Viridity Energy Breaks Ground on Two 20 MWh Battery Storage Projects in New Jersey
PHILADELPHIA, June 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viridity Energy Solutions Inc. (“Viridity”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA) and a leader in energy storage, is pleased to announce groundbreaking on two 20 MW / 20 MWh standalone utility-connected battery energy storage projects that the company will own and operate in New Jersey. As previously announced, Viridity and Ormat teams are providing the project engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services.
Left to right: Srikant Akula, founder of Akula Energy Ventures; Craig S. Dunwell, Mayor of Alpha Borough; Mack Treece, CEO Viridity Energy; Congressman Leonard J. Lance, New Jersey’s 7th District
The combined projects, interconnected with Jersey Central Power and Light’s transmission grid, will provide real-time frequency regulation as well as other ancillary services to the grid operator, PJM Interconnection. Viridity expects to begin operation of both systems in late 2018.
On June 4, 2018, Viridity broke ground on the two projects in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by many state elected officials and dignitaries, including New Jersey’s U.S. Congressman for the 7th District, Leonard J. Lance, and the Mayor of Alpha Borough, Craig S. Dunwell.
“Viridity is very proud to break ground on the two largest battery storage systems ever implemented in New Jersey, which will provide stability to the power grid and benefit the local communities,” said Mack Treece, CEO of Viridity.
Located in Plumsted Township and Alpha Borough, New Jersey, the storage projects were jointly developed by Amergin Energy LLC, an energy technology and solutions provider, and Akula Energy Ventures, an early-stage energy private equity firm. In January 2018, Viridity acquired the projects from Amergin and Akula, advancing them from engineering and design and to construction.
“Viridity, together with its parent company, Ormat Technologies, Inc., have the capabilities and expertise to ensure these projects will have the highest possible performance in the PJM market,” said Tom Brayman, founder of Amergin Energy.
“Viridity will be an ideal owner of these assets and has expertise in operating projects in the PJM market,” said Srikant Akula, founder of Akula Energy Ventures.
About Viridity Energy Solutions Inc. Viridity Energy Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, Inc., is a leading battery storage and distributed generation, demand response, and demand management solution provider. Through its unique, flexible and turnkey VPower™ software and services platform, Viridity maximizes energy revenue and savings for its customers. Viridity empowers customers to cut their electricity prices through best-in-class proprietary peak shaving algorithms and its market-leading VPower™ optimization software, which ensures the best economic return for each kilowatt of flexible energy load, including generating revenue for customers in the wholesale energy markets. Viridity is a market leader in advanced distributed energy resources (“DER”), with a specific focus on battery storage. By combining the skills of Viridity with its parent company Ormat, Viridity brings to market the unique ability to provide a broad, end-to-end DER solution either as a service, with no capital outlay by the customer, or as a sale.
Information provided in this press release may contain statements relating to current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future events that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally relate to Viridity's plans, objectives and expectations for future operations and are based upon its management's current estimates and projections of future results or trends. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" as described in Viridity's parent company, Ormat Technologies, Inc.'s, Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, 2018.
These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and Viridity undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Amergin Energy LLC Amergin focuses on providing creative solutions to key global challenges in the power and infrastructure sectors. Amergin seeks to implement further advanced solutions, including implementation of blockchain technology to transform financing and ownership in the global power and infrastructure sectors.
About Akula Energy Ventures LLC Akula is an early-stage private equity firm focused on strategic investment in renewable energy projects and companies. Akula invests across the energy spectrum, including solar, biogas and battery energy storage. Akula has targeted investments and partnerships in the United States and Asia.
About Ormat Technologies With over five decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal Company and the only vertically integrated Company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation (REG), with the objective of becoming a leading global provider of renewable energy. The Company owns, operates, designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and REG power plants primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter – a power generation unit that converts low-, medium- and high-temperature heat into electricity. With 77 U.S. patents, Ormat’s power solutions have been refined and perfected under the most grueling environmental conditions. Ormat has 530 employees in the United States and 770 overseas. Ormat’s flexible, modular solutions for geothermal power and REG are ideal for the vast range of resource characteristics. The Company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed to utilities and developers worldwide, totaling over 2,600 MW of gross capacity. Ormat’s current 851 MW generating portfolio is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras and Guadeloupe. In March 2017, Ormat expanded its operations to provide energy storage and energy management solutions, by leveraging its core capabilities and global presence as well as through its Viridity Energy Solutions Inc. subsidiary, a Philadelphia-based Company with nearly a decade of expertise and leadership in energy storage, demand response and energy management.
Viridity Energy Contact: Tyler Breiner tbreiner@viridityenergy.com Phone: (267) 331-4540 viridityenergy.com
