Overview
EC Power, Inc. (Environmentally Clean Power) is focused on becoming a leader in selected market niches in the clean energy and environmental technology fields, including wastewater treatment equipment, renewable energy and fuel cells.In late 2004, the company completed a merger with FBC Technologies, Inc., a small, revenue generating wastewater treatment equipment manufacturer with strong growth potential. The company also repositioned its fuel cell activities, and is now exploring additional acquisition and alliance opportunities.
Background
EC Power, Inc. (ECPW-PK) is a publicly traded Delaware Corporation focused on the development and commercialization of alternative energy and environmental technologies. The Company was established in 1998 to serve as a global platform for investment in businesses with proprietary technologies and products, addressing markets with high growth potential, near-term or existing commercial application and common marketing channels. These markets include wastewater treatment, waste-to-energy systems, and alternative fuels.Company History
The company started operations by acquiring a French electrochemistry laboratory involved in the development of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells. Key to this acquisition was the fact that the lab had a significant advance in the design of electrodes and Electrode-Membrane Assemblies, which constitute the core technology of fuel cells.
The upside potential of fuel cells generated excitement in the investment community, but created unrealistic short term expectations. With an increasing level of concern about the time frame necessary to commercialize the technology, it became difficult to finance the necessary research and development to bring the technologies to market. At a time when a number of major companies, worldwide, began to invest massively in fuel cell technology development, EC Power's initial competitive advantages could not be sustained. It was clear that our corporate strategy required an overhaul.
Strategy
Acquisition of FBC Technologies, Inc.The opportunity to acquire FBC Technologies, Inc., a transaction which was finalized in November 2004, put EC Power on a solid track in the wastewater treatment sector. FBC is an innovative developer and manufacturer of biological wastewater treatment equipment, and wastewater aeration systems. It serves a large and growing market, and has a fully developed line of proprietary products which have gained market acceptance in the industrial and municipal markets. FBC Technologies generates revenues and has excellent growth potential. An additional benefit of this acquisition is that it will eventually allow us to become involved in a new class of renewable energy, biogas, and in the fast growing waste-to-energy market.
Consisting mostly of methane, biogas is generated by anaerobic wastewater treatment, a logical development path for FBC. Anaerobic treatment being better suited than aerobic for high strength waste streams, it will compliment our current capabilities and enlarge our addressable market. We are looking at several possible acquisition targets to team up with FBC and bring anaerobic technologies to FBC's current customer base.
Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater Treatment - $60 Billion and GrowingWith more than 30% of the water in the U.S. considered unfit for its designated use, and increasingly tougher federal and municipal standards, it's no surprise that the wastewater services and equipment market is now a $60 billion industry. Planned expenditures at the nation's 16,000 municipal water plants and 5,000 + industrial plants continue to grow exponentially.
FBC: A Growing Business In An Expanding Market
FBC Technologies Inc. specializes in the treatment of wastewater with its biological reactors, and aeration systems. It was established in November 1999 to develop and bring to market its proprietary technologies in aerobic wastewater treatment. FBC designs and installs systems that improve wastewater treatment efficiency. Most wastewater plants are designed to rely on the activity of bacteria to remove pollutants from wastewater. These bacteria require a large amount of oxygen to convert pollution to harmless gases or sludge. Over the last five years, the Company has developed a growing family of products which help bacteria breathe better and work more effectively.
FBC’s products have gained good market acceptance and the company is recognized as a reliable vendor of systems for wastewater customers handling less than 1,000,000 gallons of water per day. Their growing customer list is impressive, with over 50 system installations at municipalities and industrial operations including American Protein, Cagles Farms, Simmons Foods, and a host of municipalities located in Alabama, New York, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana. In 2004, FBC installed an innovative aeration system designed to remove operating odors and improve the treatment efficiency of Canada's largest vegetable canner, located north of Windsor, ON.
FBC’s current offering includes three product lines (other products are at various stages of development) as follows:
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The Bio˛-Bloc® system: removes excessive loads of ammonia and organics from wastewater. This product has been successfully installed in municipal treatment plants around the eastern half of the United States.
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The O˛ctupus® system: a simple, robust, efficient system used to mix and aerate wastewater at a low operating cost. It has been installed and successfully operated in municipal and industrial treatment plants in the United States, Canada and Israel.
- The O˛x-Box®: an innovate new process that atomizes water into tiny droplets, creating a homogenous air/water blend to boost the oxygen content of wastewater. The O˛x-Box® system has been successfully tested at several rendering plants, with a bio-solids processor (Synagro) and at milk processing plant.