Demand Energy Commissions Solar-Plus-Energy-Storage Microgrid at Manufacturing Facility in Costa Rica

LIBERTY LAKE, WA and ALAJUELA, COSTA RICA--(Marketwired - Dec 19, 2016) -  Demand Energy, a leader in intelligent energy storage systems, and Rio Grande Renewables, a pioneer in developing and financing microgrids in Latin America, announced that the two companies have commissioned a battery storage-plus-solar-PV microgrid at Establishment Labs S.A., a medical manufacturing plant in Costa Rica. The system is providing multiple on-site and grid-assisting services, including peak demand reduction, solar PV "shaping" to smooth out variability, and back-up power for critical loads in the event of an outage.

The microgrid, the largest in Central America, includes a 500-kW / 1 MWh lithium-ion battery storage resource connected to 276 kW of solar PV. It is controlled by Demand Energy's Distributed Energy Network Operating System (DEN.OS), which optimizes how these resources interact and perform. Under normal conditions the system will smoothly integrate intermittent solar PV for on-site self-consumption; when an outage occurs, the microgrid will "island" itself off from the grid and continue operating in standalone mode.

"Like most sensitive manufacturing and laboratory operations, the Establishment Labs facility must receive a continuous flow of quality power," said Shane Johnson, Vice President of Operations for Demand Energy. "This DEN.OS-controlled intelligent microgrid offers a rapid payback thanks to significant savings from peak power reduction, and it will deliver instantaneous back-up power to support clean room operations when needed -- preventing production losses during outages. The system eliminates the stranded costs of traditional diesel generators while offering a healthy return on investment through optimizing renewable solar generation, which drives a reduction in GHG emissions that supports Costa Rica's goal to be the world's first carbon-neutral country."

Brian J. Schmidly, President of Rio Grande Renewables, said: "This new generation of microgrid technologies is a game-changer in the region. They are not only cleaner than traditional grid electricity and diesel generators, but they're also more affordable now than in previous years. We expect to see demand for microgrids grow as customer awareness increases and the benefits are clearly demonstrated. We applaud early adopters like Establishment Labs for taking a leadership position on environmentally responsible manufacturing and for being the first in the region to deploy this type of climate-friendly technology to help save money and compete internationally."

Establishment Labs' Chief Operating Officer, Salvador Dada, commented: "We are committed to long-term environmental sustainability and green manufacturing, and value our partnership with Rio Grande Renewables and Demand Energy. They were instrumental in helping us finance and construct the first state-of-the-art storage-plus-solar PV microgrid in Costa Rica. This investment will not only provide critical back-up power capability, it will also make our manufacturing plant more energy efficient and help us obtain Carbon Neutral and LEED Gold certifications. We are extremely happy with the results and will consider this type of technology in all our future plant designs."

Demand Energy's DEN.OS™ is an intelligent software control, distributed energy resources (DER)/site optimization, and fleet aggregation platform. DEN.OS comprehensively reduces energy/power costs while maximizing economic returns from behind-the-meter storage systems alone -- or in combination with renewables and other DERs. 

ABOUT DEMAND ENERGY
Founded in 2008 and led by a team of seasoned entrepreneurs from the telecom, utility and renewable energy industries, Demand Energy has developed a best-in-class Distributed Energy Network Optimization System (DEN.OS™) that maximizes the economic returns of behind-the-meter storage systems alone, or in combination with distributed generation (DG). The company provides a turnkey solution (hardware, software and services) that ensures clear accountability by tying together upfront modeling, design and simulation, with the installation and operational monitoring, control, and financial optimization required to deploy storage-plus-DG solutions at speed and scale. The DEN.OS software platform was architected as an end-to-end solution that delivers differentiated value across the entire project life cycle, and can support both utility-side and behind-the-meter projects. www.demand-energy.com

ABOUT RIO GRANDE RENEWABLES
Rio Grande Renewables (RGR) is a privately held renewable energy developer that designs, engineers, finances and constructs both utility-scale and behind-the-meter solar power plants, standalone energy storage systems and microgrids. Since its founding in 2007, RGR has become one of the largest solar and microgrid developers in Latin America and the Caribbean. RGR is committed to only developing and constructing projects that are built to the highest quality and environmentally responsible standards. For more information, visit www.riograndesolar.com.

ABOUT ESTABLISHMENT LABS S.A.
Establishment Labs is a global, privately held, breast implant and medical technology company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets an innovative product portfolio consisting of advanced silicone-filled breast and body shaping implants (http://www.motivaimplants.com). Utilizing only the highest quality medical grade silicones, CE-marked Motiva Implants® are rigorously scrutinized by professional quality engineers throughout the entire manufacturing process. All of its products are manufactured in full compliance with ISO and EU requirements, and are certified under the Medical Device Directive 93/42/EEC. For more information, visit www.establishmentlabs.com.