Johnson Controls International is nearing a deal to sell its power solutions business, which makes car batteries, to Brookfield Asset Management Inc. for $13 billion-$14 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The transaction would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts this year and allow Johnson Controls to focus on its building technologies and solutions business, which makes heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, as well as building access control and fire detection systems. Brookfield, an investment firm with over $285 billion in assets under management, outbid buyout firm Apollo Global Management in an auction for the power solutions unit, the sources said
EnerySys, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of industrial batteries, announced it entered into an agreement to acquire Alpha Technologies for $750 million. Alpha, based in Bellingham, Wash., is a leading seller of power equipment used in broadband and telecommunications networks. Alpha generated $591 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30 and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $67 million. EnerSys, based in Bern Township, will pay $650 million in cash and the remaining $100 million in either cash or shares. The deal is expected to close in 30 to 60 days. EnerSys produces lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries at its headquarters in Ber
Chemist Geoffrey Coates will be part of the $120 million, five-year second phase of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), an interdisciplinary project aimed at realizing next-generation batteries. Coates and his team will investigate the polymerics that go into batteries. “By designing and building new polymers with molecular precision, we will enable new batteries that charge faster, last longer and are safer than current technologies,” said Coates, the Tisch University Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The Coates Research Group focuses on the development of new synthetic strategies for producing polymers of defined structure. The broader impacts
Multiple technologies are vying to house temporary surpluses of solar and wind power. A mind-boggling array of energy storage technologies—including batteries the size of an Ikea furniture store and tanks of salt hydrates the size of oil drums that release heat—is being tested in labs and workshops across the globe. They are vying to become the approach of choice to stabilize electric grids when energy from renewable sources passes 20% on an individual grid—the point at which the unpredictable nature of renewables becomes unmanageable. In a future where solar and wind energy steadily replace carbon-based fossil fuels, energy storage technologies will be needed to keep the lights on when the
After 159 years, the lead-acid battery is getting an overhaul that aims to move it into the next generation of advanced batteries. The Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory signed an agreement this week with 14 members of the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium to use advanced Xray technology to see if they can increase the potential of lead batteries. Using the X-ray beam technology at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source facility, the investigators will be able to better understand the interactions inside a lead battery while it charges and discharges. full brief can be found on utilitydive.com
As reported on energy-storage.news India’s prime minister Narendra Modi made an official commitment towards the launch of the country’s first National Energy Storage Mission yesterday at a ministerial event also attended by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. The Indian government Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is currently hosting an event in Delhi for the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), protecting and promoting the trade and transport interests of the world’s third largest ocean, an extended region which according to the Ministry in fact represents approximately 15% of global energy demand. At the same time, the International Solar Alliance is meeting at a parallel event
