Controlled Liquid Hydrogen Storage: The backbone of decentralized energy

PowerBank Corporation (NASDAQ: PBK) (Cboe CA: PBK) (FSE: 103) ("PowerBank" or the "Company"), a leader in independent energy development and asset ownership in North America, is pleased to announce its wholly owned subsidiary Abundant Solar Power Inc. has executed an Operations and Maintenance Services Agreement (the "Agreement") with Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ: HON) ("Honeywell" or "HON") to provide operations and maintenance services for a 21 MW portfolio of three projects named SB 13-1, SB 13-2, and SB-14 (the "Projects"). The Projects are built on an industrial brownfield owned by Honeywell, which is regulated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Projects have been moved from Honeywell International Inc. to Honeywell Aerospace Inc., following the planned spinoff of Honeywell Aerospace on June 29, 2026.

The Agreement outlines the roles, responsibilities, and performance standards governing the long-term management of the Projects. It establishes requirements for routine inspection, maintenance, repair, and operational monitoring to ensure the Projects function effectively and in compliance with applicable regulations. The Agreement also defines reporting obligations, cost responsibilities, and coordination protocols between the parties, while setting clear expectations for environmental protection, safety, and system reliability over the term of the Agreement.

PowerBank's President and Chief Operating Officer Andrew van Doorn commented, "Securing the O&M agreement on the Honeywell portfolio is a natural extension of the work our team has been executing from day one. When you develop, permit, build, and commission a project, you know it better than anyone, and that knowledge is exactly what makes for reliable long-term operations. This agreement reflects the strength of our full-cycle platform, and the trust Honeywell has placed in PowerBank to deliver not just megawatts, but lasting performance."

In September 2023, the Company completed the sale of the Projects to Honeywell and entered into an engineering, procurement, and construction ("EPC") agreement to build the Projects through to commercial operation. The Agreement follows the announcement of the successful commissioning of the SB 13-2 project.

The Agreement for the portfolio of Projects with Honeywell demonstrates PowerBank's vertically integrated business model, offering services across development, EPC, and Operations and Maintenance to provide megawatts of power. Having now developed and constructed over 100 megawatts of clean energy projects across North America, with a pipeline exceeding one gigawatt, PowerBank is increasingly well-positioned to serve not only traditional utility and community solar offtakers, but also the rapidly growing demand for reliable, on-site power generation driven by AI compute infrastructure and modular data centers.

PowerBank | www.powerbankcorp.com

New Energy Equity, a wholly owned subsidiary of ALLETE Inc., along with community leaders and Harlem School District officials and students gathered in Machesney Park, IL on June 24, 2026, to celebrate the energization of a new 5.5 MW community solar project.

Operated by New Energy Equity on land owned by the school district, this community solar project will generate 8.3 million kWh of clean energy annually—enough to power 1,002 Illinois homes. Local ComEd customers can also enroll in community solar and receive credits on their electricity bill generated by their share of a community solar project, reducing their electricity costs.

For Harlem School District, the partnership creates meaningful benefits without requiring taxpayer-funded construction costs. By leasing district-owned land and enrolling in community solar as a subscriber to the project, Harlem will receive annual lease payments and utility bill credits for 25 years that help offset energy costs across its 9 schools serving local students.

In addition to the environmental impact, the event also celebrated a new scholarship program funded by New Energy Equity which will award $10,000 annually in scholarships to Harlem School District students for the 25-year life of the solar project, totaling a quarter-million-dollar investment in local students. Four seniors from the Class of 2026 at Harlem High School were recognized at the ceremony for their outstanding academic and athletic achievements.

"We're very proud of this project at New Energy Equity because of all the positive benefits it delivers," said Kyle Marchesseault, VP of Marketing. "It delivers benefits for the school district in the form of lease revenue and electricity bill savings. It benefits four deserving, accomplished students through scholarships. And it provides more energy for the local community at a time of rising electricity demand."

Guest dignitaries at the energization ceremony included State Representative Maurice West II (IL 67th District), Mayor Steve Johnson of the Village of Machesney Park, and Harlem School District Superintendent Dr. Terrell Yarbrough.

