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In terms of risk Lithium batteries are in general more of a risk in operation than VRFB. There are many versions of Lithium batteries and the one mentioned I believe in relation to Cleve Hill Solar is Lithium Titanate which is mooted as being safer and longer lasting than most other lithium battery technologies. It is more expensive though. The round trip efficiency of flow batteries is much lower than lithium, so the risks and financial rewards of flow need to consider this too. Today is the decision day for Cleve Hill Solar from the Government. Cleve Hill Solar have indicated they will be considering VRFBS in their battery plans. I think struggling Cellcube and Immersa were the flow were touted as the flow batteries though. I guess the announcement from the Government will be after the UK market closes.
It is correct that Cellcube and Immersa have been mentioned with this project. It is also true that Cellcube shares have been suspended for months pending relating to its auditor signing off their accounts for over 7 months now and the Bushveld/Bushveld Energy involvement investment mentioned in December 2019, still has not been finalised as of writing May 20th 2020.
In the RED days I think I recall a tweet from Mr McGregor on Cleve Hill Solar and Battery Project, but only I think to highlight to someone that Battery Storage does not have to be Lithium but it can be...... Vanadium flow Machines!
Interesting to see that the intermittent renewables in the UK during the lockdown are fetching lower wholesale prices according to an UK news article I read yesterday. The evidence as I understand it continues to build that energy storage working with intermittent renewables tend to generate better returns for investors.
Cleve Hill Solar, the article in the link posted says it below sea level and it is called a hill! Cleeve Hill near where I live is over 1000ft high, so by some measures a mountain.
On a more serious note it has been easy for days to sell fairly large amounts of IES shares but difficult to buy much at all. I note too that the Government planning decision on Cleve Hill is due about the 28th May 2020 from memory. It is also in the public domain on the Government planning inspectorate site that VRFBs have been mentioned in Cleve Hill Solar submissions as a possible technology they might also use alongside lithium batteries.
Yellowf1 is reasonable and Scouts too in their comments. I have remained an investor here for over the last three years and more . They are right to say make observations about previous deals and sales that have either not materialised or generated zero sales to far. The technology of Avalon is essentially the same as RED 's though likely in my view more saleable, but many of the intrinsic risks of a technology which has been around quite a while and has yet to make significant sales are still there. The BMN investors that are now on this board more frequently bring valued information to this IES board, but some on occasion seem to decide that people should not be posting for example because they are RED investors that have lost lots of money. It is only because I cashed in some of my investment in the past ( the selling of a lot my shares soon after the German deal was a memorable one) and reinvesting at others, that with the benefit of hindsight, I am in percentage terms only perhaps 25 percent down now. The difference is I am in holding in IES in percentage terms more of my asset allocation in IES, so more at risk. Make no mistake fellow investors the journey will be bumpy with the risk of potholes on the road ahead and those potholes actually being the opening up of a huge sinkhole. The other possibility is a YellowF1 brick road , with the pavements covered in gold!
Alfacomp, it really is important to have a balanced and informed view of the prospects of a company and its prospects. I don't post so frequently here now, but I am an investor in IES/RED since Feb 2016. I do appreciate your knowledge of the VRFB worl and I have followed VRFB technology since about 2006/7 . The RED "pipeline" of possible and probable orders etc, has been scaled back, as IES is probably sensibly being more cautious than the ex CEO McGregor was, of potential sales. Yellowf at others, when they express their less positive view of the future of IES than yours and Richken and others more positive view, are surely making reasonable and valid comments. There are lots of economic and financial reasons to consider the future success of VRFB technology, equally other assessments that can rationally explain why it is not going to succeed. I remain invested hoping that a huge financed deal might transform the company e.g. like the Cleve Hill Solar and storage project in Kent.
Usage of electricity is residential commercial and industrial. There will be a reduction in demand overall in my view.
Well they have to make an announcement either today or tomorrow which is the 25th January 2020, otherwise they will be delisted . The hopes of the vanadium flow battery fans will be dashed. There are long term sustainability arguments that can be presended to favour Vanadium over Lithium batteries but I can think of several other arguments that could scupper the whole technology around Vanadium flow battery technology not just RED. I guess the best that can be hoped for is a huge discounted placing with an open offer .
Bobf, thanks for the update. My rationale for my 6.2 price was half right, two fund raises in 2019. The only reason for the lack of the second fund raise is due to this "merger". Equity based funds ran out in December 2019. I cannot decide if Avalon have sufficient incentive to complete the merger. A share listing and lots of accumulated losses are a reason to complete. RedT sales are probably far far smaller than Avalon sales though. The real or imaginary sales pipeline of RedT may I guess be a positive. My guess is the current Avalon backers are less than six entities and maybe two.
They may want a quoted way of valuing the Avalon investment. I am braced for a significant PI dilution if it goes ahead.
