Disseminated on behalf of: Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd.
Don Currie, Founder, CEO, and Director of Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd. (CSE: HEAT | OTCQB: HLRTF | FSE: 7HI), discusses the company’s focus on moving electricity from the grid into applications such as data centres, microgrids, battery energy storage, and electric vehicles. As electrification accelerates across industrial, transportation, and AI infrastructure markets, Hillcrest is positioning its technology to capitalize on demand for more efficient power conversion that nearly eliminates switching losses.
High-efficiency inverter technology validated on partner test benches
Unlike conventional power conversion designs, Hillcrest focuses on a specialized approach that nearly eliminates switching losses. The company reports peak efficiency of 99.7% for its EV traction inverter prototype, and its technology has been tested on partners’ own equipment. According to Currie, “We’ve been able to take this technology and test it in other facilities, in their facilities, on their test benches, to prove our claims.” Hillcrest is pursuing several commercialization paths: joint development programs with manufacturers to integrate its proprietary Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) technology into their inverter platforms and license it, and its own power conversion products. For companies serving the data centre market, Currie says considering licensing models could potentially save years of development, reducing both capital and operating costs.
AI data centre shift to 800 volts drives market opportunity
With AI data centres moving toward 800-volt power, Hillcrest is targeting emerging demand. Currie says a recent McKinsey report points to the industry shifting from 480-volt AC to 800-volt DC power distribution, the architecture Hillcrest’s ZVS PCS1000 is designed for. He places the power conversion industry at $210 billion by 2032, a market in which Hillcrest remains a small company. Currie adds that data centre companies and service providers are already approaching Hillcrest about integrating the technology. Through joint development and potential technology licensing with established manufacturers, Hillcrest aims to give investors early-stage exposure to power conversion across multiple electrification sectors.
Industry partnerships with Lenze, Equipmake, and AI Hub of Innovation
Recent milestones include letters of intent with German automation company Lenze SE and UK powertrain developer Equipmake plc, along with a non-binding agreement in principle with the AI Hub of Innovation (AHI), an AI compute and data infrastructure campus under construction in Alberta. The AHI agreement covers a battery energy storage system (BESS) pilot, targeted for deployment in 2028, and introductions to AHI’s data centre tenant network. Currie says, “This is no longer an idea. It’s no longer a want-to-go. It’s a fact.” These agreements span industrial automation, electric powertrains, and data centre infrastructure. Looking ahead, the company expects development agreements that lead to purchase agreements, starting with a potential definitive agreement with Equipmake.
Hillcrest Energy Technologies positioned for electrification growth
As Hillcrest Energy Technologies works to commercialize its power conversion technology, it stands at the intersection of AI infrastructure growth and the need for more efficient electrification. With partners across three distinct sectors, the company is positioned to deliver disciplined progress across industrial, transportation, and data centre markets.
Transcript
Transcript lightly edited for clarity
Hannah Bernard: Hi, everyone. I’m Hannah Bernard with Market One, and today I have the Founder, CEO, and Director of Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd., Don Currie. Thanks so much for being with us, Don.
Don Currie: Thanks for having us here.
Hannah Bernard: Well, let’s get right into it. At a high level, what does Hillcrest Energy Technologies do, and who’s buying it?
Don Currie: We’re a power conversion company. What we do is take power from the grid and put it into the application. So AC, alternating current, from the grid goes into DC, direct current, for applications such as data centres, microgrids, and electric vehicles. We have developed a very special type of power conversion that is the highest efficiency known out there, that we’re aware of: 99.7%. It reduces switching losses — all the technical things. It’s the most efficient, cost-effective technology that exists, and it exists in all sectors of the electrification platform.
Hannah Bernard: And you signed three LOIs in the span of 60 days. What does that mean for the company?
Don Currie: We have people that are now interested. This is no longer an idea. It’s no longer a want-to-go. It’s a fact. We’ve been able to take this technology and test it in other facilities, in their facilities, on their test benches, to prove our claims. As a result, we’ve now got to the point where three different groups from across different sectors have come and signed LOIs.
The first is Lenze SE, a very well-known German automation company. They have sales and service in 45 countries around the world. They’re really, really good for us. We’ve done a lot of testing with them, we’ve been in communication with them for quite some time now, and they’re ready to move forward to the next step. From here, there are a few more steps toward a development agreement, but they’re the type of company that’s looking to take our technology and implement it into their inverter platform.
