Battery manufacturer Powin filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. The Oregon-based company said it has over $ 300 million in debt.
Chapter 11 archiving will leave the company to continue operation while restructuring its debt.
Powin has made grid-scale batteries using lithium-sacrifice-phosphate (LFP) cells from China. Powin was looking for alternative home suppliers, but the Supply chain was not sufficiently matureJeff Waters, the former general manager of the company, told Bloomberg in April.
The company sold nearly 250 employees earlier this month, and only 85 remain, less than a fifth of what it started the year. Together with the bankruptcy, Waters was replaced by Brian Krane, Powin’s main project manager.
Powin was a survivor of the first pure technological explosion more than a decade ago. The company was private In 2018and it received $ 135 million In growth equity in 2022 by investors including Energy Impact Partners, GIC, and Trilantic Energy Partners. More recently, it reached $ 200 million A revolutionary credit facility From KKR.
In recent years, Powin has grown along with the explosion in grid-scale battery storage, aligned third In the United States in relation to installed capacity and fourth worldwide. The company did not say what prompted the sudden increase in debt, though considering its faith in Chinese LFP cells, rates may have played a roll.