As a RedT investor the Avalon "merger" is a way to see that my investment at least has some value going forward. Whether big sales, if they happen, are going to see a share price over the emergency fund raising price of 2p in March , I have my doubts. I am pleased that BMN and it's consortium of investors and the VIP platform are planning to underpin the VRFB concept with more than a supplier of electrolyte. Lots can happen tho before the ink is dry on the paper.
McGregor may be leaving with a package. It is not clear to me that he will be sacked in its traditional sense. The RNS from the 15th March mentions scenarios around his departure .
The information on Companies House Sbuild? Redt is a Jersey registered company. Only their UK subsidiaries are required to report anything on Companies House, not that they have managed to report their 2018 results on time this year for the UK subsidiaries , so they will be fined £150 initially per company. Sloppy management or a further sign of problems?
Pinecone . It is a strange position to be for me.RED is now a pure play flow battery company that now has an apparent growth in potential sales opportunities compared to when I invested 3.5 years ago but a share price 7 percent of its peak under the RED share ticker. I guess the hope of those big sales by the investors in the short term are pretty well dashed and share price (before suspension) suggested few people believe it is a bankable proposition. The merger or reverse takeover wants the shareholders to stump up another 24 MILLION ponds or so . I think that is about the total of all the open offers and placing s in the last 3 1/2 years. The Vanadium price is at a lower and stable ? price. The intermittent renewables current and planned growth on the grid in the UK looks like it needs higher carbon spinning reserve or pumped hydro/ batteries to act as a belt and braces back up for grid power station failures. Radio silence for over a month from the company. The cash runs out in November . On my cynical days I wonder whether management will wind up the company and consider buying what remains for next to nothing.
Blahblahdoh, re Gresham House and the fund raising. In my view they are not going to be investors. The fund targets income producing shovel ready or near shovel ready storage sites. Redt and Avalon do not fit this profile. Perhaps Bushveld a vanadium mine producer who stated they have a Vanadium Pentoxide electrolyte lease agreement with Avalon. More likely someone who has invested in Avalon and wants a market value for their investment via a quoted company RED.
Well GreenmanDK. Avalon merger or reverse takeover is only a memorandum of understanding. Avalon is a private US company that probably also needs cash to continue. Pot loads of money injection seems to be a precondition of the merger happening. We can reasonably assume that existing RED backers have run out of patience with the promises to deliver this and that . The German deal and the Anglian Water deal are both about a year old now and there is little sign of progress on either. It needs an agreement or end of the merger plans to lift the shares from suspension. Then the share price will respond if it is packaged that way . I think any new investors will want more than a pound of flesh and a big deeply discounted stake. That typically will make trades happen at the lower price like the open offer and placing in March.
I note that the Eskom plans in South Africa are dated October 2018. More recent politically influenced reports from Feb 2019 suggest that the timescales are much slower than this report suggests. The recent split planned for the heavily indebted Eskom into transmission generation and distribution are likely to significantly delay these battery plans.
I'm trying to work out whether you are joking tongue-in-cheek or serious!
I am not sure whether this news is good for Rest or not. Cellcube is working with Hive energy and Immersa on a consortium basis in the field of solar and storage. Interestingly Hive energy are involved in the huge solar park in Kent that has been mooted as a battery storage site. htTps://www.thechestnutpost.com/news/cellcube-immersa-and-hive-energy-building-green-peaker-plants/
Battery facility (Source Irish Times 24/48 hours ago)
Statkraft intends building what could be the Republic’s first battery facility at Kilathmoy, which will store 11MW of electricity for use when demand is high.
Comment John Ward, Alchemy owner, Redt shareholder and ex Redt non exec director was involved with Sorne Wind Farm in the Irish Republic where many years ago a huge VRFB was planned but never happened. A second chance for Redt in Ireland with Statkraft the new UK redt collaborator?
Well my open offer turned into shares late in the day on the planned date of the 10th. Curious to see the thin trading and decline in the share price. Did most of the open offer shares go to a strategic investor? On the 10th I was offered a higher price to sell than to buy within a period of one minute at under 2p. I am waiting for the holding RNS'es which surely should be there in the next few days.
At the time of writing the new significant holding information has been updated. If it is mostly correct, none of Schroders, Alchemy and Payar Investments took part in the open offer or placing to the extent that they have all reduced holdings in the company as far as I can see. Information sourced on the redt website. I think that their holdings have all decreased but please correct me if I am wrong. The directors details on shareholdings are incorrect with respect to O Brien for example as he has a higher percentage of shares than is displayed as of writing, his holding is similar to Kenna's. So who took up the bulk of the shares in the fund raise? I guess as others have said, it will take a few days for the holdings motivations to appear on RNS's as they should do. As the British Steel Pension fund never seemed to declare they were no longer holding the 5 percent stake who knows what will happen though?