New energy injection for Connected Energy

The firm, which was recently invited to present its battery energy storage solutions at COP25 in Madrid, has ambitious growth plans for 2020 as a result of the investment and several new contract wins.

“2019 was a great year for Connected Energy; we won a bid for very large-scale new project which will be announced soon, as well as completing installation on our largest system to date,” said Matthew Lumsden, Connected Energy CEO. “Our R&D innovation continued to focus on system scale up, cost reduction and alternative battery integration underpinned by developing skills in data science. With 2020 set to be a real step change in our growth plans we’re delighted, to welcome our new starters but we still need to further extend the team in the next few months; if you’ve an appetite for technical and commercial innovation and have a passion for clean energy, forging partnerships and working with a genuinely dynamic group of people then we’d love to hear from you!”

The new additions to the firm’s Norwich Technical Centre are Nathan Evans, Mechanical Design Engineer; Blane Scott, Innovation Engineer; and Tania Saxby, Project Coordinator. Joining the commercial team in Newcastle is Gem Trainor, Marketing Communications Manager, and Chris Green, Management Accountant.

“It’s an exciting time to join Connected Energy,” said Chris. “The business has such a unique offering, global ambition and a great vision for the future. I’m looking forward to managing the finance needs of the business and supporting our team as the business continues to grow, I’m proud to have this responsibility and look forward to the opportunities ahead.”

“For me with climate change being such a prominent feature in the press in recent years, I felt I needed to do something to help the issue,” explained Nathan when asked why he decided to accept his role. “I joined Connected Energy in the knowledge that I’ll be working on projects that are more sustainable, and that will try to slow down the rapid acceleration of climate change. I get to apply my skillset in mechanical design to help develop the business further, ensuring that new concepts can be achieved. It’s great to feel as though I will be making a difference in years to come!”

The firms British designed and circular economy focused technology reuses electric vehicle battery packs to create second-life battery energy storage solutions for energy intensive users. “We maximise the value of already committed natural resources before they are later recycled,” explained Matthew. “Our approach to extracting additional value from the finite resources embedded in electric vehicle batteries, and essentially doubling their working lives, is what makes us different to other energy storage providers.”

In July 2019 the firm secured over £5 million investment from Sumitomo Corporation, ENGIE, Macquarie Group and others. The firm, headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne with its technical centre near Norwich, has developed strategic relationships with Renault and other electric vehicle manufacturers and has a growing pipeline of blue-chip clients and projects ranging from 60kW to 20MW.

In August 2019 Connected Energy were chosen out of 600 companies as one of four winners for the Japan Energy Challenge. Due to Japan’s high consumption, requirement for resilience, fragmented structure and move towards renewable generation, efforts to reduce energy usage or maximise its effectiveness are highly sought after. The competition, which aims to facilitate innovation in the Japanese energy sector, is sponsored by nine of Japan’s largest and most innovative energy sector companies.

About Connected Energy

Connected Energy is an engineering led innovator in energy storage. Its technologies that utilise second-life electric vehicle batteries are rapidly changing the way intensive energy users can access the benefits of low-cost, on-site solutions. The companies E-STOR system is modular and scalable, as well as straight forward to install and operate for energy intensive clients to flexibly control and reduce their energy costs and develop new revenue streams.