Tualatin-based Powin is entering the Australian battery energy storage market through a deal with a BlackRock-backed project development company.
Powin’s framework agreement with Akaysha Energy calls for the deployment of 1.7 gigawatt-hours of storage systems over the next two years.
That’s a sizeable volume given that Powin says it has delivered 2.5 GWh of systems historically and has a contracted pipeline to supply 10 GWhs over the next two years.
The company is what’s known as a battery energy storage system, or BESS, integrator, pulling together systems for project developers. But it also reaches upstream with battery design and assembly and software development.
In a statement, Powin CEO Geoff Brown called the Akaysha partnership “a key milestone as we expand our footprint globally and invest in new regions.”
Powin emphasized global expansion last month when it announced a fresh $135 million investment from current and new backers, including Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. That followed an announcement of unspecified new funding from the venture arm of contractor Samsung G&T pointed at accessing projects around the world.
Akaysha was in the news earlier this month with the announcement that a BlackRock Real Assets fund was backing it, part of a $700 million commitment by the fund in energy storage in the Asia Pacific region.
As in the U.S., the rise of renewables in Australia is bringing increased demand for energy storage. ESS, based in Wilsonville, is also making inroads Down Under with its alternative flow-battery technology.
“It is critical to have a diverse competitive landscape in the Australian ESS market,” Nick Carter, Akaysha Energy’s managing director, said in a statement. “Powin’s vertically integrated and flexible business model reduces project cost and risk by having multiple trusted cell suppliers, proprietary software and an in-house power plant controller.”
Powin has its headquarters in Tualatin and an office in Portland. The company has more than doubled its headcount in Oregon in the past year and a half, to about 250 people out of more than 300 total employees.
