Battery manufacturer Powin files for bankruptcy months after landing $200M loan

Battery maker Powen filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. The Oregon -based company says its debt has more than $ 300 million.

Chapter 11 will allow the company to continue operating when the filing is reconstructing its debt.

Powen produces a grid-scale battery using lithium-ion-phosphate (LFP) cells from China. The agency was looking for alternative domestic suppliers, however The supply chain was not mature enoughFormer CEO of the company Jeff Waters told Bloomberg in April.

The company has given a concession to about 250 employees earlier this month and only 85 remains, which started with the year less than the fifth of the year. In addition to the bankruptcy filing, Waters was replaced by Brian Crane, chief project officer of Poon.

Powen survived the first Clean Tech Boom a decade ago. The company was personally taken In 2018And received it $ 135 million Growth Equity in 2022 from investors, including Energy Impact Partners, GIC and Tlylander Energy Partners. Recently, it has secured $ 200 million Rolling credit facility From the KKR

In recent years, Powen Grid-Scale Battery Storage has grown along with boom in storage, Third place The power installed in the United States and the fourth global. Although the Chinese LFP dependence on cells, the company did not say that the tariff could play rolls suddenly due to the sudden growth of the debt.