BNRG - CEO Spotlight: Brenmiller Energy CEO Explains His Means And Mission To Become A Thermal Energy Storage Provider Powerhouse
Rosh Ha'Ayin, Israel--(Newsfile Corp. - July 15, 2024) - Brenmiller Energy Ltd. (NASDAQ: BNRG) is a leading global thermal energy storage provider, targeting a fast-growing market opportunity worth an estimated $448 million in 2024. To better understand how the company plans to capitalize on the market opportunities, Hawk Point Media reached out to its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Avi Brenmiller, who provided reasons for the optimism about his company's competitive position to claim its share of the global market opportunity. Here's what he said:
Q. The discussions about cleaner and more efficient energy sources are global. How does Brenmiller Energy fit into the conversation?
A. To put it simply- in a loud way, particularly related to thermal energy storage. We've invested over $100 million to develop technologies that better manage thermal energy storage. That's facilitated us to accrue a robust 49-project pipeline in 13 countries, which puts an estimated $500 million in potential sales in play. While well-positioned to quickly monetize these current project potentials, we see significantly more new thermal energy storage project opportunities surfacing in 2024. Based on demonstrated competitive benefits, I believe our TES technology will enable us to capture a sizable share of those emerging opportunities as well.
Q. What are some of those competitive benefits?
A. Let me note this first: We identify at least seven companies we directly compete with. They all have intrinsic strengths that can help serve a thermal energy storage sector expected to present a multi-billion dollar combined sales opportunity by the end of this decade. Their strengths make us work harder to differentiate our products and services, which we are doing by developing our TES platform to be comparably better in efficiency (E2S), embedded hybrid charging, and embedded steam generation.
We're succeeding in that mission. A standout measure is our round-trip efficiency, which delivers a 97% energy capture rate, which is between 4% and 10% higher than our closest competitors. This is a vital consideration because high efficiency means that a greater proportion of the stored energy can be recovered and used sustainably and at a much lower cost. That, of course, will be a major factor when clients choose a provider.
Q. What else are clients and regulatory frameworks demanding?
A. Beyond price and sustainability factors, global market clients want reliability and readiness to implement. We check those two boxes, as evidenced by Brenmiller Energy operating at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 8, which indicates a mature and well-tested technology. This TRL score is more than important; competitively speaking, it can be a vital contributor to steepening our growth trajectory curve because it tangibly demonstrates our commitment to reliability and performance.
Equally important as a competitive distinction, we are the only fully vertically integrated company with the ability to serve the comprehensive needs of the market today; we control projects from start to finish, a competitive advantage that's attracting new client interest and expanding current project relationships.
Q. Can you elaborate on some of those relationships and projects?
A. One getting special attention is our flagship Heineken-backed project at Tempo Beverages Ltd.'s beverage production facility in Netanya, Israel, which is the sole producer and distributor of Heineken and Pepsi products in Israel. In a previous update, we announced advancing to the construction phase of the project, now manufacturing critical components for Tempo's 32 MWh bGen™ from our gigafactory in Israel.
That Tempo bGen™ project is attracting interest from some of the world's largest corporations based on our solutions' being competitive with natural gas and less volatile than oil. In other words, we are showing the world that our technology can deliver similar energy-generating results while mitigating hundreds of millions of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions released yearly.
Q. Has that already led to other strategic partnerships, or are you in the planning stages?
A. Yes, we are deep into maximizing strategic opportunities. To meet the increasing demand for our bGen™ systems, we have joined forces with environmentally savvy companies with strategic relationships currently expanding our business footprint in Europe, the United States, India, and Canada.
We are also advancing partnerships with global brands and distributors that want to decarbonize industrial heat and explore alternative energy technologies. Those relationships also put Brenmiller Energy in the world's largest markets, where we are designing and implementing projects that can deliver internal rates of return from investments between 10% and 35%.
