Electro Energy Wins Contract from EaglePicher and SBIR from the U.S. Navy
Electro Energy Inc. has received two awards related to its unique nickel electrode manufacturing techniques. In one case, the company received a contract award for the manufacture of nickel sintered plaque for batteries to be produced by EaglePicher Technologies, LLC (EaglePicher).
In the second instance, Electro Energy received a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract with the U.S. Navy. The SBIR project will focus on the development of manufacturing techniques for a power source exploring the use of unconventional methods for electrode fabrication that may substantially reduce the cost of thermally activated batteries and significantly improve performance.
The purchase order from EaglePicher was released under the long-term supply agreement between Mobile Energy Products, Inc. (Electro Energy's wholly-owned subsidiary operating in Colorado Springs) and EaglePicher.
The contract will require Electro Energy to fabricate the nickel sintered product using its heritage processes and procedures. This product is used exclusively in the highly reliable EaglePicher nickel-hydrogen battery cells. EaglePicher is considered the largest supplier of nickel-hydrogen cells and batteries used in various space applications.
Martin G. Klein, Electro Energy's Chairman and CEO, said, "We have remained confident that orders under our supply agreement with EaglePicher would rebound. Shipments under this purchase order scheduled for Q1 2006 will exceed prior-year same-quarter revenues generated under the long-term supply agreement with EaglePicher by 337%."
Under the Navy SBIR, the company is developing thermally activated batteries. Similar batteries are currently used in missile and weapons applications and historically have had labor and capital-intensive manufacturing processes. In the second quarter of 2006, Electro Energy expects to apply its innovative manufacturing processing techniques, developed for rechargeable bipolar nickel metal hydride and bipolar lithium ion batteries, to invent a simpler, consistent technique for producing thermally activated battery components at a lower cost than currently offered in the marketplace.
Electro Energy’s ongoing development of thermal battery technology at its Colorado Springs manufacturing facility has already demonstrated operation at a significantly lower temperature than batteries that are in use today and continues to patent its processes. The reduction in temperature provides the potential for a viable solution for down-hole well drilling applications, as well as a superior alternative for existing military applications.
