Net Power Technology (NPT) was created in 2006 in New York City and is now headquartered in Beijing with subsidiaries and representatives in New York, Shanghai, and Changchun. NPT is dedicated to developing Zinc Bromine Flow Battery, a commercially viable mass electricity storage system for the sake of a low-carbon global economy. The company is invested by world –class investment institutions including China Environment Fund, British Petroleum, Intel Capital and Vikers Financial.
The daily peak to off-peak electricity price ratio in New York City is up to 30 times according to the American power exchange market PJM. Such time-of-use electricity pricing is a worldwide phenomenon. Similarly, the fast growing Chinese economy has created an electricity price gap of 3 to 5 times in China’s major cities. Storing electricity during the night and releasing it during the daytime is an obvious cost saving method for most energy price sensitive businesses. After nearly 20 years of research and development, the Zinc-Bromine Flow Battery technology can now support this application. Using this system, a typical office building consuming 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a day can easily save up to US$ 450,000 in many cities of China.
However, the flow battery system cost has been the key inhibitor to its commercial deployment in the past few decades. Net Power Technology focuses its research and development on the reduction of product cost by adopting an application-specific design methodology. Net Power Technology products allow customers to achieve six month investment payback and continue to enjoy vast savings on electricity expenses thereafter. The availability of this solution will quickly create a multi-billion dollar market in the energy hungry Chinese economy.
Other known problems in electricity utilization in China and in most developing countries are instability of power supply, massive consumption of lead-acid batteries, rising electricity costs and increasing environmental concerns. As a result, the Chinese government has made it the national strategy to utilize alternative energy forms such as wind, tidal and solar power. In 2005, the Chinese government announced that within 15 years it would fulfill 15% of its energy needs from non-fossil fuels, and European governments have a similar policy targeting 20% renewable energy use by 2020. Net Power Technology’s high volume electricity storage system is a key technology for these energy forms.