Q. You recently announced a new service model, HaaS. What is that?
A. It's our Heat as a Service model ("HaaS"), which we expect will be a significant value driver starting this year. We see this as the most innovative approach to monetizing market opportunities while serving a critically needed demand. Immediately, HaaS enhances our vision for TES technology applications and accelerates access to zero-emission heat for industrial power users.
What makes the HaaS model attractive is that it allows us to design, build, deploy, own, and operate our bGen™ thermal batteries at customer sites to take advantage of local power market incentives. We view this business model as the ultimate and most favorable win-win-win proposition because it facilitates us in delivering customers the lowest possible cost for heat while generating multiple, high-margin recurring revenue streams for ourselves and our customers over the project's lifetime.
Q. Based on what you've highlighted, does your current market cap appropriately represent fair value?
A. As the CEO, I am always focused on building sustainable shareholder value. Does the current $2.4 million market cap represent fair value? I think not. I base that evaluation on tangibles and potential, including the value inherent to a significant business pipeline that can generate upwards of $500 million over project lifetimes. More importantly, we are not content at current levels.
We are strengthening our service infrastructure to add more client projects to our pipeline, which we believe will fill quickly based on competitive advantages and proven performance in a highly technical TES market. Thus, with our products and services validated as excellent and our manufacturing capacity increasing at the highest-ever rate, any valuation gap between share price, assets, and performance should close organically.
To ensure that's the direction taken, Brenmiller Energy will continue to do what it's already doing- prove to the global market that its highly efficient and scalable thermal energy storage solutions are more than the best choice for project investment, but also for consumers and the planet.
Published with permission from Hawk Point Media Group, Llc.
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About bGen™
bGen™, Brenmiller's TES system, converts electricity into heat to power sustainable industrial processes at a price that is competitive with natural gas. The bGen™ charges by capturing low-cost electricity from renewables or the grid and stores it in crushed rocks. It then discharges steam, hot water or hot air on demand according to customer requirements. The bGen™ also supports the development of utility-scale renewables by providing critical flexibility and grid-balancing capabilities. bGen™ was named among TIME's Best Inventions of 2023 in the Green Energy category.
About Brenmiller Energy Ltd.
Brenmiller Energy helps energy-intensive industries and power producers end their reliance on fossil fuel boilers. Brenmiller's patented bGen™ thermal battery is a modular and scalable energy storage system that turns renewable electricity into zero-emission heat. It charges using low-cost renewable electricity and discharges a continuous supply of heat on demand and according to its customers' needs. The most experienced thermal battery developer on the market, Brenmiller operates the world's only gigafactory for thermal battery production and is trusted by leading multinational energy companies. For more information visit the Company's website at https://bren-energy.com/ and follow the Company on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. Statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. For example, the Company is using forward-looking statements in this press release when it discusses: the future demand for the Company's technology and its potential 49 project pipeline in 13 countries, valued at approximately $500 million in potential sales, the Company's new HaaS business model that will help mature its vision for TES technology and accelerate access to zero-emission heat for industrial power users and its implications on the Company's ability to design, build, deploy, own, and operate its bGen™ thermal batteries at customer sites, and taking advantage of local power market incentives to deliver customers the lowest possible cost for heat and generate multiple, high-margin recurring revenue streams for the Company and its customers over the lifetime of a project, mitigate considerable CapEx costs and risk for customers, access to reliable renewable energy at a fixed discounted rate, and the Company's ability to meet our current and future customers' growing needs. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "plan," "project," "potential," "seek," "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "estimate" or "continue" are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that certain important factors may affect the Company's actual results and could cause such results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements that may be made in this press release. Factors that may affect the Company's results include, but are not limited to: the Company's planned level of revenues and capital expenditures; risks associated with the adequacy of existing cash resources; the demand for and market acceptance of our products; impact of competitive products and prices; product development, commercialization or technological difficulties; the success or failure of negotiations; trade, legal, social and economic risks; and political, economic and military instability in the Middle East, specifically in Israel. The forward-looking statements contained or implied in this press release are subject to other risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on March 18, 2024, which is available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.
Media:
Tori Bentkover
brenmillerenergy@antennagroup.com
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