Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE: LBRT) announced today an investment in Natron Energy, a global leader in the manufacturing of sodium-ion batteries. Liberty and Natron will collaborate to introduce sodium-ion batteries as an energy storage solution to provide uninterruptible backup power for Liberty’s digiFrac™ electric frac pumps. Liberty’s digiFrac is the industry’s first purpose-built, fully integrated electric frac pump with high power density and significantly lower emissions compared to the best available frac pump technology in the market. Natron’s sodium-ion batteries are expected to be used to maximize uptime and optimize generator utilization ensuring the lowest possible emissions footprint for onsite power generation.
Natron plans to use the funds to accelerate the production of its sodium-based battery technology, including industrial power and energy markets. Natron’s Prussian blue sodium-ion technology offers higher power density, longer service life, and unique safety characteristics over other battery technologies. These qualities are crucial for the safe and successful deployment in pressure pumping applications with highly variable power load requirements. Natron leverages existing lithium-ion manufacturing facilities for production, and its supply chain requires zero lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, or other minerals that are difficult to source.
“Liberty leads the completion services industry in technology invention and our investment in the pioneer of sodium-ion battery development is a testament to these efforts. The careful evaluation of sources of energy storage for our power-dense operations led our team to determine that Natron’s sodium-ion batteries are a safe, cost-effective solution that is already being utilized in industrial applications,” commented Ron Gusek, President of Liberty. “Together, Liberty’s digiFrac and Natron’s batteries will advance environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goals of reducing emissions, maintaining high safety standards, and delivering a low total cost of ownership solution to Liberty’s customers.”
Colin Wessells, Ph.D., Natron Co-Founder and CEO, said, "Our partnership with Liberty dramatically accelerates Natron's expansion into oil and gas markets with the introduction of battery storage in the completion services industry. With the investment and support of Liberty, Natron is accelerating its manufacturing plans for the world's first mass production of sodium-ion batteries."
About Liberty
Liberty is a leading North American energy services firm that offers one of the most innovative suites of completion services and technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Liberty was founded in 2011 with a relentless focus on developing and delivering next generation technology for the sustainable development of unconventional energy resources in partnership with our customers. Liberty is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. For more information about Liberty, please contact Investor Relations at IR@libertyfrac.com.
About Natron Energy
Natron Energy manufactures sodium-ion battery products based on a unique Prussian blue electrode chemistry for a wide variety of industrial power applications ranging from critical backup power systems to EV fast charging and behind-the-meter applications. Natron's mission is to transform industrial and grid energy storage markets by providing customers with lower-cost, longer-lasting, more efficient, safer batteries. Natron's products are UL 1973 listed, offer higher power density, faster recharge, and significantly longer cycle life than incumbent technologies. Natron builds its batteries using commodity materials on existing cell manufacturing lines in Michigan, USA. Learn more about Natron and its sodium-ion technology: www.natron.energy.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
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