Maxwell Licenses Ultracapacitor Technology To Shanghai Group

20 April 2006

In its second major manufacturing deal with a Chinese company within a week, Maxwell Technologies has signed a contract with Shanghai Urban Electric Power Investment Development Corporation (SUEP), granting SUEP a license to manufacture and market ultracapacitor products based on Maxwell’s proprietary large cell and multi-cell module technology under its own brand in mainland China.

The contract, which also obligates SUEP to source ultracapacitor electrode material exclusively from Maxwell, has a six-year term, renewable by mutual agreement. Earlier, Maxwell formed a manufacturing alliance with Belton Technology Group for its BOOSTCAP ultracapacitors and multi-cell modules. (Earlier post.)

Dr. Richard Balanson, Maxwell’s President and CEO, said that while Maxwell also is targeting the Chinese market with its own BOOSTCAP ultracapacitor products, the alliance with SUEP is expected to accelerate large cell ultracapacitor products’ penetration of that large and rapidly growing market and generate significant sales of Maxwell’s proprietary electrode material.

There is strong and immediate demand in China for ultracapacitor-based energy storage and power delivery solutions. SUEP’s financial resources and its network of affiliated power utility and manufacturing companies and distribution channels will enable it to expand ultracapacitor sales into the Chinese industrial and transportation markets more broadly and rapidly than Maxwell can on its own. We expect this relationship to generate high-volume sales of our electrode material, and in time, it may also provide an additional option for offshore manufacturing capacity to meet growing worldwide demand for our BOOSTCAP products.

—Richard Balanson

We plan to use ultracapacitors to enhance the reliability and efficiency of the electric power utility infrastructure we own and maintain in Shanghai, and we see many opportunities to market ultracapacitor-based solutions to transportation and industrial customers throughout China. As a result of this collaboration, we have created a new company, Shanghai San Jiu Electric Equipment Company, Ltd., to manufacture and market this exciting product family.

—Mr. An Bao Li, SUEP President and Senior Economist

Shanghai Urban Electric Power Investment Development Corporation is an investment group whose diverse interests are focused primarily on innovative technologies and products aimed at enhancing the efficiency and environmental compatibility of electric power generation and distribution.

It conducts business through 24 wholly-owned manufacturing and electric power utility infrastructure companies and seven joint ventures with Japanese and Swedish partners who share its commitment to developing and commercializing green power solutions.