Kraken Robotics Inc. has announced Ocean Infinity has agreed to purchase $9 million of Kraken’s deep-sea batteries with delivery dates expected between Q4 2018 and Q4 2019.
Kracken Robotics is a marine technology company dedicated to the production and sale of software-centric sensors and underwater robotic systems. The company is headquartered in St. John’s with offices in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Toronto, Ontario; Bremen, Germany; and Fairfax, Virginia.
Kraken will arrange for these batteries to be built by Kraken Power, an entity in which Kraken currently holds a 19.9 per cent interest.
The first purchase order has been issued for $2.5 million and the subsequent purchase order of $6.5 million is expected in early Q1 2019.
“We are very pleased to receive this large battery order from Ocean Infinity to provide pressure tolerant battery technology to their AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles), said Kraken president and CEO Karl Kenny in a news release.
Kraken added the battery technology to our product portfolio through an investment in Kraken Power in Q2 2017). Under the terms of its agreement with Kraken Power, Kraken Robotics can increase its ownership to 75 per cent from 19.9 per cent by exercising the conversion option on the convertible note and paying an additional 200,000 Euros.
Since May 2017, Kraken Robotics has introduced Kraken Power to several new military and commercial customers and Kraken Power has successfully delivered initial orders, Kraken said in the release.
Kraken Power’s pressure tolerant gel encapsulation technology for lithium polymer batteries provides an eco-friendly alternative to oil-compensated batteries currently used for subsea battery applications.
Kraken expects to exercise its right to acquire the additional 55.1 per cent ownership interest in Kraken Power at some point prior to the end of Q4 2018, Kenny said.
“At Ocean Infinity, we own and operate the world’s most technologically advanced seabed data acquisition assets, capable of operating to extreme depths of up to 6,000 metres,” Ocean Infinity president and CEO Oliver Plunkett said in the release.
“In our drive to add value for our clients we are constantly striving to push the boundaries of what can be achieved with technology. Maximizing underwater endurance is a critical aspect of our operational model. We invested considerable effort in understanding the current state of development in deep sea battery technology. Kraken’s pressure tolerant gel encapsulation process is simply brilliant. Using their technology, we can increase our energy capacity by over 50 per cent in the same physical form factor as our existing conventional batteries. From an operational perspective, this gives us considerable flexibility to optimize mission plans, increase area coverage, manage weather impact and ultimately increase value for our customers.”
Ocean Infinity is a new generation offshore ocean survey and ocean exploration company using a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles.
