UniEnergy Technologies and Powerit Solutions Join Forces on Behalf of Mission Produce

SEATTLE and MUKILTEO, Wash., Sept. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Powerit Solutions (www.poweritsolutions.com), a leader in electrical demand management, and UniEnergy Technologies (UET) (www.uetechnologies.com), which manufactures and installs large-scale energy storage solutions for commercial / industrial, microgrid, and utility applications, today announced Mission Produce, a global importer, processor and exporter of avocados, has signed a letter of intent to deploy for its site in Oxnard, California, a UET Uni.System (500kW / 2 MWh) advanced vanadium redox flow battery. The installation will take place at the end of 2015.

The Uni.System will be integrated with Powerit's cloud-based demand management software platform, Spara Hub, which is already in place at Mission Produce.

The storage-as-a-service solution, with solar and demand management software integrated into a commercial / industrial microgrid, will help seamlessly manage energy consuming, producing or storage devices for Mission Produce. This highly-integrated system, utilizing the same storage technology employed in nearly 5MW/15MWh of UET systems already deployed or ordered including the largest flow battery operating in North America and Europe, will save energy costs and provide resiliency and energy security, allowing Mission Produce to focus on storing and distributing quality avocados. It is anticipated the Oxnard project will be the first of a wider deployment by the strategic alliance of UET, Powerit and Mission Produce.

UET -- Demonstrating the Value of Flow Batteries to C&I Customers

Mission Produce has been installing Powerit's energy demand management technology since 2008. Powerit now helps the produce company manage a load of approximately 8,300kW. This has helped Mission Produce save over $2 million. 

The UET agreement with Mission Produce marks the first UET deployment of systems in California, building on UET's deployment experience with C&I and utility applications in Washington State and Europe.

"UET is excited to partner with Mission Produce, a leader in sustainable agriculture, and Powerit, one of the most advanced providers of energy management solutions," says Gary Yang, UET President and CEO. "We believe this deployment will further prove the value of our new-generation vanadium flow battery to C&I customers. This is a flagship introduction of a flow battery into this segment of the storage market, and it will provide Mission Produce with increased peak demand reduction, the ability to arbitrage energy pricing and the ability to island their site in case of grid failure."

Indeed, with a 1MW PV installation, 2MWh battery and a microgrid control system with sophisticated load control, Mission Produce is very much in command of its energy future. It will be able to run mostly off solar power during peak hours, and absorb spikes in energy use through load management and battery discharging. In addition, it can use its battery to charge both in times of excess solar and off-peak and discharge when solar generation lessens and/or during peak demand.

"We're very pleased to be joining forces with UET, and to, once again, deepen our relationship with Powerit Solutions," says Jake Nixon, VP of Engineering and Process Improvement at Mission Produce. "The unlimited cyclability and no capacity fade of the Uni.System makes it a valuable asset in a facility microgrid because there aren't battery life and capacity concerns with frequent charge and discharge cycles. We're extremely excited about this technology, which will help drive our business even further ahead."

Powerit -- Creating a Microgrid Partnership Ecosystem for the C&I Market

For Powerit, this expansion of its relationship with Mission Produce demonstrates the extra and extended value the clean technology company continues to build into its platform for customers. It also reinforces the microgrid controls capability of Spara Hub, enabling customers to coordinate and optimize all of their energy assets – loads, renewables, and storage within a facility. In February, Powerit introduced its new Spara DM® Microgrid Controller, which helps manufacturing facilities optimize their microgrids – on-site, renewable power and storage system networks – by continually balancing demand with generation. This helps maintain stability and ensures that peak demand doesn't outstrip available supply.

Taking this a step further, Powerit is creating a Microgrid Partnership Ecosystem to serve the emerging market for on-site C&I microgrids. This initiative will tie together rooftop solar, on-site energy storage, customer-side demand control and the utility grid.

"After deploying in 200 North American C&I installations, we have a proven energy automation system that can cost-effectively orchestrate all of these different elements for the benefit of both customer economics and grid stability," says Kevin Klustner, CEO of Powerit Solutions. "And, because we've gotten enough recent in-bound interest in our system for C&I microgrids, we've decided to pursue the design of a standardized configuration offering interested customers and channel partners 'microgrid management in a box.' Approaches to microgrids in general, and facility microgrids in specific, are all over the map, so this will allow us to establish a standard offering for customers and utilities."

Through the UET and Powerit collaboration, both companies see an opportunity for follow-on projects at other Mission Produce facilities in the U.S. and abroad. There is also opportunity to offer the combined solutions to the sizeable and growing market for microgrids and distributed energy resources on the customer side of the utility meter.

About UniEnergy Technologies (UET)

Founded in 2012, UET manufactures and installs large-scale energy storage solutions for commercial / industrial, microgrid, and utility applications. The core, patented technology is an advanced vanadium flow battery, with a new generation electrolyte first developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity and then improved and commercialized by UET. The company operates a 60,000-square-foot engineering and manufacturing facility near Seattle, scaling up to produce 100 megawatts annually.

About Powerit Solutions

Powerit Solutions is a Seattle-based international clean technology company that sets the demand management standard. Its Spara DM™ technology links industrial facilities with the smart grid, so customers can effortlessly control energy use for savings and sustainability.

About Mission Produce

Mission recently completed construction on new avocado packing facilities in Oxnard, California, and in Chao, Peru. In addition to California and Peru, Mission has operations in Mexico, Chile, Canada and The Netherlands, as well as eight valued-added ripening and distribution centers across North America. Over the past 30 years, Mission has grown to become a leader in the worldwide avocado industry.

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SOURCE UniEnergy Technologies

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