ViZn Energy Systems and The Ryan Company Announce Strategic Partnership

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Zinc redox technology to be used for utility & commercial scale solar+storage

AUSTIN, Texas and GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. – September 12, 2016 – ViZn Energy Systems Inc. (ViZn), a leading provider of zinc and iron chemistry-based flow battery energy storage systems for utilities and microgrids, and The Ryan Company (an operating unit of Quanta Services, NYSE: PWR) are pleased to announce a strategic partnership aimed at solar+battery storage integration for owners of utility and commercial scale solar installations. Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects the solar+storage sector to grow exponentially and receive $250 billion of total investment by 2040.

“The Ryan Company has a deep background in both solar EPC integration and complex electrical infrastructure improvements across the United States,” said David Mintzer, Vice President of Business Development at ViZn Energy. “We seek partners who are first class EPCs and have the engineering expertise to integrate our zinc redox flow batteries into multifaceted projects where our system will be expected to perform stacked applications and deliver significant ROI over its 20-year lifespan.”

The Ryan Company, a wholly owned Quanta Services subsidiary, is a top-tier electrical EPC company with over 700MW of installed solar projects and numerous references in the electrical infrastructure space including: frequency regulation, substation/transformer installation, and public-sector electrical upgrades.

ViZn Energy’s flow battery systems are capable of performing both high-power and long-duration duties while also offering low O&M, which enables utilities, C&I customers, and other end users to stack applications and incorporate multiple value streams. ViZn’s systems have an expected lifespan of 20 years, which is twice (or more) that of the average large scale lithium-ion storage system, they do not suffer from capacity fade or require cell replacements, and they have access to 100% of their state-of-charge and do not require a 20% or higher discharge threshold.

“ViZn has a highly scalable, robust technology that can provide multiple lines of value for intermittent renewable assets,” said Bill Hargett, Director of Business Development at The Ryan Company.

“We believe that solar power producers are increasingly looking for ways to provide a more dynamic and flexible dispatch profile to the grid, and ViZn Energy has the product and ability to make this happen.”

Within the strategic partnership, The Ryan Company and ViZn will provide a comprehensive battery storage system for utility solar power plants that seek improved economics based on ViZn Energy’s capacity to address load shifting and fast frequency response power management services. Both ViZn Energy and The Ryan Company will be exhibiting at Solar Power International in Las Vegas September 12-15.

ViZn Energy Systems and Jabil Inala Partner to Power Africa

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Mining, agriculture, and remote villages the focus for using non-toxic flow batteries

AUSTIN, Texas and MIDRAND, Republic of South Africa – August 29, 2016 – ViZn Energy Systems Inc. (ViZn), a leading provider of zinc and iron chemistry-based flow battery energy storage systems for utilities and microgrids, announced today that they will be partnering with Jabil Inala to offer turnkey storage solutions to the African power market. Africa has 13 percent of the world’s population, but accounts for only four percent of the world’s energy demand, leaving a gap of around 600 million people with no access to electricity according to the International Energy Agency’s Africa Energy Outlook.

“Africa represents an enormous market both in terms of the potential growth for supplying power and the ability to positively impact the lives of millions of people,” said Ron Van Dell, CEO of ViZn Energy. “Since much of the centralized distribution infrastructure does not exist across the continent, it is ripe for the establishment of distributed microgrids to power villages that currently don’t have electricity and also to replace diesel generators at remote mining and agricultural facilities. The non-toxic chemistry used in ViZn’s flow batteries means they can be safely deployed in these areas and without an HVAC system.”

Jabil – the world’s third largest manufacturing services provider – acquired South African energy solutions provider and systems integrator Inala in January of this year as their entry into the African continent. Jabil Inala is an applications engineering EPC that designs, sources, commissions and supports best-of-breed energy solutions. They are currently operating in eleven sub-Saharan countries where traditional grids are either unreliable or uneconomical to develop. Jabil Inala’s turnkey distributed energy solutions encompass generation, storage, efficiency, monitoring, and analytics.

“In the African market, it is critical for a microgrid to have the ability to operate in harsh environments while maintaining industrial power quality,” said Howard Earley, Managing Director at Jabil Inala. “ViZn’s 20-year expected operational lifetime and ability to perform both high power and long duration applications delivers very attractive economics in these demanding applications.”

