NZ's PowerbyProxi in Spanish windfarm deal

New Zealand startup PowerbyProxi, which makes systems for wirelessly transmitting electrical power, says it has successfully concluded an eight-month trial with Spanish wind turbine operator IM FutuRe, which will now roll out the company's Proxi-Ring 480 over all the wind farms it manages. 

The announcement was made at the WindPower 2011 Conference & Exhibition in Anaheim, California.

 IM FutuRe managing director Jose Rodriguez said the Proxi-Ring 480, which provides friction-less, cable-free power,™ "was a breeze for our technicians to get working in the 1.3MW turbine and it has performed perfectly. We're so impressed with the Proxi-Ring technology we'll be rolling it out across all the farms we manage over the next three years to help operators decrease costs and reduce loss of earnings."

500 turbines
PowerbyProxi, which has offices in Auckland and Ohio, did not immediately respond to an query about the value of the deal, although executive chairman Greg Cross did tell NBR it would cover "500 turbines across mulitple farms" [20, Mr Mishriki subsequently added.]

The company was founded by  Fady Mishriki and former Microsoft NZ boss turned entrepreneur Greg Cross in 2007.

Both have shares in the privately-held company.

Other investors include John Holdsworth (best known as executive chairman and majority owner of Datacom), the TradeMe alumni of Movac, The Icehouse (the University of Auckland's business incubator), and Uniservices (the commercialisation arm of the University of Auckland; reflecting the origins of PowerbyProxi's contactless power technology at the varsity's engineeering school).

PowerbyProxi has achieved similar success using other wireless power solution platforms in a wide range of industrial applications including aerospace, off-road vehicles, security systems, battery recharging, sensor networks, hydraulic actuation, hydraulic control and slip ring replacement.

The company has developed cable-free  wireless power solution platforms in a wide range of industrial applications including aerospace, off-road vehicles, security systems, battery recharging, sensor networks, hydraulic actuation, hydraulic control and slip ring replacement.