Chemours Announces Strategic Partnership with UET to Address Renewable Energy Storage Challenge
Partnership Provides Long-Duration, Scalable, Safer and Recyclable Solution for Renewable Energy Storage
WILMINGTON, Del.: The Chemours Company (Chemours) (NYSE: CC), a global chemistry company with leading market positions in fluoroproducts, today announced a strategic partnership with UniEnergy Technology LLC (UET), a redox flow battery (RFB) manufacturer headquartered in Mukilteo, Washington. With their long run time, maintaining full storage capacity over 20 years, scalability and improved safety profile, flow batteries provide a competitive, long-term energy storage solution.
There is increasing demand for renewable energy from utilities, end users and governments around the world – a demand to provide reliable distributed power without emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. However, the greatest barrier to widespread adoption of renewable energy has been a long-duration, flexible and scalable way to store this energy to ensure intermittent renewable resources work directly for consumers and utilities when the sun doesn’t shine, and the wind doesn’t blow. Chemours believes flow batteries are the answer to this barrier. UET’s unique redox flow battery is based on a new, third generation, patented electrolyte developed at Pacific Northwest National Labs (PNNL) under the support of the US DOE OE Energy Storage Program.
This strategic partnership will consist of an investment in UET as well as a long-term and exclusive supply agreement for Nafion™ ion exchange membranes. The strategic partnership with UET will enable Chemours to further develop and optimize the Nafion™ product offering as the industry standard for applications in energy storage, as well as, ultimately raise the competitiveness and accelerate the adoption of flow batteries in the marketplace.
The energy market is a key growth area for Chemours Fluoroproducts business. As smart grids develop and energy storage needs increase, the use of fluoropolymers in renewable energy generation and storage applications is expected to grow approximately 20 percent annually over the next ten years.
“A major component of our growth strategy is shifting from a product orientation to a more market orientation,” said Paul Kirsch, president of Chemours Fluoroproducts business. “We believe this strategic partnership allows us to be at the forefront of this new energy storage technology and provides us greater insight into the needs of this emerging market from the end user perspective,” he added.
“Chemours is establishing itself as a new kind of chemistry company, and I believe this partnership is another example,” said Mark Vergnano, CEO of Chemours. “The partnership aligns well with our recently announced Corporate Responsibility Commitments by not only enabling the competitiveness and proliferation of renewable energy but doing so with Chemours unique membrane technology that works together with a fully recyclable electrolyte,” he added.
About The Chemours Company
The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC) is a global leader in titanium technologies, fluoroproducts, and chemical solutions, providing its customers with solutions in a wide range of industries with market-defining products, application expertise and chemistry-based innovations. Chemours ingredients are found in plastics and coatings, refrigeration and air conditioning, mining, and general industrial manufacturing. Our flagship products include prominent brands such as Teflon™, Ti-Pure™, Krytox™, Viton™, Opteon™, Freon™ and Nafion™. Chemours published its first corporate responsibility commitment report in 2018, which highlights goals aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The company has approximately 7,000 employees and 28 manufacturing sites serving approximately 3,700 customers in over 120 countries. Chemours is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol CC.
For more information, we invite you to visit chemours.com or follow us on Twitter @Chemours or LinkedIn.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. The words “believe,” “expect,” “will,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “target,” “project,” and similar expressions, among others, generally identify “forward-looking statements” which speak only as of the date the statements were made. These forward-looking statements may address, among other things, the outcome or resolution of any pending or future environmental liabilities, litigation and other legal proceedings or contingencies, anticipated future operating and financial performance, business plans and prospects, transformation plans, cost savings targets and plans to increase profitability, that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events which may not be accurate or realized. Forward-looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties which are beyond Chemours’ control. Additionally, there may be other risks and uncertainties that Chemours is unable to identify at this time or that Chemours does not currently expect to have a material impact on its business. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Chemours assumes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement for any reason, except as required by law.
Source: The Chemours Company
