UniEnergy Technologies (UET) has appointed Rick Winter as President with full P&L responsibility and accountability for daily operations of the company. Mr. Winter will also continue in his Chief Operating Officer role.
As UET’s COO since 2013, Mr. Winter managed the launch of UET’s product lines, the Uni.System™ and the ReFlex™, and guided the company from a standing start to 80MWh in deployments, orders, and awards in 4 years. UET is now tripling its manufacturing and engineering floor space to meet growing demand and enable 100MW annual production at its current facility.
With 28 years of industry experience, Mr. Winter has a long and successful track record overseeing innovation, product strategy, and commercial applications of advanced battery products in utility grid storage, microgrids, and facilities. Prior to his work at UET, Rick managed Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) Energy Storage Program, and held leadership positions at Primus Power, Deeya Energy (now Imergy) and PowerCell (now Vionx).
During his tenure at PG&E, Rick helped define core electricity storage value propositions for the power industry. A co-founder of the Electricity Storage Association (ESA), he twice served as chairman during his 18 years on the board. Winner of the prestigious Phil Symons award for his “instrumental role in the evolution of storage technologies in both the utility and battery manufacturing industries,” Mr. Winter’s involvement in the industry has helped Electricity Storage become a strategic imperative for grid resiliency and optimization.
Mr. Winter led the innovation team that created the world’s first flow battery product (the 100kW PowerBlock) in his role as Vice President of Engineering at PowerCell. Rick holds 17 US patents and numerous abroad with a further 10 US patents pending. He founded Primus Power and served as Chief Technology Officer, based on his invention of the single loop flow battery sans membrane (Patent 8039161).
“The Board is delighted Rick has agreed to expand his responsibilities as the new President and COO of UET,” said UET Chief Executive Officer Gary Yang. “The Board determined that Rick’s industry leadership, strong product background, and extensive technology experience make him the right person to lead UET’s innovation and growth strategy.”
About UET
UET produces integrated flow battery storage solutions for savings, stability, and security in utility, independent power producer, microgrid, and commercial & industrial applications. 20MW/80MWh of UET energy storage solutions have been deployed, ordered, or awarded by customers.
UET’s breakthrough products – the 500kW/2MWh Uni.System™ and the 100kW/500kWh ReFlex™ – are the result of US innovation and close collaboration with affiliated companies in China for high-precision, volume manufacture. UET’s core technology is a next generation vanadium electrolyte developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity. UET has improved the electrolyte further and patented those improvements in addition to innovations in system integration and other technology.
Globally, only UET has megawatt-scale, fully-containerized flow battery systems deployed and operating in the field. These deployments include Avista Utilities’ Turner Energy Storage Project, which is the largest flow battery in North America or Europe, providing frequency and voltage regulation, renewable integration, peak shaving, ramping, demand charge reduction, islanding, black start, and microgrid support.
UET’s customers consistently cite the value of fade-free performance, unrestricted duty cycle, and 20-year life as key deciders in selecting UET over competitors. Other considerations include rapid deployment, compact footprint, safety, and 100% recyclability.