US energy storage company plans $100-M expansion, negotiating to use PHL facility
ILOILO CITY — US-based energy storage firm Amber Kinetics said that it is looking to invest at least $300 million for its expansion, including a $100-million capacity expansion for the Philippines.
At the US Embassy’s 16th Media Seminar on Tuesday, Amber Kinetics Chief Executive Officer Edgar O. Chua said that a further $200-300 million in investments will be made in the US.
“We are currently (fund-raising) both in the US and in the UK – London and New York, essentially,” he said, adding that it is seeking to tap sovereign wealth funds and investment companies.
Asked about plans to list, he said: “The initial public offering may come three to five years down the road once the company has demonstrated sustained profitability and growth because then we will have good pricing.”
Amber Kinetics’ expansion in the Philippines involves a four-and-a-half-hectare site where the company’s third plant will rise. It is targeted for completion by 2025.
“That plant will have a capacity of maybe 30,000 units, so together with our existing facility, which has a capacity of about 10,000 units, the Philippines will have a capacity of about 40,000 units,” he said.
However, he said that the expansion is still at the due diligence stage, with negotiations ongoing with the site owner, adding that the site used to be operated by a South Korean manufacturer.
For its expansion in the US, Mr. Chua said that the target is for its plant there to be operational in 12–18 months.
“We have prioritized about five to 10 areas in the US, and we are looking at putting up maybe two or three plants,” he said.
He said that the number of plants that it will put up in the US will depend on the company’s profits but noted that each plant in the US will have a capacity of 40,000 to 50,000 units.
Meanwhile, he said that there are also plans to put up a plant in Australia.
Amber Kinetics currently operates two manufacturing plants in economic zones in Batangas. — Justine Irish D. Tabile