Heila Technologies: Success Story
The US electricity grid is in gridlock – and this startup is solving the problem
Building the microgrid of the future, today
How will we clean up the electric grid and make it better for everyone? Just ask Heila.
Heila Technologies is revolutionizing the future of decentralized energy generation. As we continue to face challenges from an ever-changing climate landscape, Heila Technologies provides the resiliency and adaptability necessary to transform the way we utilize energy. Heila enables microgrids, or self-contained electrical grids, to operate independently from the main electrical grid, reducing energy lost in transmission and enabling localized systems to function efficiently and independently from the grid.
Heila’s intelligent microgrid technology allows for increased control and communication between microgrid assets, reducing costs and allowing the user to control and monitor their system with a distributed controls platform. Heila’s platform provides autonomous and local control of the supply and demand of energy, which enables more optimized and resilient systems.
FORGE’s impact: links to local suppliers
In the last year, Heila has doubled the size of their team and grown their pipeline significantly. When Heila first contacted FORGE in 2017, they had the technology developed, but couldn’t find a compatible supplier to handle the assembly and production of their circuit boards. FORGE was able to connect Heila with a variety of manufacturers that had the capability to produce their parts at the at the price point and volume needed. They formed partnerships with several of these suppliers, one being AMI, a relationship that is still active today. As Heila’s needs expanded to a multitude of other components, such as cable assemblies and sheet metal enclosures, FORGE continued to aid in connecting them to local suppliers eager to help the company grow.
CEO Francisco Morocz shares that one of the advantages of working with FORGE is the “vetted network” that “understood where we were.” Now, in the company’s mature stage, Heila and FORGE continue to work together to source higher volumes at lower prices and help the company scale as efficiently as possible.
“FORGE has helped our company, Heila Technologies, scale up by connecting us to vetted manufacturing partners. FORGE has been able to help us find suppliers that understood where we were in our development and continued to work with us as we grew and matured.”
– Francisco Morocz, CEO
Pilot programs point to future success
In a pilot program at a vineyard in Sonoma, CA, Heila’s technology enabled the facility to completely isolate itself from the grid for days and continue to operate efficiently in spite of wildfire power outages that would have normally crippled the system. Their controllers have also been used to create innovative low-carbon housing in Colorado, aiding in electrification efforts in the state.
Heila is also currently being used in a first-of-its-kind modular microgrids pilot at Kirtland Airforce base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They also are working in Shreveport, LA to create a more resilient, efficient power grid in the region. These four diverse programs will enable the team to take Heila to the next level. Heila is pioneering a low cost, low carbon, local energy platform that makes it possible to use renewable microgrid technology to solve a crucial energy problem. FORGE is proud to have played a role in their journey.