MGX, Braingrid to develop power product for pot growers

Oct 24, 2018

2018-10-24 07:43 ET – News Release

Mr. Jared Lazerson reports

MGX MINERALS ANNOUNCES ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY

MGX Minerals Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary ZincNyx Energy Solutions Inc. has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Braingrid Corp. to co-develop and market a packaged energy management product offering for the cannabis cultivation market. The partnership will leverage Braingrid’s software and technology, which uses proprietary sensing and control hardware and ZincNyc’s modular energy storage systems, which provide scalable regenerative zinc-air flow battery for mass storage of energy, to provide cannabis cultivators with renewable solutions for cultivation. ZincNyx and Braingrid have agreed to sign a definitive agreement within the next 60 days.

As noted by Braingrid, cannabis cultivation sites are growing exponentially in cultivation square footage. The electrical grid is incapable of supplying the demand or storing excess renewable production, especially in rural areas. Ideal cultivation zones which have inexpensive land and low community impact do not have access to the electrical grid to support the operation. Energy efficiency is too complicated and costly but at the same time, low-cost energy solutions are required. Cannabis cultivators intending to survive the upcoming oversupply and the resultant race to the bottom will need to become extremely rigorous in reducing the cost per gram. Therefore, cultivators who have a fiscally driven understanding of their energy footprint and are independently autonomous from utility market prices through local storage and cogeneration will ensure their viability now and into the future.

Cannabis cultivation and energy facts:

Cultivation is very energy and resource intensive:
- One pound of dried cannabis flower requires about 2,000 kilowatt-hours, equivalent to the energy consumption of a typical home for two months.
- Eighty per cent of California’s freshwater is used for agriculture.
- About 1 per cent of the U.S. electrical grid is used for cannabis cultivation amounting to $6-billion (U.S.).
Most growers/operators are unfamiliar and disconnected with energy pricing and unfocused on energy efficiency due to high market cannabis prices.
New laws are emerging in certain geographies which mandate farmers/cultivators employ real-time monitoring of water/electricity use.
There are many government and utility incentives available to encourage a reduction in environmental impact.
Electricity prices range from about seven cents/kwh to more than 15 cents/kwh with more than two-thirds of cannabis cultivators paying about a 14-cent-per-kilowatt-hour base. Peak demand charges greatly increases these costs.
Electricity prices have outpaced inflation however renewable energy sources are mostly par with conventional energy sources (that is natural gas).
Cultivators will be forced to utilize on-site cogeneration and peak shaving technologies such as solar, diesel, gas turbine (syngas/natural gas) to offset energy costs and make up for the utility grid stability.
Energy overproduction often occurs for solar systems requiring energy storage for maximum benefit.

Braingrid executive team

The Braingrid team is made up of a diverse group of executives and engineers including founder and chief executive officer Michael Kadonoff, who previously worked as a professional hardware designer at General Electric Grid IQ on the premier design team for energy grid automation and control products. President and chief operating officer Matthew Skynner has over 25 years of high-tech experience, including leading a global, $1-billion technology business as corporate vice-president and general manager at AMD.

About MGX Minerals Inc.

MGX Minerals is a diversified Canadian resource and technology company with interests in global advanced material, energy and water assets.

We seek Safe Harbor.

https://www.mgxminerals.com/investors/news/2018.html