Solar battery producer facing export woes

The operator of Jamaica's sole assembly plant for solar batteries is becoming increasingly frustrated with the shipping industry's reluctance to transport its products to export markets, which has the effect of limiting the entity's ability to grow.

Brian Yap Sam, CEO of Green Concepts Jamaica, said the matter surrounds shipping companies' lack of education about the safety of the lithium batteries his company wants to ship.

"They just lump everything together once they hear the word lithium," Yap Sam told the Jamaica Observer in an interview and went on to explain that there are three main types of lithium batteries. Lithium-ion batteries, the most popular lithium batteries are considered dangerous by shipping companies, especially after it was determined that a March 2022 fire aboard a cargo ship carrying thousands of electric cars off the coast of Portugal was kept alive by the lithium-ion batteries in the cars.

The other lithium batteries are lithium-iron and lithium-NCM. Yap Sam says his company produces lithium-iron batteries. The company has been producing solar batteries for the past year. It was registered in 2020, just before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic, but no production was started until after the country was reopened for business as the impact of the virus waned.

"We decided to go to lithium-iron because it is very safe," he argued. He is hoping that shipping companies will look into the matter and see the difference in both when it comes to safely transporting them.

"I had a meeting with someone recently who is talking to one of the shipping lines to give the company an exemption for the lithium-iron batteries since they are not the ones that are considered dangerous," he told the Caribbean Business Report.

He said shipping companies will bring in lithium-ion batteries fully assembled, but won't allow them on the ships for exports because of the fear of a fire. Since the March 2022 fire on the ship off the coast of Portugal, even Tesla — a US-based electric vehicle producer — has shifted from lithium-ion to the more powerful but safer lithium-iron batteries.

Yap Sam said when he decided to return to Jamaica to set up the company to produce the batteries, he went through Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro) "to ensure I did everything right".

"I am Jamaican, but my company at the time was a US company setting up a branch in Jamaica. They know my whole goal is to export. Jamaica's market is not big enough to invest all this money. It was very expensive," he pointed out. Yap Sam said he invested approximately US$700,000 ($105 million) for equipment and stock in the solar battery assembly business.

"We have people waiting on our products in The Bahamas, Barbados, and we have our eyes on a big contract in the US. I even told myself the other day that with the frustration I am facing, I should just pull up shop and return to Miami," he said. "If we had stayed in Miami, we would be way ahead of the game now. That's the truth. But we have invested so much money in equipment, it's hard. Are we going to lose so much money?" he asked as he beckoned for someone to hear his plight and help him find a solution.

He said Green Concepts also installs its own label solar panels, but those are imported rather than produced locally.

Article by: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/solar-battery-producer-facing-export-woes/