Our first demonstrator project took place with partners Lotus Cars, Circontrol, APT Technologies (now SWARCO) and GoodWolfe with funding from DECC. The demonstrator used six different battery types and linked energy storage to a micro-wind turbine, solar PV and EV charge points.
Our long-term relationship with Renault Group was established, marking the start of an electrifying adventure. We began by first incorporating batteries from the Renault Fluence into our systems and later batteries from the Renault Kangoo.
In an Innovate UK project, the company worked with EDF Energy to develop our first prototype. The system developed was installed at York City Council’s eco depot linked to PV and EV charge points.
The team also scooped two awards this year: the Renewable Energy Association’s Innovation award and the EDP Enviro-Technologies award.
Our first 60kW/90kWH system was delivered to Statkraft in the UK. It was controlled using their virtual power plant which allowed them to operate the system according to energy forecasts from their trading desk.
Connected Energy was named in the top 100: Britain’s Fastest Growing Businesses by the Syndicate Room. The report identified the companies that had increased in value the most during the year.
Working with Renault and Allego in Belgium and Germany, our systems were installed along the Fast-E corridor to actively manage grid capacity constraints on the network of 50kW charge points.
As the company began to expand, we opened our new technical centre in Hethel, Norfolk – the heart of our technical R&D.
We developed our first iteration of our cloud based software which now provides integral support to our systems and services, providing reporting and monitoring visibility to our customers.
Investment from Macquarie Group and ENGIE New Ventures allowed us to begin to realise our growth plans.
With funding from Innovate UK and a collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover and Warwick Manufacturing Group, we proved that our technology could be adapted to use second life Jaguar I-Pace batteries.
Working with Evolt (now SWARCO), we were appointed to supply our system to support Dundee City Council’s EV charging hub. The system linked solar PV to several rapid chargers at the flagship site.
A partnership project with investor, Engie, saw a 1.2MW system installed at Umicore’s recycling plant in Belgium. The system demonstrated the technical and economic viability of combining the system with other assets to provide frequency response services.
A further investment round was secured bringing £5 million investment from Sumitomo Corporation, ENGIE, Macquarie Group and others.
The awards recognise Europe’s most innovative energy sector SMEs.
The Hold, a flagship heritage facility for Suffolk, chose Connected Energy to supply our next generation system. The system allows the site to optimise energy and manage peak loads across a network which includes PV, EV chargers and HVAC.
Working with Capitas, we introduced new finance models to minimise upfront investment required from businesses.
An academic study with our partners, Lancaster University, addressed the issue of the carbon impact of second life EV systems. The study concluded a 450t CO2 savings per MWh over the life of the battery for second life systems.
The team picked up both the PLMA Technology Pioneer award and the North East Automotive Alliance’s award for Innovation.
Our most sophisticated behind-the-meter order so far, Cranfield University will use three systems working collectively to support a solar farm, air source heat pump and waste management centre.
A further highly successful round of investment brought Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., the Hinduja Group, Mercuria, OurCrowd and Volvo Energy. The investment is enabling the company to scale-up its operations.
The company has worked with Newcastle University’s National Innovation Centre for Data for several years to embed new data science skills into our product. Ground breaking research in 2022, proved the ability to embed AI and machine learning in our software to monitor and predict battery performance.
Work begins on our first in-house financed utility scale system.
Interested in finding out more?
Get in touch with our team to discuss whether battery energy storage can work for your business
