In September, 2012 we announced that we had
agreed to acquire a majority interest in Miljøbil Grenland AS (MBG). MBG is
based in Porsgrunn , Norway and is a battery integrator
with over $30 million invested in developing battery systems for automotive,
maritime and similar applications. MBG is an excellent fit for Electrovaya as
MBG does not manufacture lithium ion cells or battery management systems (BMS),
but integrates externally manufactured cells and BMS into systems and battery
packs. Electrovaya on the other hand manufactures both the fundamental lithium
ion polymer cells as well as the intelligent battery management systems and
previously had no European base of operations. Prior to Electrovaya's
acquisition, MBG's revenue was focussed on its single OEM shareholder, while
now its revenue focus will be throughout Europe .
Also in September, 2012 we announced the
launch of our next generation SuperPolymer® cell and battery technology;
"MN-HP Series." The Energy version of this technology, MN-eHP exceeds
200Wh/kg, which we believe is one of the highest energy densities for a
commercial Lithium Ion cell in a large prismatic design. Electrovaya's MN-HP
series cells use commercially proven electrode materials such as graphite
anodes and lithium metal mixed oxide cathodes to give excellent cycle life and
good safety. Electrovaya's MN-eHP cells typically have 50-70% higher energy
density than typical phosphate cells, over 120% higher energy density than
lithium titanate cells and about 600% higher energy density than the ubiquitous
lead acid batteries. Higher energy density cells require fewer materials for a
given energy capacity and therefore can be produced at lower costs. Higher Energy
Density cells also contain proportionately lower amounts of flammable
electrolytes, which substantially improve safety considerations. Typical MN-eHP
cells are available in 30Ah to 40Ah format (110 - 150Wh) and housed in a flat
polymer pouch. The cells are produced by Electrovaya's proprietary non-toxic
production process which does not use massive quantities of toxic n-methyl
pyrrolidone (NMP), unlike most other commercial lithium ion battery
manufacturers. Toxic NMP is suspected of causing birth defects and does not
obviously complement the supply chain for Green electric vehicles or Alternate
Energy Storage programs.
In November, 2012 we announced the launch
of our lithium-ion energy storage system for home usage. The battery stores power
inverter from the grid or from solar panels and stores it for later
household use. For consumers subject to time-of-use charges, the EnergyBlock
can be used to store off-peak power to be used later during peak times,
lowering the amount of peak-rate costs for the user. In some regions, utilities
occasionally provide negative pricing to dump excess power when demand is very
low, so users may actually be paid to store energy. The EnergyBlock can also
store energy directly from solar panels, power in remote locations and emergency
power. Systems are available in sizes from 3kWh - 20 kWh. The ideal size for
most households is 7kWh, which provides several hours of power for the typical
consumer.
Also in November, 2012, accompanying Prime
Minister Harper's Trade Mission to India, we announced that we had signed two
MOUs in the fast growing areas of Energy Storage in the Telecom sector with
Environ Energy (Bhaskar Solar), part of a $4 billion Indian conglomerate, as
well as a further expansion in the electric two wheeler sector with Hero Eco
for markets in Europe, North America and India.
The MOU with Hero Eco Ltd. would further
the synergies of both Electrovaya's and Hero Eco's recent acquisitions.
Electrovaya would work with Hero Eco to implement Lithium Ion powered electric
bikes for Hero's markets in Asia, Europe and North America .
The MOU with Bhaskar Solar intends to harness Electrovaya's Lithium Ion Battery
technology in making renewables-based telecom towers possible. Electrovaya
would work jointly with Bhaskar Solar to implement renewable energy management
solutions across Bhaskar's proposed 15,000 telecom tower applications.
Fiscal 2012 Fourth Quarter Revenue up 32%
to $3.4 Million
Quarterly Non-IFRS Operating Profit
increased to $189,000 from an earlier loss of $309,000, a turnaround of
$498,000.
Financial Highlights
Fourth quarter fiscal 2012 revenue
increased by 32% to $3.4 million compared to $2.6 million in the fourth quarter
of the previous fiscal year.
Fiscal 2012 revenue totaled $9.9 million,
compared to $10.3 million, a 4% decrease over the previous fiscal year.
Quarterly Gross margin was $2.8 million, up
$2.3 million or 388% compared to $583,000 in the same quarter in the prior year.
Non-IFRS Profit from Operations for the
Quarter was $189,000 compared to a Non-IFRS Loss of $309,000 for the same
quarter in the prior year, a turnaround of $498,000.
Cash and cash equivalents were $5.0 million
as at September 30, 2012 compared to $5.3 million as at September 30, 2011 and
$3.7 million as at June 30, 2012.
Business Highlights:
"During fiscal 2012, we expanded into Europe by acquiring Miljobil and continued to address the
clean transportation industry and the large scale energy storage markets. The
industry has seen significant consolidation during the year and is recognizing
the importance of our non-NMP clean manufacturing process not only as a vital
technology for producing Lithium-Ion batteries, but also as an important
requirement in lowering both Capital and Operating costs to ensure
sustainability," commented Paul Hart, CFO of Electrovaya. "We are
very pleased to report our strong revenue growth and our non-IFRS profit during
the fourth quarter."
"We continue to focus on advancing our
unique, advanced NMP-free technology to create efficiencies in commercial
automotive, utility scale energy storage and consumer electronics applications.
Our manufacturing process continues to be improved to achieve greater quality
control, increased capacity and faster delivery to our customers. This is
considered to be especially important as our sales pipeline grows."
Our key activities during 2012 were as
follows:
In March, 2012 we announced a new product
line, leveraging our utility and automotive products. Electrovaya has made its
first product delivery of a 25kWh, 400V Lithium Ion SuperPolymer® Battery
Energy Storage System (PowerBlock 25-400V) to a large Japanese Utility through
Nippon Kouatsu Electric Co. Ltd. ("NKE"). The PB25-400V system will
be providing energy storage for a program to investigate distributed Energy
Storage for solar panel
Applications. The PowerBlock line of products is designed to cater to a rapidly
growing mid-size residential and industrial energy storage market. The
PowerBlock line integrates a complete energy storage system with cells, battery
management system and power electronics.
In May, 2012 we showcased our superior grid tie inverter -scale Energy Storage Systems based on our proprietary, high energy
density Lithium Ion SuperPolymer® battery at the annual Electricity Storage
Association (ESA) conference in Washington
DC . We highlighted our MWh-scale
design solution with specific focus on its launch customers for whom
industry-leading storage is provided in a small footprint. For example, a 1.5
MWh storage system can be incorporated into a 28' long container. The smaller
product size assures higher reliability with fewer components and additional
safety. Inherently versatile, the modular design structure of Electrovaya's
Energy Storage System allows the scaling to storage capacity from kWh to MWh
applications. Specifically, 28', 40' and 53' containerized units have been designed
for several launch customers. The modular design allows for customizable
storage capacities and system configurations. Superior safety and performance
control are enhanced with multiple redundant system design features including
an intelligent Battery Management System. The utility-scale product line
leverages Electrovaya's expertise as a Tier 1 supplier to automotive OEMs with
the demands of high performance, tight packaging constraints, reliability and
cost.
In July, 2012 we announced the introduction
of the PowerPad 600. With an enormous 600 Watt hour energy storage capacity,
the PowerPad 600 is an ideal replacement for existing lead acid and low energy
density Lithium Ion batteries used in Hospitals, Construction sites,
Warehouses, Telecommunications, Retail, Standby Power and wherever mobile power
is required. The PowerPad 600 extends the PowerPad family of products and is in
addition to the existing PowerPad 130.
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