Element 1 Corp and China Aqueous Group Announce Joint Venture
Element 1 Corp (dba e1) and China Aqueous Group (CAG) are very pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement to form a Joint Venture (JV) Company named Aqueous Hydrogen Energy Limited to mass produce and commercialize fuel cell power systems for the Chinese Telecom market. This venture will combine e1’s proprietary hydrogen generation technology, and CAG’s hydrogen and fuel cell electrical generators to create power solutions for telecom base stations located throughout China.Aqueous Hydrogen Energy Limited (AHE) will be headquartered in Hong Kong and will produce, market, and sell hydrogen generators under a royalty bearing technology licensing agreement with e1. AHE will allow e1 to focus on advancing its existing best-of-breed hydrogen generation technology, while China Aqueous Group will leverage its hydrogen and fuel cell technology, manufacturing capability, as well as marketing and sales channels. Production will take place in both Hong Kong and mainland China. China Aqueous Group and e1’s ownership stake in the newly formed AHE will be 70 percent and 30 percent respectively. With the strong alliance, AHE will develop new hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and products suitable for the China market, allowing more people to benefit from the innovations in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
Dr. David Edlund, Chairman and CEO of Element 1 Corp, said, “We are very excited about our relationship with China Aqueous Group allowing us to jointly address the power needs of the roughly three-million cellular base stations installed throughout China. Electricity from fuel cells utilizing hydrogen produced onsite is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to provide this power. China Aqueous has impressive manufacturing capabilities and sales channels, and is already deploying fuel cell power solutions in significant volumes, which makes them an ideal partner. Together we look forward to addressing the large, unmet clean power needs in China’s telecom market.”
Dr. Edlund concluded, “China is demonstrating an impressive commitment to deploy sustainable and environmentally friendly ways of producing energy as evidenced by the recent announcement from the country’s energy agency that it plans to spend $361 billion on renewable power generation by 2020. I believe e1 is extremely well positioned to participate broadly in this massive initiative, and I anticipate announcing several additional collaborations in the near future.”
“Today’s announcement with a global industry leader in small-scale hydrogen technology is an important and strategic step in building a long-term foundation for fuel cell power in China,” said Dr. Hua Xiang, Chairman of China Aqueous Group (CAG). “This strategic partnership, which leverages each company’s respective strengths, will help us bring a very compelling fuel cell product to the Chinese Telecom Industry. China shows tremendous promise in the near future for fuel cell deployments based on both Chinese policy development and related aggressive investment in fuel cell related technologies and applications. We estimate the demand for AHE fuel cell power systems to be greater than 10,000 units annually within the next four to five years.”
