Frost & Sullivan Names VRB Power Systems Energy Storage Entrepreneurial Company of the Year
Naples, Fla. — May 25, 2005 — Frost & Sullivan today announced VRB Power Systems, Inc. as the 2005 Energy Storage Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award for the company’s commendable progress achieved on the commercial deployment of redox flow battery technologies.
Frost & Sullivan presents this Award to the company that has demonstrated superior entrepreneurial ability in the energy storage industry. The Award recognizes the company's identification of a unique and revolutionary product solution with significant market potential and commends the company’s sound marketing strategy.
"VRB is commercializing the patented vanadium redox battery energy storage system (VRB-ESS) and has also recently obtained the intellectual property rights and assets of the Regenesys energy storage system (RGN-ESS)," says Sara Bradford, research manager of Frost & Sullivan’s power systems group.
The demand for quality energy storage is expected to increase over the years as dependence on reliable power is spiraling across various applications and markets. This being the case, VRB-ESS and RGN-ESS will likely provide dependable energy storage solution in capacities ranging between 10kW to 100MW as low maintenance, low self-discharge, long lifecycle solutions. The VRB-ESS is also highly environmentally friendly.
The target markets of utilities, electricity grids, commercial buildings and factories, renewable energy sources, and remote area power supply (RAPS) applications are likely to provide enormous opportunities due to the consistent demand for energy storage across these applications. The need for energy storage is expected to be further driven by deregulation in the electricity market, the increasing need for renewable energy generation, and consumer demand for energy security, reliability, and quality.
Over the years, VRB has put in place several partnership agreements across its supply chain. Some of the key partnerships include Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation for the supply of vanadium compound and manufacturing of the electrolyte, and a partnership with NORAM Engineering and Constructors, Ltd. is for the development of the 5kW cell stacks.
At the other end is the partnership for intellectual property rights and asset transfer of RGN-ESS technology from RWE npower PLC along with a technology development agreement with Electrosynthesis Company, Inc. VRB has also inked an agreement with Magnetek Telecom Power Systems for joint development and marketing of the 5kW X 4 hour VRB-ESS system for the telecom industry.
"VRB has built in sufficient entry barriers for potential competitors by obtaining the patents for both the types of ESS," notes Bradford. "Although the patent for the entire VRB-ESS system expires during 2006, the patents for the electrolyte solution and its method of preparation retain their validity for the next ten years."
Patent rights provide the much needed technological strength while the relationship that VRB has developed with the suppliers and sales channels offers the requisite competitive advantage for marketing the product effectively.
VRB is on the verge of commercial development of its ESS products, made possible through consistently focusing on its core strengths and competencies. For its efforts in marketing the VRB-ESS and RGN-ESS products across key applications, while leveraging the demand for high-capacity energy storage in applications such as utilities, electricity grids, renewable power, and RAPS applications, the company rightly deserves the Frost & Sullivan’s 2005 Energy Storage Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award.
About VRB Power Systems, Inc.
Based in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, VRB Power Systems Inc. ("VRB Power") is an electrochemical energy storage company that has commercialized the patented Vanadium Redox Battery Energy Storage System ("VRB-ESS") and has acquired the intellectual property rights and assets comprising the Regenesys Energy Storage System ("RGN-ESS") for the purpose of developing similar but larger scale flow battery systems. Both technologies represent a new enabling capability to effectively store electricity on demand. They can provide direct economic benefits to utilities and end users in terms of improved power quality, reliability and energy efficiency. They are particularly well suited to load levelling (peak shaving), electrical power arbitrage, grid stability enhancements, capital deferment and Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) applications. The company is primarily focused on stationary power sources such as utility substations, commercial buildings, production facilities, telecommunication operations, cellular radio sites, and renewable resource generation such as wind farms - creating the ability to provide "firm" capacity. As a "green" technology, the VRB-ESS is characterized by a very low ecological impact and is unlike most other conventional energy storage systems that rely on toxic substances such as lead, zinc or cadmium. VRB Power is publicly listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("VRB") and the OTC Pinksheets ("VRBPF").
About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community, by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. For more information, visit www.frost.com.
Contact:
Stacie Jones
210.247.2450
Stacie.jones@frost.com
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