Australian battery maker and power systems manufacturer Magellan Power has secured a minority investment from Perth-based private equity firm Viburnum Funds to scale up production of its residential battery and commercial energy storage systems and expand its operations.
“It’s a strategic partnership that’ll help us scale our Australian manufacturing and rapidly expand our nation capability,” Magellan Managing Director Masoud Abshar said.
Magellan designs, makes and services AC and DC power systems, battery energy storage solutions and off-grid power infrastructure largely for industry applications such as mining, defence, transport (remote EV charging) and utilities.
It has also recently launched its direct-to-retail home battery, dubbed Karri.
The investment, Magellan’s first outside equity injection, follows the company’s decision last year to seek $15 million (USD 10.6 million) from investors to accelerate its growth plans.
The company, which currently manufactures up to 2 MWh of battery systems a year at plant in the Perth suburb of Bibra Lake, said the fresh capital will allow it to increase production capacity and expand its national footprint. Magellan has previously indicated it plans to scale its manufacturing capacity to 250 MWh annually.
“The capital will primarily boost our advanced manufacturing at our Perth headquarters,” Abshar said.
“We’re bringing in semi-automation and modular production systems that’ll significantly increase our output while maintaining the rugged reliability that’s essential for our mining, defence and utilities clients.”
“We’ll also scale our battery energy storage platforms, including Karri for homes and our Pilbara range of communities and industrial sites, alongside our stand-alone power systems and industrial UPS (uninterruptible power supply) products.”
The investment will also support the company’s national expansion plans.
Magellan – which already has established facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Port Hedland and Newman and exports “selectively” – said it plans to “invest heavily” in expanding its domestic footprint, especially in manufacturing and service in Brisbane and Sydney.
“We’re strengthening our commitment to critical sectors including mining, utilities, defence, and renewable energy, all backed by fast, local support from our teams across Australia,” Abshar said.
The investment will also be used to expand the company’s battery recycling operations. Magellan is developing a 4R program that focuses on battery repair, refurbishment, repurposing, and recycling.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.