NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEV), a leader in lithium-ion energy storage solutions, today announced it has completed several milestones for its contract with Russia's Mobile GTES, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Federal Grid Company (FGC) of Unified Energy System (MICEX: FEES), to co-develop lithium-ion-based distributed energy storage systems as part of a nation-wide grid modernization program.

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As part of the $40-million supply and consulting agreement, Ener1 has developed and manufactured two distributed energy storage systems, which have been tested and certified by KEMA, one of the leading independent testing and certification companies for the energy and utility industry. The KEMA certificate provides assurance that the system has been tested to meet the standards required under Ener1's agreement with Mobile GTES, as well as certain reliability and safety requirements.

"Achieving the KEMA certification milestone gives us the confidence that our systems are designed and manufactured to the standards required for these particular energy and utility applications," stated Ener1 President Chris Cowger. "Once installed, we believe these units will be viable solutions in providing back-up power for two power substations and for future integration of intermittent renewable energy sources, as part of Russia's electric grid modernization effort."

Ener1's first system was delivered to the Black Sea port city of Sochi, where it is currently being installed, tested and commissioned to provide large-scale emergency power backup for the micro-grid being built to support the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The second unit is anticipated to be shipped to St. Petersburg -- where it will be installed, tested and commissioned -- later this year. Having achieved these milestones with Mobile GTES, Ener1 has received several additional payments since August 25 totaling more than $13 million. To date, Ener1 has received more than $20 million as part of the supply contract.

In addition to these commercial scale distributed energy storage systems, Ener1 also developed a fully operational, 70-kWh demonstration unit, which it previously shipped to Russia. The Federal Grid Company will display the operational unit in its exhibit at the upcoming Sochi International Investment Forum to be held September 15-18. The exhibit will provide attendees with a better understanding of how these two companies could strategically manage energy storage for the country's electric grid.

About Ener1, Inc.

Ener1, Inc. is a publicly traded (NASDAQ:HEV) energy storage technology company that develops compact, lithium-ion-powered battery solutions for the utility grid, transportation and industrial electronics markets. Headquartered in New York City, the company has manufacturing locations in the United States and Korea. Ener1 also develops commercial fuel cell products and nanotechnology-based materials. For more information, visit Ener1's web site at www.ener1.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements that are based on management's expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "scheduled," "estimates" and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and the company does not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this press release.

MEDIA & INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:
Brian Sinderson
212.920.3500 X117
brian.sinderson@ener1.com

SOURCE Ener1, Inc.