ZBB Energy Contracts With Australian Government for Advanced Energy Storage System
ZBB Energy Corp. announced that its subsidiary company, ZBB Technologies, Ltd., has entered into contract with the Australian federal government through the Department of the Environment and Water Resources for $2.6 million (A$3.1 million) over two years in project funding under the Advanced Electricity Storage Technologies (AEST) program. For the first year of the project, the company expects to recognize $1.35 million in revenue throughout the company’s present 2008 fiscal year.
The Australian government’s AEST program identifies and promotes strategically important, innovative, advanced energy storage technologies that will increase the ability of renewable generation to contribute to Australia’s electricity supply system. The project will integrate ZBB’s advanced zinc-bromine energy storage systems with multiple renewable energy sources at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s (CSIRO) Newcastle Energy Centre in New South Wales. As Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO is one of the largest and most diverse scientific institutions in the world with more than 50 sites throughout Australia and overseas.
The project will deliver a ZBB energy storage system that will be used to store and supply renewable energy generated from photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbines already operational at the CSIRO Energy Center. Electricity generated from these renewable sources will be stored in the ZBB battery and used to provide power to the CSIRO laboratories and exported into the grid.
Rob Parry, Chief Executive Officer of ZBB Energy Corp., stated, "We believe this initiative will help propel ZBB’s storage systems into the rapidly growing renewable energy market. We have designed our product to address this exact application, the storing of intermittent power at the time of generation for delivery at a later point in time when the consumer most needs power. Our storage systems smooth the delivery of renewable power to the grid as well as maximize value by delivering power at times of peak demand. Additionally, off grid customers will have the ability to store their renewable power for use at later times when they might not have the generating source available to them. The partnership with CSIRO and the support from the AEST program will greatly enhance our progress into this target market."
