research Funding of $650,000 from U.S. Army
Arotech Corporation (ARTX) announced that its Battery and Power Systems division has received additional funding from the U.S. Army's Communications and Electronics Command, CECOM, for further development of its 4th generation (Gen4) zinc-air cells. The funding covers Phase II of a three-phased research and development program for Gen4 Zinc-Air Cells aimed at the Future Force Warrior project - the U.S. Army's flagship Science and Technology initiative to develop and demonstrate revolutionary capabilities for Future Force soldier systems. Arotech's Gen4 portable battery pack is 12 or 24 Volts and has a total capacity exceeding 400Wh with Battery Energy Density above...
Nemaska: A Lithium Bargain
Nemaska Lithium (NMKEF: OTC/PK, NMX: TO) is a newcomer to the lithium industry. The company recently came to the market with battery-grade lithium from spodumene rock carved out of its Whabouchi mine in northern Quebec, Canada and converted in a proprietary electrochemical process to battery-grade lithium material at an in-house facility in Shawinigan to the south. The company filled its first orders in Summer 2018.
The company expected to produce over 200,000 metric tons of lithium-bearing spodumene concentrate from its Whabouchi mine with an average 6.25% lithium oxide content. The mine is expected to remain productive for over three decades at that extraction rate. The processing plant in...
Ten Alternative Energy Speculations for 2008: Batteries, CHP, and Transmission
This article is a continuation of my Ten Alternative Energy Speculations for 2008, with picks #8, 9, and10 published last Thursday. If you haven't already, please read the introduction of that article before buying any of the stock picks that follow. These companies are likely to be highly volatile, and large positions are not appropriate for many investors. My least risky picks (#8,9, and #10) are part of that same article; my most speculative plays (#1-3) will are here. #7 Electro Energy, Inc. (NasdaqCM:EEEI) $0.68 Electro Energy has risen 36% in the month and a half since I last...
NanoMarkets LLC Forecasts $8.3 Billion Annual Market For Smart Grid Batteries By 2016
In August of last year I wrote an article titled "Grid-based Energy Storage: Birth of a Giant." Over the last 12 months I've written a series of follow-on articles that discuss the principal classes of manufactured energy storage devices and the companies that are making or planning to make products for smart grid energy storage applications. My entire archive of articles on the energy storage sector is available here. One of the biggest problems I've encountered over the last year has been a dearth of reliable third party information that can help investors understand the breadth and...
Metal-Air Battery Stocks
by Debra Fiakas CFA Earlier this year, we added metal air batteries and the companies who are working to commercialize the technology on our list of promising acts to follow. The Israeli battery developer, Phinergy, was added to our Mothers of Invention Index. Back when I wrote the post “More in the Air than Spring” back in April 2013, Phinergy had attracted a bit of attention for a road test of Citroen C1 car outfitted with a technology far different than conventional lithium ion. No one knows Phinergy. It is too small and too foreign to impress...
Plug-in Vehicles Are A Luxury No Nation Can Afford
John Petersen I'm going to apologize up front for revisiting a topic that inevitably draws furious comment from readers who just don't get it, or who refuse to get it. I understand that it's painful to learn that politicians, environmental advocates and the mainstream media have been lying about critical issues, but that doesn't make exposing the lies less important. So I'm going to endure the slings and arrows of the eco-religious one more time and use a new example to show that plug-in vehicles are a luxury no nation can afford. Ener1 (HEV) is a pure-play...
DOE Reports That Lithium-ion Batteries Are Not Ready for Prime Time
by John Petersen Last month the DOE released its 2008 Annual Progress Report for the Energy Storage Research and Development Vehicle Technologies Program. This report is a frank and relatively upbeat assessment of the current status of Li-ion battery research and development that also provides a stark wake-up call for investors in energy storage stocks. The reality check has been done and the DOE’s verdict is clear: Lithium-ion batteries are not ready for prime time. In its description of ongoing research efforts to develop high-power batteries for HEVs, the DOE said: “High-power energy storage devices...
