PowerBank Corporation (Nasdaq: PBK; Cboe CA: PBK; FSE: 103), a North American energy development and asset ownership company, has entered into a Fee for Service Development Agreement with 1001634281 Ontario Inc., an entity associated with the Electric Vehicle & Green Energy Advancement Association Canada. The agreement will support the development of battery energy storage projects in Ontario.
Under the Agreement, PowerBank will provide services for the early development of a battery energy storage project opportunity to be submitted under the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Second Long-term (c-2) procurement request for proposals. If a contract is granted under the LT2(c2) program, PowerBank will enter into a fee-for-service agreement to bring the contract to the notice-to-proceed stage, which would be achieved upon full permitting. The Company will also have the right of first refusal to be the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction provider for the project, should a contract be granted. PowerBank will also assist 10001634281 Ontario Inc. with exploring a potential 18 MW BESS in Hamilton, Ontario.
The IESO is the independent, not-for-profit corporation responsible for operating Ontario’s electricity market and directing the day-to-day operation of the province’s power system, ensuring a reliable supply of electricity for the province.1 In response to Ontario’s forecast electricity demand growth, the IESO is conducting the Long-Term 2 Request for Proposals (the “LT2 RFP”), its primary competitive procurement mechanism to secure new capacity and energy resources through the 2030s and beyond.2 The LT2(c-2) RFP is the second capacity-stream window of the LT2 RFP, following the IESO’s first capacity window, LT2(c-1), which resulted in contracts for battery energy storage projects.3
Dr. Richard Lu, CEO of PowerBank Corporation commented, “Ontario is at the leading edge of a structural shift in how North America powers itself, and battery storage is becoming one of the defining infrastructure opportunities of this decade. This Agreement puts PowerBank in position to compete for that opportunity in one of the most active procurement markets on the continent, expanding on our experience from the development of the BESS SFF 06 project. We see this as an early step in what we expect to be a much larger presence for PowerBank in the Ontario energy storage market.”
The Agreement establishes a partnership at a key time in the Ontario market for the development of energy capacity resources. Battery Energy Storage Systems are increasingly central to how Ontario plans to meet rising electricity demand, which the IESO expects to grow substantially over the coming decades as a result of population growth, electric vehicle adoption, data center development and broader electrification of the economy.4 The IESO has stated that a considerable amount of additional energy storage will be needed to connect to the Ontario grid to help manage system peaks and maintain reliability as older generation resources are retired or taken offline for planned outages.5 Ontario’s first LT2 capacity window was awarded exclusively to battery storage projects, underscoring the technology’s competitive position relative to other capacity resources in the province.6
The Company also announces that it has entered into debt settlement agreements related to an aggregate of $1,396,717 in outstanding debt (the “Debt”), representing legal fees owning to an arm’s length third party law firm. In settlement of $817,332 of the Debt, the Company will issue an aggregate of approximately 1,297,352 common shares in the capital of the Company (the “Debt Shares”) at a deemed price of $0.63 per Debt Share (the “Debt Settlement”). The legal fees have been incurred by the Company’s subsidiary Solar Flow-Through Funds Ltd. related to certain corporate transactions and debt financings. The portion of the Debt not settled through the issuance of the Debt Shares will be payable in cash upon the completion of certain project debt transactions.
All common shares issued in connection with the Debt Settlement will be subject to a statutory four month and one day hold period, in accordance with the policies of the Cboe Canada Exchange Inc. and applicable securities laws. The issuance of the Debt Shares is subject to certain conditions including the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Cboe Canada Exchange Inc.
PowerBank Corporation is an independent renewable and clean energy project developer and owner focusing on distributed and community solar projects in Canada and the USA. The Company develops solar and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects that sell electricity to utilities, commercial, industrial, municipal and residential off-takers. The Company maximizes returns via a diverse portfolio of projects across multiple leading North America markets including projects with utilities, host off-takers, community solar, and virtual net metering projects. The Company has a potential development pipeline of over one gigawatt and has developed renewable and clean energy projects with a combined capacity of over 100 megawatts built. To learn more about PowerBank, please visit www.powerbankcorp.com.
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