Introducing Veriown Energy Inc. and Veriown Innovation Center
With distributed solar, distributed generation and microgrids poised to
change the face of energy, a new company has launched that brings
together top players at every level of the energy value chain to deliver
immediate scale and innovation in commercial-sized, distributed energy
solutions. Called Veriown
Energy, the new company is a spin out of New
Generation Power, a global developer of utility scale renewable
energy and infrastructure, with booked contract revenues over $600M.
“The electric power industry in the United States is undergoing a
transformation; from a model that relies on large, inefficient,
centralized power plants to more diverse, decentralized, efficient,
renewable solutions,” said Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, President, Chairman
of New Generation Power, Chairman of Veriown. “Few innovation providers
come out of the gate with the kind of assets, capabilities, talent and
vision that Veriown announces today.”
Focused squarely on the commercial and institutional market, Veriown
offers businesses, universities, governments and other institutions
on-site distributed solar and distributed energy services to allow its
clients to lock in long-term, low-cost, predictable energy rates with
little to no capital expense.
Veriown begins with a top talent management team in place with a
significant track record in energy, utility infrastructure, government
policy, smart grid R&D, investment banking, and building global
companies for public markets. As CEO, Steve Johanns joins Veriown from
Eaton, where he developed its Energy & Infrastructure business strategy
for the central region of U.S. Tom Levitsky, a top talent in the solar
industry, formerly Director of Global Performance Engineering for First
Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), has been recruited to join Veriown as Vice
President of Operations. Levitsky brings more than 20 years of utility,
large industrial, and government systems engineering to his position at
Veriown.
The new company also starts with industry-leading global relationships
with companies like Eaton
(NYSE: ETN), Jones
Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL), Talesun
Solar, and WESCO
(NYSE: WCC), which provide Veriown a unique window into the potential
market, technology solutions, and supply chain capabilities.
“Our corporate teaming relationships represent the best in class in
their respective industries,” said Johanns. “Collectively they represent
over 50 percent of the electrical infrastructure market in North America
and 2 billion sq. ft. of real estate globally.”
Also announced today was the creation of the Veriown Innovation Center
(VIC), a joint partnership of Veriown and CogniTek Management Systems (CogniTek),
which will commercialize a number of patents and R&D assets focused on
developing and commercializing distributed generation technologies that
allow for 24/7/365 energy without the need for subsidies. Further
announcements about the specific technologies will be released over the
next few months.
“The Veriown Innovation Center is a strategic partnership that marries
the large portfolio of distributed generation breakthrough technologies
of CogniTek with Veriown’s ability to scale, maximize global corporate
relationships, and utilize proven leadership in developing next
generation businesses,” said Johanns.
Michael Gurin, CEO of CogniTek,
will be Chief Technology Officer of VIC. Sean Murdock, founder of
NanoSonix, will be Chief Strategy Officer.
According to research by Navigant, the renewable distributed energy
generation (RDEG) market will experience strong growth over the next
several years, with total system revenues increasing from $50.8 billion
in 2009 to $154.7 billion by 2015. During this period, the annual RDEG
capacity additions will increase from 5.9 gigawatts (GW) in 2009 to 15.1
GW in 2015.
Also as part of its launch, Veriown announced a partnership with the Galvin
Center for Electricity Innovation at the Illinois Institute of Technology
to collaborate on delivering the next generation of microgrid solutions
to the industry. Microgrids can help eliminate blackouts, reduce energy
consumption and integrate more distributed energy sources.
“The Galvin Center is pleased to partner with Veriown in fulfilling our
collective ambition to create new advanced distributed energy and
microgrid solutions,” Dr. Mohammad Shahidehpour, Director of Galvin
Center for Electricity Innovation at Illinois Institute of Technology.
“It is a very dynamic and ever-changing energy landscape and we look
forward to the collaboration ahead.”
Veriown customers will soon be able to employ microgrid solutions to
further lower their energy costs and secure a reliable, safe and clean
energy supply leading to customers finally harnessing their very own
energy.
Veriown will be making several other announcements of new projects in
the coming weeks and months.
Veriown
Leadership Team
Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, Co-Founder and Chairman
Steve Johanns, Co-Founder and CEO
Tom Levitsky, Vice President Operations
Veriown
Advisory Board
Dr. Mohammad Shahidehpour, Director of Robert W. Galvin Center
for Electricity Initiative at Illinois Institute of Technology
Michael Burns, Managing Director of Jones Lang LaSalle
Mark McGee, Chairman, President, Sonoma Consulting
Copyright Business Wire 2013