Sunverge and Mitsui & Co sign strategic alliance for energy storage

Distributed energy storage firm Sunverge Energy and Japan-based industrial conglomerate MITSUI & CO., LTD., have formed a strategic commercial relationship enabling the two companies to collaborate on select market development initiatives starting in Japan.

The arrangement complements Mitsui's $10 million investment that was part of the $36.5 million in Series C Preferred Stock financing raised by Sunverge earlier this month.  

Ken Munson, Sunverge co-founder and CEO, said: 

"Japan is the second largest market for solar PV growth, which in turn is driving demand for intelligent distributed energy storage solutions. Mitsui has been a pioneer in renewable energy and has made early strategic investments in energy storage, and we look forward to working with them to bring the benefits of Sunverge's advanced technology to more utilities and energy users throughout Japan."

Sunverge designs and manufactures advanced, intelligent energy storage systems that allow electric utilities to automatically execute demand response programs for individual customers or to meet peak energy demand for an entire community or service area by linking them into "Virtual Power Plants." This unprecedented level of control, provided via a flexible cloud-based platform, provides more intelligent, automatic and efficient management of distributed energy resources.

Tomonori Suzuki, General Manager of New Business Development Department, Infrastructure Projects Development Division MITSUI & CO., LTD., said:

"The future of energy depends on the deployment of technologies that support intelligent management of distributed resources, and provides the ability to aggregate those resources into virtual power plants in Japan and across our worldwide network. Sunverge Energy is a proven global leader in developing this kind of advanced technology, making it an ideal investment and strategic fit for Mitsui."

The announcement follows the recent alliance signed by AES Corporation, through its subsidiary, AES Energy Storage, and Mitsubishi Corporation through the which Mitsubishi will offer the Advancion^® energy storage platform in Asia and Oceania.