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AcBel Polytech aims to provide aggregated energy services

Ninelu Tu, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES Asia 0

Credit: DIGITIMES

Power supply maker AcBel Polytech aims to become a provider of aggregated energy services through integrating power of different generation types, according to company chairman Jerry Hsu.

For the purpose, AcBel will develop a smart energy management system for collecting information on power consumption and undertaking big data analysis to optimize power supply systems as well as understand real-time power demand and comprehensively manage supply of power to quickly meet demand through cloud computing-based virtual power plants, Hsu said.

AcBel focuses business operation on enterprise-use power supplies, renewable energy and devices or solutions used in electric vehicles (EVs) and electric motorcycles, Hsu noted.

Unlike consumer-use power supplies for which demand is likely to be impacted by global inflation, enterprise-use ones are in large and fast growing demand along with large addition of data centers and increasing application of 5G, AI, big data analysis, Hsu indicated. AcBel aims to ship more than 90 million enterprise-use power supplies in 2022 and has extended business from producing power supplies to assembling power supply systems, Hsu said.

With a business unit established for renewable energy a year ago, AcBel has invested in setting up PV power-generating stations with total installation capacity of nearly 150MWp in Taiwan, Hsu noted. PV power stations with total installation capacity of 91MWp have been completed and on grids and others with 45MWp will be completed in first-quarter 2023, Hsu indicated, adding AcBel aims to increase such investment to reach cumulative total installation capacity of 500MWp.

Beside PV power generation, AcBel is poised for biomass power generation such as using agricultural materials and kitchen wastes and evaluating feasibility of biogas power generation technology and potential cooperative projects, Hsu said.

AcBel has stepped into energy storage systems and resale of green electricity as well, Hsu noted. Beginning 2023, AcBel will provide energy storage systems for clients to provide AFC (automatic frequency control) ancillary services at Energy Trading Platform established by state-run Taiwan Power Company, Hsu indicated.

AcBel has so far resold over five million kWh of green electricity and expects to sign contracts for resale of 12 million kWh of green electricity with ICT and textile makers in third-quarter 2022, Hsu said. AcBel is in talks with financial service operators, electronic component makers and building management companies about resale of over 35 million kWh of green electricity in total and established a wholly owned subsidiary in October 2021, Hsu noted. The subsidiary will obtain a green electricity resale license in the third quarter of 2022, with small- to medium-size businesses to be target customers.

AcBel has cooperated with electric motorcycle makers to provide power supply management systems used in battery swap station networks and partnered with Taiwan-based makers to develop EV-use integrated electrically-driving and power- supplying systems, with production expected to kick off in the third quarter of 2022, Hsu indicated.

For development of such integrated systems, AcBel focuses on application of compound semiconductors, high voltage and new types of automatic code generation technology, Hsu said. For application of compound semiconductors, AcBel will make efforts to vertically integrate supply chains from upstream development of dies used in power devices to downstream development of computing ICs and algorithms in a bid to provide the most cost-competitive EV-use solutions, Hsu noted.

AcBel has reported consolidated revenues of NT$2.172 billion (US$73.6 million) for May, increasing 11.29% on month and 28.84% on year, and those of NT$10.261 billion for January-May grew 25.48% on year.