Date: Mar 29, 2018
Image: VIZn Energy.
Flow battery manufacturer VIZn Energy has confirmed that nearly all its employees have been “furloughed” amid financial difficulties, but denied that the company has exited the business altogether.
VIZn, which last year claimed its systems could enable large-scale energy storage paired with solar (or wind) for costs as low as US$0.04, was reported by local press in Montana where the company is headquartered to have laid off 70 employees – basically all of its production team – and “ceased operations”.
The company was among the handful of vendors thought to be experiencing success in the difficult task of making long duration redox flow energy storage the high energy counterpart to lithium-ion’s high density and high power but shorter duration storage. VIZN was identified by the likes of Navigant Research as one of the leaders in the ‘lithium-free niches’ of the global demand for energy storage. As with rivals like Primus Power, the competitors are all fighting to raise the profile and therefore ‘bankability’ of flow batteries.
However, CEO Ron Van Dell left the company in January this year after nearly four years at the helm. Following numerous reports and rumours, new CEO Steve Bonner spoke to local Montana newspaper The Flathead Beacon and said the company hoped the suspension of operations was temporary.
Energy-Storage.News asked VIZn Energy for clarification and was told that essentially, a “committed investor” was unable to participate in a funding round, leaving the company in a tight spot until that source of funding is replaced. CEO Steve Bonner said that the company still has “orders to fulfil and great opportunities to close in the coming months”.
“Our dedicated employees are looking forward to getting back to work”, Bonner told Energy-Storage.News.
