AES and 5B Accelerating World's Transition to Solar Energy

ARLINGTON, Va., July 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) announced today that it has made a strategic investment in 5B, a solar technology innovator based in Sydney, Australia. 5B's revolutionary MAVERICK design enables customers to add solar resources at a pace that is three times faster while providing up to two times more energy within the same footprint of traditional solar facilities. Together, AES and 5B will help clients accelerate their use of solar energy. 

The total global investment in the solar energy market between 2021-2025 is projected to reach $613 billion as companies transition to greener sources of energy. 5B's MAVERICK design enables companies to make that transition more quickly and while using less land. The MAVERICK design is a pre-wired, prefabricated solar solution that is folded up, shipped to site and rolled out. The 5B approach streamlines engineering, procurement and construction for ground-mounted solar facilities. MAVERICK also removes common barriers for organizations to deploy solar resources, including the availability of land and ground penetration, making solar possible in more places while providing the flexibility to easily relocate the resources in some applications. 

"Solar is the most abundant clean energy source in the world, and 5B's innovative design produces twice the energy for any given area," said Andrés Gluski, President and CEO of AES. "In addition, a project using 5B's technology can be built in a third of the time when compared with conventional solar. These significant advantages will help us meet our customers growing needs in today's everchanging environment. " 

AES will benefit from the use of 5B's MAVERICK technology across many of the projects in its expected 2 to 3 GW of annual renewables growth. This year, AES Panama will fast-track the delivery of a 2 MW project utilizing the MAVERICK solution. In Chile, AES Gener will deploy 10 MW of MAVERICK technology as a part of the expansion of its Los Andes solar facility in the Atacama Desert in the north of the country. 

"AES share our vision for a clean energy future. Our Maverick solution is defining the next generation for solar power and the true potential of solar power in terms of how fast, simple, flexible and low cost it should and will be," said Chris McGrath, 5B's Co-founder and CEO. "5B has delivered the speed and efficiency benefits of our MAVERICK solution in the Australian market, and now AES is bringing its strength to bear as we scale our solution globally." 

Following a US $8.6 million investment round that included AES, 5B joins a growing portfolio of energy technology platforms in which AES has made strategic investments. AES had a foundational role in the creation and growth of the energy storage market through Fluence, its joint venture with Siemens. Today, Fluence is the largest grid-scale battery energy storage solutions company in the world. AES is also collaborating with Uplight, the leading digital customer energy platform in the US. AES' strategic collaborations with and investments in these companies have helped them to accelerate the future of energy.  

For interview requests and other inquiries related to AES, please contact Gail Chalef, Senior Manager for Press and Media Relations, at [email protected] or +1-571-833-8804. 

For more information about 5B and to follow their projects and growth, please contact Lindsey Guest, Marketing Manager, at +61-480-242-289 or at [email protected]. Check out their website at www.5B.com.au. 

About The AES Corporation 
The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) is a Fortune 500 global power company. We provide affordable, sustainable energy to 14 countries through our diverse portfolio of distribution businesses as well as thermal and renewable generation facilities. Our workforce is committed to operational excellence and meeting the world's changing power needs. Our 2019 revenues were $10 billion, and we own and manage $34 billion in total assets. To learn more, please visit www.aes.com.  Follow AES on Twitter @TheAESCorp. 

About 5B 
5B is a clean technology innovator, founded in 2013 by solar engineers, Chris McGrath and Eden Tehan.  5B's mission is to accelerate the transformation of the world to a clean energy future by developing and delivering technology and solutions that makes clean energy more competitive, accessible and powerful than ever before. We have transformed delivery of solar projects from the ground up with our flagship technology, MAVERICK; a plug & play, prefabricated solar block that is folded up, packed onto a truck, shipped to site and deployed in minutes. This enables our customers to deliver solar projects simpler, faster, smarter, more flexibly and at lowest cost. 5B's technology development & pilot production takes place in our Sydney headquarters, with our Australian assembly partner IXL Solar based in Adelaide. We also have presence in the US, South Africa, Germany and China. Our name, 5B, is a constant reminder of the almost infinite amount of energy potential in the 5 billion years of sunshine the earth has left and is intended to provoke the question 'How will we use it?'. Please reach out to us at: www.5B.com.au, [email protected] or on Twitter @5B_Au.  

  

SOURCE The AES Corporation

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