Ms. Tracy Zheng reports

POWERBANK ANNOUNCES HYBRID BESS AND SOLAR PROJECT IN GENESEE NEW YORK

Powerbank Corp. has executed a lease agreement on a battery energy storage system, known as the Salt Rising Road project, in Allegany county, New York. The project has the capacity to hold up to five megawatts alternating current and discharge over four hours, totalling 20 megawatt-hours of combined battery energy storage capacity. The project is expected to be eligible for incentives under the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority NY-Sun program, the retail storage incentive program, and expects to receive compensation under New York's value of distributed energy resources mechanism.

The NY-Sun program is a public-private partnership that aims to drive growth in the solar industry and make solar technology more affordable for all New Yorkers. Led by NYSERDA, the program provides incentives and financing to expand solar adoption for homes, businesses and communities while supporting local job creation and advancing the state's clean energy goals.

Battery energy storage is one of the fastest-growing power technologies in the world today. The rapid growth of wind and solar power and the rising demand for electricity from data centres are making batteries a necessity. They store surplus renewable energy for when it is not windy or sunny, and maintain a balance between energy supply and demand. There has been a 90-per-cent drop in the cost of batteries over the past 15 years as new factories have come on-line, resulting in significant growth in this sector globally.

According to the IEA's Global Energy Review 2026, 108 gigawatts of new capacity was deployed globally in 2025 -- a 40-per-cent year-over-year increase -- bringing total installed capacity to 11 times its 2021 level. In the United States, 18.9 GW were installed in 2025, up 52 per cent from 2024, with 500 gigawatt-hours of additional capacity projected between 2026 and 2031. Two factors are driving this growth: the need to balance a grid increasingly supplied by variable renewable sources, as well as rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence data centres, which has been identified as a contributing driver for the 353 GWh of new global storage capacity expected in 2026. California, Massachusetts and New York are among the leading U.S. storage markets, supported in part by state programs such as the NYSERDA retail storage incentive program.

The company is in the process of initiating the preliminary screening analysis as part of the interconnection process. Assuming receipt of interconnection approval, the company will work to complete the permitting process and secure the necessary financing for the construction of the project.

Powerbank's proven expertise, with over 100 MW of completed projects and a development pipeline exceeding one GW, underpins the project's execution. Strategic partnerships and institutional-grade development capabilities position Powerbank to deliver reliable, high-impact renewable energy solutions.

The project advances New York's path to 10 GW of distributed solar and six GW of energy storage by 2030. The state leads the United States in community solar capacity, having achieved the New York State Climate Act six-gigawatt solar goal in the fall of 2024.

About Powerbank Corp.

Powerbank is a vertically integrated and independent North American clean energy company helping to power the digital economy. The company develops, builds, owns and operates solar and battery energy storage systems that deliver reliable, resilient, and clean grid and behind-the-meter power to the electricity grid, commercial and industrial clients, electricity grid, and municipal and residential offtakers. As AI and digital infrastructure drive unprecedented electricity demand, Powerbank is uniquely positioned to deliver the speed, scale and energy independence that the next generation of power consumers requires -- without waiting years for grid interconnection. The company has a potential development pipeline of over one gigawatt, and has developed renewable and clean energy projects with a combined capacity of over 100 megawatts built.

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