Having deployed over 100,000 batteries and 40MWh+ of energy storage worldwide, Fluidic Energy entered the African market in early 2016. Their zinc-air battery, with its ability to store large amounts of energy, capable of being released over very long periods of time, offers a unique solution for areas with poor grid availability. TowerXchange speak to Fluidic Energy, Chief Marketing Officer, Dennis Thomsen to learn more.
TowerXchange: Please introduce Fluidic Energy and the products that they supply to the telecom infrastructure industry.
Dennis Thomsen, Chief Marketing Officer, Fluidic Energy:
Fluidic Energy was formed in 2006 in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. The key shareholders include the Walton family, Caterpillar, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Fluidic’s main breakthrough was the invention of the rechargeable zinc air battery, which is capable of storing massive amounts of energy. Because of its ability to release the energy over very long periods, the Fluidic system has become known as the “Marathoner”, capable of fully replacing diesel gensets in many poor grid areas.
Fluidic also designed the vertically integrated solution, with hardware, software, and remote control capabilities on a single “plug & play” platform, enabling us to provide our customers an SLA based power backup solution with full performance transparency.
In 2015 Fluidic then launched the proprietary and breakthrough “hybrid architecture”, which enables seamless integration of power batteries, with the long duration energy capabilities of the zinc-air technology. This combined solution, leveraging the best of the two chemistries, has provided our customers with a state of the art solution that covers all the needs for both peaking capabilities and long duration backup requirements.
Fluidic now holds more than 100 patents and continues to expand its IP position.
Our systems are modular and fully scalable at any time from 1kW to MWs, and from kWh to MWh. In other words you only install the power and energy capacity you need from day one, and then scale these as your demand goes up.
With no depth of discharge limitations, no state of charge issues, an operating temperature window from 0C to 50C without any need for external cooling, and designed as a drop in replacement of lead acid batteries working seamlessly with existing power infrastructure, the Fluidic solution is easy to deploy in both greenfield and brownfield sites.
TowerXchange: What applications are Fluidic batteries useful for in terms of grid availability?
Dennis Thomsen, Chief Marketing Officer, Fluidic Energy:
Fluidic Energy is a full solution provider, delivering both on-grid and off-grid solutions. Having said that, if an MNO or towerco is looking for a solution that delivers guaranteed power backup for more than 4, 6, 8 or even 16 hours every day, and do so for 5 years or more (up to 10 years), the Fluidic solution is probably the only one on the market capable of truly meeting such promises.
TowerXchange: How widely installed are Fluidic batteries and who are your key clients? What results have been achieved?
Dennis Thomsen, Chief Marketing Officer, Fluidic Energy:
Since our first commercial installations in early 2011, we have more than 100,000 batteries and 40MWh+ of energy storage worldwide. I believe that makes Fluidic Energy the most successful new battery company since the launch of the lithium battery some 20+ years back.
We have over recent years been very focused on successfully supporting and executing on our promises to our key customers in Southeast Asia and Central America. I cannot disclose the name of these as we are under NDA with each of them, but I can tell you that everyone one of them ranks among the largest MNOs in the two regions.
Typically, we enter into long term agreements under which, Fluidic guarantees to deliver a power back availability in accordance with an agreed SLA. It’s not without some pride that I can tell you that we, over a period of more than 5 years, have never missed the promised targets and nor have we been hit by an SLA penalty. The result for the customer is a guaranteed availability level, which directly translates into higher revenue, lower supporting cost and more satisfied customers. In regions where customer churn is a real issue (SIMs are being swapped in a heartbeat), loyal customers are worth a fortune.
TowerXchange: How does the TCO of a power system incorporating zinc-air batteries compare to that with lead or lithium ion?
Dennis Thomsen, Chief Marketing Officer, Fluidic Energy:
Measured over periods of 5 years or more, and typically in areas with frequent outages of 4 hours or more, or where a guaranteed availability is absolutely critical, the Fluidic solutions and business model delivers an unrivalled TCO.
TowerXchange: Why is it that batteries fail? What is the typical lifecycle of your solutions and how can this be maximised?
