E-Power announced it signed a three-phase Microgrid Construction & Services Agreement with ZL Bio for a large-scale energy infrastructure project in Middletown, California. The agreement is designed to support the expansion of ZL Bio’s industrial greenhouse operations through the deployment of scalable microgrids.
The project framework is expected to expand ZL Bio’s power capacity from 3 megawatts to 50 megawatts using a “Solar + Storage + Backup” microgrid architecture. E-Power said the phased development structure is intended to align energy infrastructure deployment with the operational growth of ZL Bio’s planned 6,000-unit greenhouse facility.
Under the agreement, Phase 1 includes a 3 MW deployment serving 330 greenhouse units with an estimated capital expenditure of $15.12 million. Phase 2 adds 6 MW to reach 9 MW, supporting 997 units and delivering a project value of $30.24 million. Phase 3 expands the system by an additional 41 MW to reach a total of 50 MW serving all 6,000 greenhouse units, bringing total estimated project capital expenditures to approximately $252 million.
E-Power said the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction agreement includes turnkey deployment of bifacial solar modules and lithium iron phosphate battery energy storage systems. The company highlighted several technical capabilities, including instantaneous transition to island mode within 20 milliseconds during grid disturbances, AI-enabled energy management systems with remote monitoring, and a guaranteed 99.5% system availability target.
In addition to construction services, E-Power will provide long-term operations and maintenance support, including remote monitoring, quarterly inspections, and emergency response service agreements intended to maximize system uptime.
E-Power is engaged in manufacturing and selling graphite anode materials for lithium-ion batteries through its joint venture operations and has completed construction of a manufacturing facility with a 50,000-ton production capacity.
KEY QUOTES:
“This $252 million agreement marks a major breakthrough for E-Power as we solidify our position as a premier provider of mission-critical energy infrastructure in the United States. By solving the complex energy needs of ZL Bio with our integrated microgrid technology, we are demonstrating that E-Power can deliver the scale, reliability, and technical sophistication required by the next generation of high-demand industrial and AI-driven enterprises.”
Haiping Hu, Chairman, E-Power