ViZn’s flow battery technology utilizes a non-toxic, low cost zinc and iron chemistry that aids steady and safe operation. Their systems are capable of performing both high-power (with one of the fastest charge and discharge responses on the market) and long-duration capabilities for the commercial & industrial, microgrid, and utility-scale markets while also offering low O&M, allowing end users to incorporate multiple value streams and realize more favorable payback periods than other energy storage technologies. ViZn is currently building the largest flow battery in North America and is on track to be the largest global producer of flow batteries by the end of the year.

ViZn Energy Systems and Alpha Energy Announce Partnership to Use Zinc Redox Technology for Turnkey Energy Storage Solutions

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AUSTIN, Texas – July 11, 2016 – ViZn Energy Systems Inc. (ViZn), a leading provider of zinc and iron chemistry-based flow battery energy storage systems for utilities and microgrids, announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Alpha Energy to offer turnkey energy storage solutions for large behind-the-meter, grid edge, and utility-scale front-of-the-meter applications. This alliance of energy storage leaders will also be able to address the rapidly expanding solar+storage market that is expected to attract $250 billion of total investment by 2040 according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“ViZn Energy has engineered a very versatile flow battery that is able to perform both high power and long duration applications,” said Tom Bowker, Alpha Energy’s Director of Business Development. “Their unique, robust system can scale up from less than 100kW to over 100MW and its 20-year expected lifetime will provide competitive ROI, making it a great fit for renewable energy projects that combine energy storage with solar, wind, or both. As we strategically focus on EPC in the energy storage market, having a partner like ViZn Energy will be quite valuable to us.”

Alpha Energy – a member of The Alpha Group – focuses on utilizing Alpha Group’s powering expertise to meet power demands in utility, commercial, and remote sectors. Alpha, with more than 40 years of industry experience, is a vertically integrated, market-leading developer of turnkey renewable energy solutions including engineering, procurement, construction services, battery management expertise, and project financing alignment. Their full-service approach to energy storage aligns perfectly with ViZn Energy’s ability to stack applications via their multi-purpose stationary storage system. As part of their partnership with ViZn, Alpha will market and deploy a complete solution, including the battery, power conversion system and controls, integration and installation, project finance alignment, and ongoing asset management.

“We spent considerable time researching potential partners to create a turnkey energy storage system that can be easily commissioned and executed in the field,” said David Mintzer, Vice President of Business Development at ViZn Energy. “Alpha Energy’s long track record of successful energy deployments that supply industrial-grade power solutions made them a natural choice to work with as we target the North American, European, and Latin American/Caribbean markets.”

ViZn’s flow battery technology utilizes a non-toxic, low cost zinc and iron chemistry that aids steady and safe operation. Their systems are capable of performing both high-power (with one of the fastest charge and discharge responses on the market) and long-duration capabilities while also offering low O&M, allowing end users to incorporate multiple value streams and realize more favorable payback periods than other energy storage technologies on the market. ViZn is currently building the largest flow battery in North America and is on track to be the largest global producer of flow batteries by the end of the year.

Black & Veatch Completes an Independent Assessment of ViZn Energy’s Z20 and GS200 Redox Flow Energy Storage Systems

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AUSTIN, Texas – June 13, 2016 – ViZn Energy Systems Inc. (ViZn), a leading provider of energy storage systems for utility and microgrid applications, as part of its ongoing commitment and comprehensive approach to transparency, quality and reliability, selected and hired the world-leading engineering, construction and consulting firm Black & Veatch to conduct an independent assessment of its Z20 and GS200 Redox Flow Energy Storage Systems. In the process, Black & Veatch methodically reviewed documents and test results, visited the facilities of both ViZn and its manufacturing partner Jabil, and reviewed the performance of ViZn’s energy storage technology.

