Powin Energy Corporation, Tualatin, Oregon, United States, a global leader in the design and manufacture of safe and scalable battery energy storage solutions, has expanded its supply chain with two new manufacturing facilities in Taiwan to meet massive order growth. The Taiwan-based production will provide an option to customers interested in products with a Taiwanese country of origin in response to growing uncertainties resulting from ongoing trade and political tension between the U.S. and China.
An increasing number of U.S.-based utilities, independent power producers (IPPs), and commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses are seeking non-Chinese solutions to meet battery storage needs. In response, Powin strategically broadened its manufacturing practice from internally owned and operated production in China to contract-based manufacturing with credible, publicly traded third-party companies in Taiwan. Powin selected best-in-class manufacturing partners that meet strict qualifications and certifications, including ISO9001 (or higher), and have proven experience in high-tech, semiconductor, electric vehicle and/or battery related industries.
Powin has already shipped over 200 MWh of Stack™ products from Taiwan and is ramping up the Taiwan-based production from its current 700 MWh annual capacity to 2.5 GWh. All of Powin’s Stack products used in the U.S. are now labeled as “Made in Taiwan.”
Powin maintains a proven and ongoing commitment to quality and safety and, as such, recently created and filled two new leadership positions to support the recent growth in manufacturing capacity and drastic increase in demand. Gary Starr was hired as Powin’s Vice President of Manufacturing and Dean Nguyen joined as Vice President of Quality.
Senior Vice President at Powin, Danny Lu, stated, “Given the ongoing concerns pertaining to Chinese trade relations, Powin swiftly made the decision to expand our manufacturing strategy for products delivered to the U.S. to meet customer demand. Our deeply rooted supply chain and manufacturing relationships in Asia allowed us the flexibility to accelerate the timeline from decision to production. Although we’ve increased our manufacturing capacity and expanded our geographic footprint, we remain steadfast in our commitment to maintaining a culture of quality and continuous improvement by ensuring consistent levels of best-in-class production regardless of manufacturing location. We are very pleased to welcome Gary Starr and Dean Nguyen as our new manufacturing and quality systems leadership team members.”
Starr has more than 20 years of global supply chain experience and a proven track record in successful supply chain design and execution, global sourcing, procurement, and new product introduction. He is experienced in contract manufacturing site selections and expansions in the U.S., EU, Asia, and Latin America. He previously held positions including Vice President of Procurement and Engineering at Philips HealthTech, Vice President of Global Supply Chain and Trade at Erickson, Inc., Vice President of Supply Chain/Board Secretary at SolarWorld, Senior Director Lean Supply Chain/Danaher Business System at Tektronix-Danaher, and others.
Nguyen brings deep experience in quality and operations management, with more than 20 years of experience, including leadership positions at AGC, Oracle Corporation, Volvo Aero Corporation, Suntron Corporation, Veris Industries and others. Most recently, as Senior Quality Manager at ACG, Nguyen was responsible for crafting quality management systems, product quality, quality control documentation and supplier quality management. He has a high level of knowledge concerning quality activities, including customer and supplier audits, recommending and implementing corrective actions and best practices through data analysis. Nguyen holds a BS in Manufacturing Engineering and an MS in Engineering Management from Portland State University.
Powin Energy Corporation is a market leader in the design and manufacture of modular battery energy storage systems for utility applications. We supply the software and hardware to the growing volume of next generation energy storage projects that will transform the grid, enable high levels of renewable generation and put conventional generators out of business. Powin is one of a handful of companies that provides the equipment needed to make this happen. To date, Powin has been awarded 2.9 GWh of projects, with an additional 319 MWh currently in construction, and another 225 MWh in operation.