Dennis Thomsen, Chief Marketing Officer, Fluidic Energy:
One of the key challenges we faced in the early days as we started out deploying across the Indonesian archipelago, was how to ensure that we never had a system failing, and if one was about to do so, we needed to know well in advance allowing us to proactively respond before this impacted the customer network availability.
The answer for us was to go all out and vertically integrate hardware, software and controls on a single platform, allowing us to control and monitor the performance down to the cell level of every deployed system. In addition, we added intelligence to each cell, ensuring that if for whatever reason a single cell failed, the system would intelligently latch around that cell and maintain its performance level until we had a service tech in the area.
Backed by our 24/7 Network Operating Centers in the USA, Southeast Asia, and soon to come in Africa, we monitor and control each and every system deployed, ensuring we never miss a promised performance SLA.
Our customer also has full access to the integrated monitoring system, and some have even integrated this into their own NOCs. This ensures total transparency and provides a platform from where we can build a long term relationship with our customer partners.
With regard to lifetime and lifecycle, then we typically enter into long term solutions with our customers, during which we guarantee an SLA based performance of the deployed systems, eliminating all customer uncertainties related to system performance, supporting cost, spare part availability and so forth.
In some instances, and in particular when we are talking about larger deals, we are also providing the long term financing of the deployed assets and typically under a capital lease agreement.
TowerXchange: Battery theft is a major problem; how has the Fluidic system been designed to reduce theft? Has this shown proven results in lower levels of theft?
Dennis Thomsen, Chief Marketing Officer, Fluidic Energy:
Theft is a big issue across Southeast Asia, but it’s a massive issue on a scale that’s hard to believe in Central America.
We probably have gotten a little lucky here, because over the 5+ years we have been in commercial operation, our systems have proven to virtually eliminate theft in both regions.
There are two main drivers behind this fact; firstly, when removed from their position our cells will not deliver any power and as such, are useless for powering home applications; and secondly because our systems hold no valuable materials such as lead or copper, they therefore have no resale value.
If someone tries to break into a system, given the integrated monitoring and controls, we know the moment anyone is opening a door without proper authority, and we know instantly if a cell or two has been vandalised and needs replacement during the next scheduled visit. This helps ensure that the network availability is not negatively impacted even in the event of a site being vandalised.
TowerXchange: What differentiates Fluidic from their competitors?
Dennis Thomsen, Chief Marketing Officer, Fluidic Energy:
You can point to a number of key technology advantages over incumbent solutions as described earlier, but at the end of the day it all comes down to the combination of; technology, people, strategy, and the ability to successfully execute.
The key word here is “people”, because nothing happens on its own, it’s all down to having the right people. We have been very fortunate to have shareholders that have the vision and stamina to see this through, we have some of the smartest scientist on the planet that provided us the technology breakthroughs when we needed these. When combining this with talented and passionate people across business development, operation and customer support, who all share our desire to make a real difference and help provide clean and reliable energy to the more than 1.2mn people living across Africa and Asia currently with no such access, you have a very powerful cocktail that can indeed deliver game changing solutions. Along with our key vendors we now directly and indirectly employ almost 1,000 people spread over three continents.
We are fully committed to the African continent, and are currently in the process of setting up our local Network Operating Centre, and are actively engaged with several governments on where to set-up our local manufacturing facility on the continent
Besides possessing extraordinary technology and people, we have also been very disciplined in how we go to market and followed the strategy we put in place more than 5 years ago almost to the last comma. We do not try to be all things to all people, and we understand as well as anyone that having the best technology alone will not get you there. If you want to build sustainable and long term customer relationships, you must be willing to put your money where your mouth is, dedicating the necessary support resources, and delivering on your promises day in and day out.
Although we have been asked for several years to enter into the African market, we only decided to do so early 2016, and are now engaging with the major MNOs and towercos of the continent.
We are fully committed to the African continent, and are currently in the process of setting up our local Network Operating Center, and are actively engaged with several governments on where to set-up our local manufacturing facility on the continent. We are, so to speak, putting our money where our mouth is, pursuing the same strategy that has proven so successful in Southeast Asia.
We are looking very much forward to be part of and exhibit at the TowerXchange Meetup in Johannesburg this coming October. We look forward to learn from the best, and engage with the attending MNO and towerco representatives.
