North East-based, Connected Energy, a world-leading innovator of site-integrated energy storage solutions, has secured a £5 million investment to realise ambitious growth plans on a global stage.
The significant investment, made by Sumitomo Corporation, ENGIE and Macquarie Group, will provide the Newcastle company with a platform to deliver its next phase of international growth having developed the world’s only commercially-available, stationary, energy storage system which uses electric vehicle battery packs after they have completed their useful lives, on board vehicles.
With rapidly increasing, global electric vehicle sales, Connected Energy is at the forefront of worldwide innovation having developed a means of reusing electric vehicle batteries by giving them a second life in energy storage systems. Delivering a ‘circular economy’ notion and doubling the working life of batteries, the company has enabled greater exploitation of resources embedded during the manufacturing process, adding to the sustainability credentials of electric vehicles as well as the electricity system.
This has also reduced system costs, making energy storage systems financially viable for a wider range of end users.
Matthew Lumsden, CEO of Connected Energy, said, “We’re very pleased with this investment as Sumitomo already has experience of working with second life batteries and our relationship with ENGIE has gone from strength to strength since their first investment in 2017. The time is now right for us to scale up the business and the investment will enable us to do so. We have some exciting times and projects ahead of us and look forward to further capturing the benefits of the circular economy.”
Shingo Hosotani, Department General Manager, Business Development Department No.1, of Sumitomo Corporation Europe, added, “Sumitomo Corporation Group has focused on the broad value chain of electric vehicles and a key focus is the secondary use of electric vehicle batteries. By collaborating with Connected Energy, we expect to create the new business between mobility sector and energy sector. Going forward, we intend to continue identifying changes in the needs of society and contributing to the development of industry across the globe by investing in companies with innovative technology.”
Hendrik Van Asbroeck, MD of ENGIE New Ventures, said, “ENGIE offers innovative and effective energy solutions as-a-service to overcome the challenges of the transition to clean energy for our customers. Connected Energy is one of the cornerstones for success with its leading and environmentally friendly energy storage solutions. Their specific know how on second life batteries enables ENGIE access new types of storage projects. This investment is a further confirmation of the exciting opportunity to develop new business opportunities together.”
Connected Energy’s solution, called E-STOR, is a British-designed technology that helps a range of commercial customers to mitigate their network and supply costs, and enjoy improved energy resilience. . With 11 E-STOR systems deployed in the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, it provides the same performance as first life batteries but with reduced costs and environmental impact.
The company, which also operates a 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.
Turquoise International, a merchant bank specialising in finance for energy and environment, was the exclusive financial adviser to Connected Energy for the fundraising, and also participated in the funding round.
Matthew Booth, Senior Managing Director of Macquarie’s Commodities and Global Markets Group said, “With demand for renewable energy capacity rising globally, we see significant opportunity in partnering with industry to bring new and evolving technologies to market. Our expertise in energy markets means that we are uniquely positioned to help Connected Energy realise its potential, helping energy companies and EV manufacturers alike capture the value in 2nd life EV batteries and delivering sustainable low-cost energy storage.”
