Exergonix Inc, is an
energy storage
Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production.
A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery.
Energy comes in ...
company based in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
. It was founded in 2010, after spinning out of
Kokam America, Inc., which was acquired by
Dow Chemical Company
The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world.
Dow manufactures plastic ...
in 2009. Exergonix develops
grid energy storage
Grid energy storage (also called large-scale energy storage) is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when electricity is plentiful and inexp ...
to supply
peak-shaving,
demand-management, and
smart grid
A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operation and energy measures including:
*Advanced metering infrastructure (of which smart meters are a generic name for any utility side device even if it is more capable e.g. a f ...
capabilities to the grid and micro-grid.
The company designs and builds
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
solutions for a wide range of applications including storage for
solar
Solar may refer to:
Astronomy
* Of or relating to the Sun
** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun
** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels")
** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...
and
wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
,
utility management, the
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
,
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
cell towers and
emergency back-up.
Background
History
According to the company president’s statement to the
United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in 2012, the company’s mission is to make renewable energy cost effective and will allow nations around the world to implement a worldwide, workable, smart and decentralized utility grid. The company makes a “promising energy storage application”.
The facility sits atop 83 acres of land on
Missouri Route 291
Route 291 is a State highway (US), state highway in the western part of the U.S. state of Missouri. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 49 in Missouri, I-49/U.S. Route 71 in Missouri, US 71 in Harrisonville, Missouri, Harrisonville; its n ...
and
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...
, previously owned by
Pfizer, Inc.
Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...
Valued at $90 million, the company raised another $2 million from local angel investor group, and a $1.4 million package from the
City of Lee’s Summit,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
Also from Senators
Kit Bond and
Jim Talent, the company further secured $8 million in federal funding from a defense spending bill, to bring a new manufacturing plant to Missouri. In 2011, the "Green Energy Park" was dialed back to $50 million, after $100 million federal money fell through.
The CEO had approached
state legislators to seek $650 million for a manufacturing plant in the same area.
Funding
The CEO approached the
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
with new battery technology and although the agency was interested, its budget was committed. Senator
Kit Bond was then approached with the request to include the money in the department's budget.
Nissanka said: "I would say that the reason we got the money has nothing to do with a high-power lobbyist, we got it because of our technology. Earmarks unfortunately are the only way you can drive new technology into the market." Nissanka provided testimony during Senator
Roy Blunt’s attempt at
Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2013.
Exergonix received $2 million to build and install a 1 megawatt utility storage at
Whiteman Air Force Base in
Knob Noster, Missouri in order to demonstrate the ability of the
US military to provide safe and effective energy security solutions compounded with renewable energy. The battery technology offered an improved cycle life, lighter weight, wider operating temperature range and true maintenance-free design. Applications include many aerospace and defense uses, such as weapon platforms, aircraft and future land warrior programs.
Energy storage projects
In 2010, as part of
Emanuel Cleaver
Emanuel Cleaver II (born October 26, 1944) is a United Methodist pastor and American politician who has represented in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005.
Cleaver represents a district that includes the southern three-fourths of Kans ...
’s Green Impact Zone in
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
, Exergonix along with
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
,
Electric Power Research Institute
EPRI, is an American independent, nonprofit organization that conducts research and development related to the generation, delivery, and use of electricity to help address challenges in the energy industry, including reliability, efficiency, affor ...
,
Landis+Gyr
Landis is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Arthur H. Landis, American science fiction and fantasy writer
* Bill Landis, American baseball player
*Carole Landis, American film actress
*Charles B. Landis, U.S. Representative from ...
,
Intergraph
Intergraph Corporation was an American software development and services company, which now forms part of Hexagon AB. It provides enterprise engineering and geospatially powered software to businesses, governments, and organizations around the w ...
,
Tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There are many plants that have tendr ...
,
City of Kansas City
The ''City of Kansas City'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Wabash Railroad and its successor the Norfolk and Western Railway between St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri. It operated from 1947 to 1968. At the time of its intro ...
and the
Mid-America Regional Council
The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) is a nonprofit association of city and county governments and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the bistate Kansas City region. Governed by a Board of Directors made up of local elected offic ...
launched a pilot project for SmartGrid development under
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability with funding from
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in partnership with
Kansas City Power and Light. The project aimed to generate greater
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:
* Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process
** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed
** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
, reduced cost, improved reliability, more transparent and interactive information, and an improved
environmental footprint.
President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
expressed bright futures talking to
Smith Electric Vehicles
Smith Electric Vehicles (also known as Smith's) is a manufacturer of electric trucks. The company, founded in 1920 in the north of England, moved its headquarters to Kansas City, Missouri in 2011. Smith suspended all operations in 2017.
Smith ...
’s USA branch about clean technology jobs, where Kokam America was the battery supplier, and CEO Don Nissanka (also formerly Kokam America President and CEO) was on the board. Besides Smith Electric, Nissanka had customers in the EV market, but he declined to disclose any of their names. He was also on the 18-member taskforce on Automotive Jobs Task Force, appointed by Governor
Jay Nixon in 2009.
"The future is here for us in terms of the battery technology," said Nissanka
Nissanka also initiated the
Missouri Innovation Campus (MIC) which was Obama’s travel stop for a speech at
University of Central Missouri
The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...
.
“I think the president is right on, I think the administration has done a good job of putting enough money into this economy right now. We’re in a depression and we needed this money to fuel the economy and fuel the jobs. I see it happening. It’s happening around the country”.
According to ''
InformationWeek'', the company along with a handful of other battery storage firms, shares
Tesla’s ambition of disruptive home power consumption.
In May 2016, the company acquired
Coda Energy.
See also
*
Enphase Energy
References
{{Reflist, 2
External links
Official WebsiteExergonix Inc
at ''Bloomberg Businessweek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
''
Lobbying activities of Exergonix
at OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...
Campaign finances by the companyCEO Full Testimony
at
Exergonix: Technology & Investment Showcase
at 3rd Annual Storage Week, Infocast
SmartGrid brief
Kansas City at SmartGrid.org
Energy storage
Renewable resource companies established in 2010
Energy companies established in 2010
Companies based in Kansas City, Missouri
American companies established in 2010
2010 establishments in Missouri