Mats Reimark has been appointed new President for Morphic’s subsidiary, MBD. At the same time, Mikael Willgert has been appointed as new Development Manager and Per Fredriksson as new Marketing Manager. The energy systems under development involve a totally new way of converting, storing, and using renewable energy and may, for example, totally replace diesel power generators for the operation of telecom base stations.
Mats Reimark is 47 years old and has a Master of Science degree from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). For the last two years he has worked as Director of Hybrid Engineering at GM Powertrain Europe, a part of General Motors’ global hybrid operation. Reimark’s role has been to create an organization for the development of hybrids, and under his management, new hybrid concepts have been shown at trade shows in Europe and the US.
Reimark forged his career within SAAB Automobile and GM. Among other things, he has had the responsibility within GM in Europe for research and early development of control systems for engines, transmissions, and hybrid systems in order to meet new challenges in regard to carbon dioxide emissions, other emissions and performance. Reimark has also been responsible for the development of gasoline engines and control systems within SAAB Automobile and has been responsible for the establishment of a competence center for ”drive quality”.
Reimark will assume his post not later than January 2008.
”In his earlier posts Mats has shown the ability to build bridges between research and application, in a short time, to take a technical vision and put it into practice while taking into consideration financial realities, customer focus, and external analysis. An entrepreneurial spirit and strategic thinking and the ability to grasp the full picture and see which direction you should take are characteristics that will be put to use now when Mats will accelerate product development for our energy systems,” says Jonas Eklind, CEO and President of Morphic.
”I have followed developments at Morphic with interest for some time now. I strongly believe in the product and look forward to being involved and influencing groundbreaking developments that will provide both economically and environmental sustainable solutions for local electricity production and energy storage,” says Mats Reimark.
New Development Manager and Marketing Manager
In parallel with the recruitment of Mats Reimark as new President, Mats Willgert has been appointed new Development Manager and Per Fredriksson new Marketing Manager.
Mikael Willgert has a Master of Science degree and is moving from a position as Development Manager/CTO within TagMaster AB. There, for the last seven years he has built up a development department and developed a totally new product program where vital requirements are long lifetime, extremely low energy use, and mechanisms that can withstand tough environments. Previously, Mikael Willgert worked at Ericsson as Manager of GSM Infrastructure as well as strategic management. He has also worked at CelsiusTech as Manager for a product unit for flight technology.
Mikael Willgert is 49 years old and has studied theoretical and applied physics at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). Willgert holds around twenty approved patents involving systems solutions, electronics, HW and mechanics.
Willgert will assume his post in December 2007.
Per Fredriksson, new Marketing Manager within Morphic Business Development, is leaving a post as Coordination Director at the Karlstad University. For the last four years, Fredriksson has had comprehensive responsibility for external relations and business development.
Previously, Fredriksson held various management positions within both large and small companies. He has been CEO for Nordic Circle AB and President of Netnova Development AB. For a period of time he was Financial Director for Kvaerner Pulping in Singapore and was involved in building up the company’s sales and project office.
Per Fredriksson has a Masters degree in Business Administration and mathematics from Karlstad University. He also has a number of board appointments, both in companies and at the university.
Fredriksson will assume his post in December 2007.
”It is an experienced group that will now be managing Morphic Business Development AB. The area, New Energy Systems, is still in its beginning stage and the potential market for energy systems is huge. A number of players that have already shown an interest in the system include telecom companies, energy companies, wind power companies as well as industries and agriculture,” says Jonas Eklind, CEO and President of Morphic.
About Morphic Business Development
Morphic Business Development (MBD) was founded in 2007 for the purpose of developing and marketing complete energy systems for renewable energy. The systems include both in-house developed sub-systems and components (including wind turbines, flow plates for fuel cells and reformers), as well as other products from other subsidiaries and external companies. MBD is based in Karlskoga and currently employs six people, but will have operations at a number of other sites in the future.
The goal is to establish Morphic as a leading supplier of highly efficient energy systems that make possible the local production of electricity based on renewable energy.
The energy systems allow for stable, local, and environmentally sustainable production of electricity. The basic principle in the production of electricity is that the electricity that is produced must be used immediately. One problem with the production of electricity based on wind power is that it often provides much too uneven electricity production to constitute a full-fledged alternative to more traditional types of energy. For example, a wind turbine only generates electricity as long as the wind is blowing; otherwise it is standing still. Up to now, no effective way has been found to store the energy on a large scale in order to use it later during periods when production is reduced.
Morphics energy systems represent a whole new way to convert, store and use energy from renewable energy sources. The system is made up of fuel cell-based energy converters in which energy from the wind turbines, through a chemical process, is converted to an energy carrier such as hydrogen gas or methanol. This fuel can then be stored and later converted back to electrical energy with the help of a fuel cell system.
In addition to the energy converter, the system consists of in-house developed, smaller and mid-size wind turbines of up to 500 kW. The wind turbines have been developed to meet those requirements and directives that apply for large wind turbines in regard to a high level of reliability, safety and long service intervals. The simple, robust design with a direct drive generator, electronic voltage conversion and power division provides several advantages, including a high level of efficiency and reliable operation.
The first demonstration facility where wind power was combined with fuel cells was installed in Karlskoga in the autumn of 2007.
Acquisition of Helbio S.A.
In August 2007, Morphic acquired the Greek energy technology company Helbio S.A., a leader within systems for efficient and environmentally friendly production of hydrogen gas based on renewable fuels (for example, ethanol and biogas). The core in Helbio’s patented technology consists of so called ”reformers”, which make it possible to convert liquid and gaseous fuels such as alcohols and hydrocarbons into hydrogen gas. The strength of the technology lies in the high level of energy efficiency, the low production costs, and especially the possibility for local hydrogen gas production.
The acquisition is an important link in Morphic Business Development’s strategy to ensure access to both technical competence and critical components.