"Today we celebrate more than the completion of a project, we celebrate the beginning of a transformative partnership between our school district and New Energy Equity," said Superintendent Yarbrough. "This collaboration represents what can happen when organizations come together with a shared vision for the future. It is a partnership that will have a lasting impact, not only on our schools but also on our students, our community, and future generations."

The event concluded with a ceremonial switch flip to signify the official activation of this community solar project.

New Energy Equity | https://www.newenergyequity.com/

Farmblox announced the launch of its COP-R-LOCK security platform for the electric vehicle charging industry, bringing real-time theft detection and remote monitoring technology to charging infrastructure increasingly targeted by copper thieves across the United States.

Originally developed to help farmers combat rising agricultural crime, COP-R-LOCK leverages Farmblox's field-proven sensor network to detect suspicious activity and instantly alert operators, even in remote locations with limited connectivity. Following strong adoption in agriculture, the platform increased protected areas by more than 2,200% between Q3 2025 and Q1 2026, while COP-R-LOCK deployments grew by more than 300,000% in just six months across operations nationwide.

The COP-R-LOCK system uses Farmblox's remote automation and monitoring platform to track infrastructure activity in real time. If cable tampering, enclosure breaches, or suspicious activity are detected, an alarm sounds on-site and operators receive immediate alerts through Farmblox's mobile and desktop app, enabling rapid response.

The launch comes as copper theft emerges as a growing challenge for EV charging operators. Across California and other states, thieves are increasingly targeting charging cables for the copper inside, leaving stations unusable and creating costly repairs for network operators. Industry reports indicate that thieves often recover only a small amount of scrap copper from each cable, while operators can face repair costs exceeding $8,000 per charger, not including lost revenue and customer frustration while stations remain offline.

The challenge has become particularly visible in California, where charging stations throughout the Los Angeles area have experienced repeated cable theft incidents. In many cases, drivers arrive expecting to charge their vehicles only to find chargers disabled, creating disruptions for both EV owners and charging network operators. As EV infrastructure expands nationwide, protecting charging assets has become increasingly critical to maintaining reliability and consumer confidence.

Copper's increasing market value – up 49% in just 18 months – combined with the rapid growth of charging infrastructure nationwide, has made EV charging sites an attractive target for theft. Many charging locations operate unattended around the clock, making it difficult for operators to identify incidents until significant damage has already occurred.

The company developed COP-R-LOCK in collaboration with crime expert Bobby Rader, who has spent more than 15 years investigating infrastructure and rural infrastructure crime.

"Copper theft is no longer just a problem for farms and industrial facilities. It's becoming a real threat to the reliability of EV charging infrastructure," said Nathan Rosenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of Farmblox. "The same challenges we saw in agriculture exist in EV charging networks: remote assets, limited oversight, and the potential for enormous secondary losses from a single theft event. Our goal is to give operators real-time visibility and immediate alerts so they can stop incidents as chargers go offline and drivers are impacted."

Farmblox | https://www.farmblox.com/

DNV, the independent energy expert and assurance provider, projects that around half of all new solar installations will include battery storage by the mid-2030s, up from roughly 6.6 per cent today, with solar-plus-storage capacity growing a hundredfold by 2049. As that shift accelerates, the digital systems that manage how energy is stored, dispatched, and traded are becoming as critical as the hardware itself.

Solar-plus-storage projects become more widespread, and developers, operators, and equipment manufacturers (OEMs) face growing operational complexity, from interconnection bottlenecks and stricter grid requirements to evolving electricity markets and cybersecurity obligations.

To help address these challenges, GreenPowerMonitor (GPM), a DNV company, is expanding its digital Energy Management System (EMS) and Hybrid EMS solutions for solar, storage, and hybrid renewable energy projects. The platforms are designed to help developers and OEMs navigate increasingly complex technical, commercial, and regulatory environments, including cybersecurity requirements such as those introduced under the EU's NIS2 directive. The digital solutions support over 400 communication protocols, integrate with SCADA systems and GPM's Horizon cloud monitoring platform, are certified to IEC 62443 and ISO 27001 standards, and are backed by 24/7 support – allowing for the optimisation, control, and operation of renewable energy and hybrid assets.