In its assessment of ViZn’s Z20 and GS200 flow batteries, Black & Veatch stated that it believes:

  • The ViZn batteries outperform systems with lithium-based chemistries at high ambient temperatures due to the fact that the ViZn energy storage systems perform well at high ambient temperature without any HVAC load.
  • Jabil’s vendor qualification and monitoring process is well established and should be able to ensure quality materials and components for ViZn’s products.
  • ViZn’s zinc-iron redox storage technology is designed and manufactured for large scale energy storage applications. Key differentiators from other flow battery technologies are: safety and non-flammability of the electrolytes and chemistry, abundance of core raw materials, a 20-year expected system life, an HVAC system is not required to operate at high ambient temperatures, and ViZn’s battery life and warranty are independent of the duty cycle imposed on the system.
  • ViZn’s senior management team has experience in the manufacturing commercialization of novel products in the energy industry and appears to have the skills required to manage ViZn.

“The results of Black & Veatch’s assessment are consistent with our own internal test results for performance and longevity and, in some cases, exceeded our expectations,” said Ron Van Dell, President and CEO of ViZn Energy Systems. “We’ve dedicated an extensive amount of R&D to continuously improve our batteries which, we believe, has resulted in the best value energy storage technology on the market.”

ViZn sought Black & Veatch’s expertise in conducting the independent assessment to demonstrate bankability and ensure project financing of ViZn systems. Black & Veatch’s comprehensive assessment evaluated the design, performance, and manufacturing of ViZn’s Z20 and GS200 flow batteries and assessed ViZn as a company. ViZn is happy to share the report with interested parties upon request.

ViZn’s flow batteries are designed with the customer in mind, which is why the company has built in both high-power and long-duration capabilities, low O&M and a 20-year operating life, allowing end users to incorporate multiple value streams and realize more favorable payback periods than other energy storage technologies on the market. ViZn is currently building the largest flow battery in North America and is on track to be the largest global producer of flow batteries by the end of the year

ViZn Energy Bolsters Board of Directors and Advisory Board

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AUSTIN, Texas – May 18, 2016 – ViZn Energy Systems Inc. (ViZn), a leading provider of energy storage systems for C&I, microgrid and utility applications, announced today that Kent Williams will join the company’s board of directors and that Joshua Bar-Lev (former Vice President, Regulatory Affairs at Bright Source Energy) has been appointed to ViZn’s advisory board. Amongst these talents Williams and Bar-Lev have over 80 years of successful leadership roles and strategic business experience in the energy industry.

“Kent and Joshua are both true heavy-hitters in the business world and each possesses impressive energy industry experience,” said ViZn CEO Ron Van Dell. “Kent brings a wealth of alternative energy knowledge and access to capital markets while Joshua is an expert on negotiating policy surrounding industry regulation and is a true champion for renewable energy. We’re privileged to have them as part of the ViZn family and pleased that they recognize the vast potential of our safe and versatile battery technology.”

Bar-Lev was the vice president of regulatory affairs for BrightSource Energy (builder of utility-scale solar power plants) from its startup in 2004 until he retired in May 2011. He was responsible for government relations, regulatory policy and permitting for BrightSource and was on their executive management committee. Previously, he was chief counsel at the Pacific Gas & Electric Company where he was responsible for legal activities related to the Company’s gas supply, electric transmission, gas transmission, and generation business unit. Bar-Lev is also a founder and former chairman of the Coalition for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology – a group of California environmental organizations, conservation, and renewable energy companies that are active at both the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and state legislature.

“The team at ViZn is currently building the largest flow battery in North America and it is just the beginning of something very large and impactful,” said Bar-Lev.

Williams is a strategic advisor to several alternative energy companies focused on plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) drive trains and new battery technologies. He assists automotive companies who are commercializing highly efficient and environmentally friendly powertrain technologies for light and heavy duty trucks, buses, vans and SUVs. He also advises battery companies commercializing innovative material science technologies for consumer and industrial applications. He has more than 40 years of experience in the capital markets, including positions with U.S. Trust, Wood Island Associates, and Merrill Lynch.

“ViZn’s technology is poised to drive highly differentiated solutions to challenges facing both the grid and electricity end users,” said Williams. “The product and the team are truly impressive.”

ViZn’s zinc-iron flow battery is the only flow battery on the market with a non-toxic, non-flammable, non-explosive alkaline chemistry that is safe to deploy. Its chemical components are globally abundant and inexpensive. ViZn’s flow battery can perform both high-power and long-duration applications to enable multiple revenue streams and, with zero cell replacements over a 20-year operating life, it provides favorable ROIs for utilities and C&I customers.