LCA increases its equity stake in RLtec to 77.4 percent

Low Carbon Accelerator (LCA) has made a further equity investment of £300,000 in ResponsiveLoad Ltd (RLtec).

LCA's investment was part of an overall £550,000 funding round, with £250,000 provided by a private investor. Further details weren't shared.

As part of this investment, LCA has converted its £900,000 convertible loan in RLtec, previously announced on 21 December 2007, into preference shares. These transactions result in LCA's equity stake in RLtec increasing to 77.4 percent and takes LCA's total investment in RLtec to £2,053,500. In addition, LCA has agreed to provide a further £300,000 in funding subject to the achievement of milestones.

It was originally envisaged that the convertible loan note would finance RLtec to the completion of a larger third party funding round. The company now expects to pursue this larger funding round after RLTec has agreed terms with the National Grid for the provision of grid balancing services using RLtec's patented dynamic demand technology. RLtec is targeting agreement of this contract in early 2009.

For its part, RLtec has shared that it is making steady progress towards agreeing a demonstration project with Ofgem and a major utility supplier under the UK's Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERTs) programme. It has also recently received an order to trial its product using electrical load available in the Sainsbury retail store estate, in addition to successfully completing application testing with a major appliance manufacturer.

RLtec has developed technology suitable for demand- response and Smart Grid energy balancing applications.

Flywheel systems bound to gain ground in the UPS space: analysis

Environmental factors and low-cost have propelled the European flywheel UPS market, according to an analysis from Frost & Sullivan.

The firm, in its analysis, European Flywheel UPS Markets, has shared that the market earned revenues of over €25.4 million in 2007 and estimates that it will reach €58 million in 2014. It highlighted that "green" initiatives have encouraged the gravitation towards environmentally friendly technologies such as flywheel UPS systems. The European Commission energy efficiency action plan has also helped drive the uptake of flywheel UPS systems.

"Although the technology has been in existence for a long time, it has seen widespread acceptance and increased uptake only over the past three or four years," said Frost & Sullivan's programme manager Malavika Tohani. "Flywheel UPS systems use kinetic energy, eliminating harmful emissions and disposal issues and reducing the impact on the environment."

"The total cost of ownership for a flywheel UPS is less than that of the battery-based UPS, primarily because of the lower operational costs," she said. "Moreover, this technology is energy efficient and space saving since it does not require huge storage space for batteries or cooling systems that are a part of conventional UPS systems."

It stated that ongoing efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and prevent climate change have triggered interest in alternative energy storage technologies. As awareness spreads and manufacturers ramp up R&D efforts, flywheel systems are bound to gain ground in the UPS space.

ZENN Motor’s plans buoyed by certification of EEStor’s technology

ZENN Motor Company’s goal of developing zero emission vehicles including highway capable electric vehicles has received a major fillip with its strategic partner EEStor gaining the third party verified permittivity milestone.

ZENN, which is also an equity investor in EEStor (3.8 percent) with the option of increasing its position upon EEStor’s announcing third-party permittivity test results, is already gearing up for the commercialisation of EEStor's energy storage technology.

The company is targeting the launch of the cityZENN, powered by EEStor, in the fall of 2009.

The cityZENN is planned to be a fully certified, highway capable vehicle with a top speed of 125 kph/ 80 MPH and a range or 400 kilometres/250 miles. Powered by EEStor, the cityZENN will be rechargeable in less than five minutes, feature operating costs 1/10th of a typical internal combustion engine vehicle and be 100 percent emission-free.

ZENN also plans to expand its low-speed product line-up for the 2009 model year with a four-passenger and a utility low-speed vehicle.

The company has exclusive rights to EEStor’s technology in the following markets: All new vehicles up to 1400 kg (curb weight), net of battery weight; All retrofit conversions of existing internal combustion vehicles to electric; All golf carts and small to mid-sized utility vehicles

VYCON proves its worth to YICT

China’s Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT) has agreed to buy additional units of VYCON’s mobile cranes.

The decision to place a new order for REGEN Crane Energy Storage systems was based on a test conducted by the Shenzhen-based company, a joint venture established by Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group and Shenzhen Yantian Port Group.

YICT is responsible for operating and managing Phases I, II, III, Expansion Project and West Port at Yantian Port.

The test conducted at YICT showed that retrofitting a Rubber Tired Gantry (RTG) crane with the VYCON REGEN system and optimising the generator can provide up to 38 percent in fuel savings. At the operational rates found at YICT of approximately 10 moves per hour, the REGEN system reduced fuel consumption by 30 percent.

VYCON’s strength not only lies in controlling fuel costs but also in reduction of emissions be it during lift cycles or the overall operation. It derives such benefit from its high recycling capabilities, which optimise RTG cranes’ (mobile cranes designed for the movement of shipping containers once they are placed into the distribution channels from the ship) diesel generator operation by storing energy during lowering cycles (regeneration) and quickly releasing this regenerated energy for lift cycles.

These transitions are seamless and instantaneous, according to the company.

VYCON is expects to reap benefits from such performance as Yantian is a preferred port of call for mega-container vessels in South China.

The YICT Expansion Project is currently under construction. This project includes six container berths involving an investment of over RMB10 billion. It is scheduled to be completed by 2010.