"The solar-plus-storage surge is inevitable, but only if the industry can solve real-world bottlenecks such as grid access, cyber risk, and revenue uncertainty," said Juan Carlos Arévalo, executive vice-president and director of Digital & Data Solutions, Energy Systems at DNV. "GPM combines proven EMS technology with DNV's independent assurance and grid-code expertise, giving OEMs and developers the confidence to scale without compromising security or compliance."

The need for flexible energy management solutions is growing alongside investment in solar and storage. DNV's Energy Industry Insights 2026 found that 49 per cent of Asia-Pacific respondents plan to increase investment in energy storage, while markets such as Chile and Australia continue to rapidly expand deployment. As developers navigate increasingly diverse grid codes, market structures and regulations, GPM's hybrid architecture is designed to support these varying operational environments through a single platform.

DNV | www.dnv.com

Two critical community facilities in Marin County have taken major steps to safeguard residents during power outages, reduce costs, and ease strain on the electric grid. The Dance Palace Community and Cultural Center in Point Reyes Station and the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin County in San Rafael have each installed new battery storage systems that provide clean backup power, lower energy costs, and support a healthier, more reliable grid. Both projects were completed with zero out-of-pocket costs from the organizations through $150,000 in funding from MCE’s Energy Storage Program and the Marin Community Foundation.

“I'm excited to see these two projects realized to further our community resilience and lessen dependence on the grid,” said Mary Sackett, Marin County District 1 Supervisor and MCE Board Director. “MCE has reinvested more than $12 million into Marin County initiatives that support community members most impacted by climate change.”

MCE has supported the installation of behind-the-meter batteries across 90 commercial and residential projects. Funding for the projects includes a $750,000 grant from the Marin Community Foundation, more than $1 million in MCE program incentives to reduce customer out-of-pocket costs, and over $1 million in incentives from the California Public Utilities Commission’s Self-Generation Incentive Program.

“Adding battery storage offers our community a new level of safety,” said Claire Burns, Executive Director of the Dance Palace. “During outages, people turn to us for information, connection, and support. Thanks to our partnership with MCE and the Marin Community Foundation, we’ll be able to keep our doors open when our community needs us most.”

The Dance Palace, a nonprofit community center serving as a cultural and emergency gathering hub for West Marin, completed installation of a new 41 kilowatt-hour solar and battery storage system paid entirely with nearly $100,000 from MCE and the Marin Community Foundation.

“It’s remarkable what we can do as local partners when we come together with a shared vision of strengthening our communities,” said Patti D’Angelo, Senior Program Director at the Marin Community Foundation.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin County in San Rafael will now be able to maintainoperations and support the thousands of people it serves each year even during power outages with its new 27 kilowatt-hour battery storage system. The project was also fully funded with more than $55,000 in MCE and Marin Community Foundation funding and was installed by local nonprofit GRID Alternatives, which supports a just energy transition by providing job-training to the local workforce. MCF provided additional support with a bridge loan to GRID Alternatives so the project can access reimbursable federal incentives.

“This isn’t just an ordinary facility upgrade, it’s a commitment to reinforcing our community’s ability to prepare, respond, and recover,” said Christine Paquette, Chief Executive Officer of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin County. “This is particularly true for the children, adults, and seniors we serve who are most impacted by disruptions and emergencies.”

These projects bring benefits beyond emergency preparedness. Each day, the batteries charge using onsite solar energy. In the evening, when electricity is most expensive and the grid is most strained, the facilities draw from their batteries. With battery storage, these facilities can reduce electricity usage from the grid during peak energy hours, reducing costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Other projects co-funded by MCE and Marin Community Foundation include the San Francisco- Marin Food Bank’s San Rafael facility, Marin Community Clinics’ Novato campus, Bolinas Community Center, Sage Lane Affordable Senior Housing, Stinson Beach Firehouse Protection District, and Stinson Beach Community Center. These installations build on a growing network of resilience projects across MCE’s four-county service area that have added battery storage to support essential services.