Equipmake was the second one. They’re a powertrain company out of the UK. They have an Argentinian bus company [as a client]. They put electrical drive systems into heavy industrial uses. Caterpillar is their main investor, so they’ve got some real interest. Again, they’re looking at taking our technology and putting it into an inverter platform that they currently have. So there’s a great licensing model. It shows ability and shows interest for us. That’s the type of thing we said when we announced it: that within about 90 days, we expected to have a definitive agreement between us. We’re well on track with that, and I would suggest that there could be some news coming out on that, hopefully very, very soon.
The last one is the AI data centre hub. It’s a data centre campus just outside of Red Deer, Alberta, on 119 acres. They’re under construction; they’re already building. Their whole idea is that they’re going to be providing power to tenants — data centres that come on and rent the space from them. So they’re looking at the battery energy storage solution, the BESS as they call it, and how our technology helps that. That’ll prove it up, and then the next stage is for us to also implement our technology into their tenants, the data centre tenants.
Hannah Bernard: It sounds like you’re quite diversified.
Don Currie: It’s very diversified. There are three different levels there that we’re going into, and we’re very proud of it. That’s three different sectors that have confirmed and validated what we’ve got. So we’re getting confirmation from the industry at large now.
Hannah Bernard: Yeah, it sounds like it. And speaking of AI data centres, which you just mentioned, there’s a recent McKinsey piece that talked about how AI data centres are switching to 800-volt power, and that sounds like the opportunity you’re chasing.
Don Currie: Yeah, that’s where they’re going. Thanks for asking that. McKinsey is a great validation, because we were already going there. When you’re building a technology, you have an idea of where you want to go, but it’s the industry that gives you ideas when you start presenting it and they say, “Have you thought of this? Have you thought of that?” The McKinsey report basically validated the direction we’re going in. They’re saying the industry needs to go from 480 to 800 volts. There’s an Open Compute program going on that’s saying they’re going to 800 volts. We’re already there. We’re at 800 volts, 200 kilowatts, so we’re double the power, and all that translates into higher efficiency and much, much more savings for them down the road.
So we’re getting approached by various data centre companies and data centre service providers to start talking about how they can get this technology in them, because we can save them years of development, potentially. That translates into huge savings, both in capital costs and in operating costs.
Hannah Bernard: Your recent announcements have been strong. Do you feel like the market hasn’t fully caught up yet?
Don Currie: There’s so much here, and great opportunity. Of course, I always say I’m drinking the Kool-Aid, but they haven’t caught up. We’re a $30 million market cap in basically a $210 billion industry by 2032. So we’re very small. We’ve shown that the technology has interest and has people that are willing to start testing, developing and putting it into their systems. So one contract, one agreement takes us to a whole new stratosphere when it comes to valuation. Whether the market responds or not at that point in time, we don’t know. We can’t predict the markets, but we have everything we need to be able to show the market: look where we are, look at what we have, look at who is looking at us.
Each one of these projects that we’re talking about, when you take Lenze, at a billion-dollar valuation, in 46 different countries; when you take the AI data centre hub, which is going to be a $600 to $700 million project alone in Alberta — that’s good. And Equipmake itself is a publicly listed company that’s working with companies like Caterpillar. So we’re in with the right group.
Hannah Bernard: Yeah, sounds like it. So let’s talk about investors and what they can look for in the next maybe six months as far as catalysts or milestones.
Don Currie: The next catalysts are agreements. We’ll continue to develop the technology. For every different sector, there are certain hardware changes that need to be done with it, so that will continue. They won’t be immediate purchase agreements. There’ll be development agreements that lead to purchase, so there’s a timeframe involved with each of them.
But I think the shareholders over the last little bit have said, “Okay, we believe in the technology. Tell us when someone wants it.” Well, we’ve shown someone wants it. We’re now at that point that somebody wants it, and it’s in a perfect storm politically. We’ve got Canadian representation, and we’ve got government support that’s coming in. I think that over the next very short period of time, there’ll be lots to tell investors and shareholders — and possibly future investors and shareholders — about what we have.
Hannah Bernard: Amazing. Well, thank you so much for sharing all of that with us today, Don. I look forward to hearing what else comes from Hillcrest.
Don Currie: Appreciate the opportunity.
About Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd.
Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd. (CSE: HEAT | OTCQB: HLRTF | FSE: 7HI) is a Canadian clean technology company developing advanced power conversion technologies and digital control systems for next-generation energy applications, including AI data centres, energy storage, microgrids, and electric-vehicle powertrains. The company’s proprietary Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) technology has been independently validated at the facilities of global automotive OEMs and Tier One suppliers.
Learn more at hillcrestenergy.tech
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