Powin has selected Jabil as its manufacturing partner to produce Powin’s Stack750 Centipede energy storage systems. Beginning in Q4 2023, Jabil will produce an initial annual capacity of 2 GWh, with plans to ramp up production to 4 GWh per year.
According to Wood Mackenzie, the U.S. energy storage market installed a record 4.8 GW in 2022, with installations expected to surpass 75 GW by 2027 based on the standalone investment tax credit (ITC) and onshoring manufacturing efforts from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021.
To meet this growing demand, Tualatin, Oregon-based Powin, a modular energy storage systems distributor, has selected Jabil as its manufacturing partner to produce Powin’s Stack750 Centipede energy storage systems. Beginning in Q4 2023, Jabil will produce an initial annual capacity of 2 GWh, with plans to ramp up to 4 GWh per year of the lithium-ion battery systems.
The partnership is designed to address Powin’s expanding U.S. customer and project base based on increased demand for energy storage projects. Previously, Powin sourced battery components for its modular systems from China and Southeast Asia, Danny Lu, senior vice president, Powin, told pv magazine USA.
Jabil will leverage its power engineering, global manufacturing footprint, and supply chain experience to accelerate the production of American-made Powin’s Stack750 systems.
Powin selected Jabil due to a combination of the company’s high-level assembly techniques, deep energy storage prowess, and commitment to environmental health, social equity and sustainable practices.
“Jabil’s flexible business model enables Powin to scale quickly and efficiently to meet high industry growth,” said Stuart Bolland, chief operating officer, Powin. “Our collaboration with Jabil not only reflects our pledge to safety and operational excellence, but more importantly our commitment to building a domestic energy storage supply chain.”
The collaboration will not only reduce supply chain risk by increasing capacity to directly serve the U.S. market, but it also reportedly supports Powin’s customers in meeting the domestic content requirements that are currently being set by the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Stack750 storage system is a 750 kWh DC lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery that is rated to provide two to four hours of battery discharge over a cycle life of 7,300 cycles. The battery system’s calendar life is 20 years and the battery’s tested round-trip efficiency is 93% to 95%, with the four-hour discharge battery providing the higher efficiency. The storage system requires half the time to procure and deploy, and uses 30% less space onsite, while reducing lifecycle costs compared to atypical modular storage systems.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) and EVE Energy have been Powin’s suppliers of the LFP battery cells.
Jabil, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, manufactures energy storage system (ESS) products using its high-level assembly (HLA), power engineering and global manufacturing operations. Jabil’s energy storage experience includes lithium-ion-based uninterruptible power systems (UPS) and air-conditioned cabinet assemblies for DC battery racks and modules. The company has produced storage systems from at least eight countries, including the U.S., Mexico and Brazil.
Powin’s systems have been deployed in close to 1.4 GWh of standalone storage and renewable energy paired storage projects in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and Israel, according to its project website. The company has over 6 GWh of systems in operation and advanced development, and an additional 11 GWh of projects under contract.
Besides partnering with Jabil in the U.S., Powin signed a January 2022 agreement with Celistica, a Mexico-based contract supplier, for the “nearshoring” fabrication of additional Powin Centipede systems. That partnership addressed near-term demand for the modular storage systems in North America. Mass production of the Centipede storage system took place in mid-2022.
Powin is exhibiting at Booth #4015 at the CleanPower Conference & Exhibition 2023, a national power and renewable energy industry conference taking place from May 23 to 25 at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