MCE | https://mcecleanenergy.org/

Renewable America, a leading provider of distributed energy resources, local small utility-scale solar+storage, and multi-customer community microgrids projects in California, announces the completion of 1.9 MWdc commercial solar projects with Pearl Crop, Inc. (Pearl Crop), a food processing company with multiple state-of-the-art facilities in central California. Pearl Crop, a family-run nut-processing business, turned to Renewable America to transform its operations through commercial solar. Its facilities have high energy demands, and Pearl Crop faced escalating energy costs. The company also has ambitious sustainability targets and recognized the need to power its operations with clean energy.

The agreement between Renewable America and Pearl Crop covers four different projects across three different locations in Ripon, Linden, and Stockton, CA. The largest site, Stockton, will use solar for 86% of its energy needs, providing Pearl Crop with an estimated $230,000 in annual utility cost savings.

“We’ve had a collaborative and beneficial partnership with Pearl Crop from agreement to completion, and it’s fulfilling to see three of the project sites running on solar power,” says Ardeshir Arian, President & CEO of Renewable America. “These projects foster energy autonomy in the local communities and contribute to our statewide carbon neutrality targets.” 

Renewable America provided a turnkey solution, serving as both developer and EPC for the four-project portfolio. By optimizing the design and installation process, the team completed work before the rollout of Net Energy Metering 3.0 (NEM), securing valuable NEM 2.0 savings for Pearl Crop. Their process maximized financial benefits while minimizing upfront costs and reducing long-term operational expenses.

Specifically, Renewable America solved multiple unique challenges in the design and installation phases. Through roof inspections and evaluations, they ensured that the site roofs could support the additional weight of the solar panels without compromising structural integrity. They also ensured that the panels would avoid shading from nearby buildings, increasing the system’s efficiency. In the installation phase, the team prevented any potential roof leaks to protect the quality of the almonds and walnuts processed by the facility.

 “Our Pearl Crop operations have high energy demands, and we’re on track for significant cost reductions from the transition to solar power,” says Ulash Turkan, CEO of Pearl Crop. “We appreciate Renewable America’s expertise, cost-effective solutions, and partnership as we celebrate this major sustainability milestone and work toward a greener future.”

Renewable America | https://renewam.com

Comstock Inc. (NYSE: LODE) (“Comstock” and the “Company”) and Comstock Metals LLC (“Comstock Metals”), a leader in the responsible recycling of end-of-life solar panels with the only certified, North American, zero-landfill solution, announced that all of the industry-scale facility precision equipment and unit operations have arrived and are assembled. Three of those unit operations have been commissioned and tested and are undergoing integration to date: the robotic loading arms, the Eddy system, and the washing system. This represents significant progress toward the full commissioning, start-up and continuous operation of the 100,000 ton per year solar panel recycling production line. 

“We are pleased to report that, as of last week, we completed the “tuning” of the entire glass-upgrading Eddy system, including full capacity stress-testing. The unit met and exceeded its quality and capacity performance requirements operating at full capacity levels and working towards delivering clean glass that meets or exceeds all the quality specifications communicated from our customers,” stated Corrado De Gasperis, CEO of Comstock Inc. 

“A production plant comes to life the way a finely tuned orchestra does. Each instrument is tuned individually to make sure it is working and if not, then retuned, and then stress-tested at volumes representing the equipment’s stated capacities, and only then does the true performance begin,” stated Dr. Fortunato Villamagna, Comstock Metals’ President. “Our plant is moving through that same sequence, and the instruments, the nine distinct unit operations that make up our process, are now being tuned one by one.” 

“The start-up sequence is largely dictated by the engineering requirements and, in part, in response to requests for materials and samples from the growing population of our potential offtake customers,” continued Villamagna. “We are currently stress-testing the other two-unit operations that are now calibrated, while beginning the “tuning process” for the next three in the sequence.” 

Commissioning, and all aspects of integration, tuning, and staged stress-testing will continue through late July 2026, when continuous operations will commence. The first full month of operation will begin within the next two months. 

Comstock I https://comstock.inc/