Ener1 and Federal Grid Company to Demonstrate Lithium-Ion Distributed Energy Storage System at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

NEW YORK, June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEV) and the Russian Federal Grid Company (FGC) (MICEX: FEES) today announced they will display a fully operational, lithium-ion, distributed energy storage system as part of the 15th annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum which will be held June 16-18 in Russia.  The Forum will be attended by more than 2,500 people.  Leading the roster of government leaders and corporate CEOs from around the world are opening speeches by the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, and the President of the People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080312/CLW018LOGO )

Ener1 and FGC will be displaying a 70 kWh distributed energy storage system.  While the unit is a smaller version of the large-scale solutions the companies are co-developing as part of an agreement signed last November, it will provide attendees an understanding of how the two companies can strategically manage power storage for the country's electric grid. The large-scale distributed energy storage systems being developed -- which will be used for emergency back-up power at FGC substations in St. Petersburg and the Black Sea port city of Sochi, site of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games -- are scheduled to be installed in Russia in the next few months.  The first unit will be shipped in the next few weeks.

"Ener1 is committed to working with FGC as part of its effort to support Russia's $15-billion investment to modernize the country's electric grid infrastructure through 2012," said Ener1 Chairman and CEO Charles Gassenheimer.  "Together, we're developing energy storage solutions that we hope will leap-frog the current infrastructure and leverage the benefits of a smart grid technology, which could ultimately save FGC and its customers millions of dollars."

"We've been working with FGC's Mobile GTES subsidiary to develop and manufacture two distributed energy storage systems," said Bruce Curtis, president of grid energy storage solutions for Ener1.  "When the units are installed this fall, we believe they will provide viable solutions to help strengthen Russia's electric grid in two demanding regions, provide emergency back-up power for substation auxiliaries, and offer future integration for intermittent renewable energy sources."

Due to the growth in renewable energy sources like wind and solar and the need to modernize electric utility grids, the energy storage market is expected to grow to approximately $2.5 billion globally by 2015*.  With expertise developed over the last few years, Ener1 hopes to work with utility partners and contractors in countries like the U.S., Japan, Germany, Russia, India and Brazil to deliver the right energy storage system -- including distributed, community or bulk energy storage solutions -- to address their power needs.

"We've been collaborating with Ener1 to develop lithium-ion-based energy storage solutions for Russia's Unified National Power Grid to help improve the reliability of power delivery to our customers," stated Oleg Bragin, general director, Mobile GTES.  "At the Forum, we plan to demonstrate just how far we've come in such a short time in developing the distributed energy storage systems we're installing this fall in St. Petersburg and Sochi."

As part of the St. Petersburg event, the FGC is also sponsoring an invitation-only roundtable entitled "Smart Grids: Projects of the Future," which is designed to educate and encourage debate around issues critical to wide-spread smart grid deployment around the world. Ener1 Chairman and CEO Charles Gassenheimer will be one of the industry experts providing perspectives on the future direction of lithium-ion-based bulk energy storage solutions for smarter electric grids.  The roster of six speakers includes from the U.S.:

• George Arnold, national coordinator for smart grid interoperability, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• Terry Boston, president and chief executive officer, PJM Interconnection

About Ener1, Inc.

Ener1, Inc. is a publicly traded (NASDAQ: HEV) energy storage technology company that develops compact, lithium-ion-powered battery solutions for the transportation, utility grid and industrial electronics markets. Headquartered in New York City, the company has more than 700 employees with manufacturing locations in the United States and Korea. Ener1 also develops commercial fuel cell products and nanotechnology-based materials.

About Federal Grid Company

Open Joint-Stock Company Federal Grid Company of the Unified Energy System provides unified national electric grid management to the power industry in the Russian Federation. It offers energy transmission services; technical connection services, including services for electric power consumption (delivery), as well as providing actual connection of consumers' electric devices to the electric grid facilities to legal entities and individuals; and technical maintenance and repair of facilities in the unified national electric grid system. The company also invests in and develops the unified energy system.

About Mobile GTES

Joint-stock company Mobile GTES is a wholly owned subsidiary of Federal Grid Company.  It was established in 2006 to deploy and operate mobile gas turbine power stations with a view to maintaining the reliability of the Moscow region's power grid at peak hours in the most effective, safe and ecologically pure manner.  Mobile GTES was also created to be able to promptly relocate such power plants to remote regions of Russia with inadequate electricity supplies.  The company possesses vast experience in commissioning and operating mobile gas turbine power plants and selling capacity and power on the wholesale market.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements that are based on management's expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "scheduled," "estimates" and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and the company does not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this press release.

* Source: Greentech Media Inc., August 2009.

Media Contacts:
Ener1, Inc.
Brian Sinderson
+1 212.920.3500 X117
[email protected]

SOURCE Ener1, Inc.