Fluidic Energy announced a $20 million investment from Asia Climate Partners (ACP). As a joint venture between the Asian Development Bank, ORIX and Robeco, ACP is a mid-market private equity fund dedicated to clean energy, resource efficiency and environment sectors in the Asia-Pacific region. By supporting Fluidic Energy’s expansion of its game-changing, intelligent and low cost energy storage technology, ACP hopes to expand renewable energy access in Southeast Asia while limiting carbon intensive energy adoption and replacing environmentally damaging diesel gensets.
“Energy storage is a key enabler of widespread decentralized renewable energy generation and we see enormous potential in our core countries like India, Indonesia and the Philippines, that have high penetration of diesel generation and low electrification rates. Fluidic has achieved a substantial track record in long-duration storage solutions, with over 100,000 batteries installed in telecom backup power, rural electrification, and micro grid applications globally since 2011, and we are honored to join a prestigious group of investors in supporting Fluidic’s further growth in Asia. We are excited about this investment for many reasons, including: commercial traction of Fluidic’s product and its proven ability to deliver in diverse environments and harsh conditions; competitive position in its target markets; and the team’s commitment to high environmental standards and improving lives through its business offering,” said Duarte Da Silva, Managing Director, ACP.
Fluidic Energy has established a strong presence in Asia, including a regional headquarters and manufacturing facilities. Fluidic has been manufacturing its energy storage systems in Indonesia since 2011 and supplying its systems to both telecom and rural electrification applications. In one of the company’s recent projects, Fluidic deployed more than 22MWh of energy storage to 96 PV and energy storage powered rural electrification projects across the archipelago, providing clean and reliable energy to more than 110,000 people.
Of the more than 1.2 billion people without electricity on our planet today, 600 million are living in Asia. “Although we were founded in the U.S. and offer solutions for markets such as telecom, grid firming, and critical power, we immediately recognized the positive impact we could have in the Asia-Pacific region. We focused much of our commercialization strategy on Asia for the first several years simply because there was a problem that we knew we could help fix,” said Steve Scharnhorst, CEO of Fluidic Energy.
By combining the best energy and power centric technologies with integrated intelligence, Fluidic uniquely approaches the market with a whole product solution optimized for long duration and harsh environmental settings. A key enabler for Fluidic’s hybrid solutions is its proprietary Zinc-air battery technology, which is optimal for long duration applications due to its unique air-breathing architecture. Using “free” air allows for significantly lower costs as runtimes extend. Fluidic solutions can store large amounts of energy and discharge that energy over several days, providing autonomy to villages and communities. This autonomy allows communities to adopt renewables, without sacrificing continuous, reliable electricity; remaining fully functional even when there is limited sunshine for days. In comparison to mini-grids that provide only a few hours of autonomy, days of autonomy helps empower these areas via economic growth and commercial activities. The environmental benefits speak for themselves: lower emissions while using no lead, cadmium, mercury, fossil fuels or other toxic elements; displacement of diesel generators and lead acid batteries and reduced CO2.
To date, the company has shipped more than 100,000 batteries worldwide and impacted more than three million people and thousands of communities by delivering reliable, affordable electricity to businesses and homes in diverse and difficult operating climates. The company recently announced an ambitious commitment to bring affordable and reliable energy to 100 million people globally by 2025.
“We appreciate this partnership with ACP, including their regional expertise and the synergy that we can create with our combined vision of leveraging technology and investment to truly change lives in Asia and around the world,” said Scharnhorst.
Fluidic Energy is dedicated to accelerating the worldwide transformation to clean, reliable energy through its innovative and intelligent energy storage solutions. Enabled by groundbreaking battery technology and smart-grid intelligence, Fluidic Energy designs, manufactures and markets long-duration energy storage solutions globally. As the first company to deliver rechargeable Zinc-air battery technology in high production volumes Fluidic Energy has over 100,000 batteries globally with its industry leading whole product approach. Fluidic Energy continues to build momentum as the long-duration energy storage leader, installing systems worldwide that increase reliability, functionality and surpass cost targets necessary for practical energy storage adoption. While meeting market needs now, Fluidic Energy is paving the path for the smart, sustainable, and accessible grid of the future.
About Asia Climate Partners
Asia Climate Partners (ACP) is a private equity fund based in Hong Kong and supported by the Asian Development Bank, ORIX Corporation and Robeco Group. With approximately $440 million of investment capital to date, ACP is one of the largest private equity platforms for environmental finance in emerging Asia. ACP is looking to partner with market-leading, high-growth Asian businesses in India, China and South East Asia with a particular focus on the clean energy, resource efficiency and environmental sectors.
For more information, visit www.asiaclimatepartners.com