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...
Battery Manufacturers, Burger Joints and Secret Sauce
John Petersen In September I received an e-mail from France Innovation Scientifique & Transfert SA advertising their new IP Overview of Lithium Metal Phosphate Batteries - 2010/04. While I don't usually pay attention to e-mail pitches for costly reports, the FIST solicitation caught my eye because the abstract explained that roughly 1,100 patent applications have been filed for lithium metal phosphate chemistry since Dr. Goodenough's key patent issued in 1996. It's enough to give a guy a whole new perspective on this T-shirt from EV World. It also raises a couple critical issues that many...
What I Sold: VRB Power (VRBPF.PK, VRB.V)
VRB Power is the only public vendor of a flow battery chemistry, the Vanadium Redox Battery. I bought the company when I first realized that in order to get a large proportion of intermittent wind and solar energy onto the grid, long term electricity storage would be essential. Of the available technologies, flow batteries are some of most technically elegant. Since VRB is one of only two publicly traded vendors of large scale batteries, I bought some. Lessons Learned I was not being discriminating. Even with the belief that large scale storage will soon be needed to integrate...
Pure Play Energy Storage Stocks Year-End Review And Outlook
John Petersen With only a couple trading days left in 2009, this is as good a time as any for a performance review. The predictions I made at this time last year were pretty solid with an 80% accuracy rate on price direction. For the year, a $1,000 investment in each of my green star companies would have yielded a portfolio appreciation of 67%, which handily beat the broader market indices. That being said, my star and caution ratings were a good deal less prescient because I seriously underestimated the potential of both Maxwell Technologies (MXWL) and Active...
Electro Energy Receives Approval for NASDAQ SmallCap Market Listing
Electro Energy Inc (EEEI) announced it has received approval for listing on the NASDAQ SmallCap Market. The company's common stock is expected to begin trading on the NASDAQ SmallCap Market on December 31, 2004 under the symbol "EEEI."
Paper Batteries
by Debra Fiakas CFA A comment left recently on one of my earlier articles mentioned Vendum Batteries, Inc. (VNDB: OTC/BB), a developmental stage company working on battery power solutions. When looking into Vendum I expected the usual flowery promises investors hear from every other battery developer - some new metal alloy for the electrodes, an alternative electrolyte, or maybe a creative form factor. However, Vendum is not just any battery “wanna-be.” Ok, Vendum does have an alternative electrode, but it is not just a tweak of the usual metal mixes. It also has an alternative form factor,...
Vanadium Flow Battery Stocks: Barely A Dribble
by Debra Fiakas CFA The previous post “Investing With The Flow Battery” introduced a series of articles on flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage. Investors focused on renewable investments should at least consider the implications of storage requirements in evaluating renewable energy technologies even if storage developers are not considered portfolio-worthy. Owners of grid-connected solar and wind power systems must design a network that can meet the highest peak load of the year even if a large part of the generating capacity sits idle for extended periods. Storage technologies convert electrical power into chemical or mechanical energy...
Why Energy Storage Investors Must Understand Economies of Scale
John Petersen One of the most seductive and dangerous stock market myths is the immensely popular but demonstrably false notion that the rapid cost reductions and performance gains we enjoyed during the information and communications technology revolution will be repeated in the age of cleantech. The persistence of the mythology is astonishing when you consider that the entire history of alternative energy proves that cost reductions and performance gains are extraordinary events, rather than common occurrences. Investors who buy into economies of scale mythology without carefully considering the fundamental differences are in for a world of disillusionment and...
Why The McCain Proposal Will Do Nothing For Battery Technology
On Monday, John McCain, in a drive to build his environmental credentials, pledged that if he were elected he would initiate a contest to come up with a car battery design that leapfrogs current technology and makes electric car and plug-in hybrids a reality. The winner would get a $300 million prize, or about $1 per American, which according to McCain is a small price to pay for the benefits this technology would yield. A politician would only make such a pledge for one of two reasons: (a) he has no insight into how innovation occurs in an...
