Category Archives: Renewable Energy News

Energy, Green Energy, News, Renewable Energy News

Tidal technology is key to filling gaps in the UK’s renewable energy generation, expert tells Labour Annual Conference

Huge opportunities lie ahead for tidal range technology to play a key part in the UK’s future energy mix.

That was the message delivered at a fringe event hosted by the British Hydropower Association, convenor of the Tidal Range Alliance (TRA) at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool.

 

Bill Esterson, MP, Chair of the Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee, told the event:“There are huge opportunities in tidal energy in this country, because of the nature of our tidal reach. We have 30 feet of tidal range out here on the Mersey and people of this region have been talking about this for much longer than I have been around, and it’s time. The time has come – absolutely.”

The Merseyside MP said the government was committed to a range of renewable energy sources.

“The truth is that we need these schemes across the country. Whilst wind and solar are going to be the backbone of our renewable electricity generation, there are gaps to fill and while we have nuclear, it’s pretty clear that we need other technologies. Tidal is entirely predictable. It fills that last 20% of generation that is less certain,” he added.

 

The Labour MP said his select committee was keen to explore the opportunities and would take evidence and recommendations to the UK government.

Just last week, Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram announced a public consultation on a tidal scheme on the Mersey which has entered the formal planning process.

 

The event heard from a range of speakers, including Kate Gilmartin, CEO of the British Hydropower Association, Ioan Jenkins, chair of the TRA; and Charles Hendry, a former Conservative energy minister.

 

Mr Hendry, Author of ‘The Hendry Review’ into Tidal Range said the war in Ukraine had highlighted the need for “indigenous, home-grown power and nothing is more home grown than our tides with the second highest tidal range in the world.”

He also pointed out that tidal could provide the “elusive Brexit dividend” with the power to do more to drive down prices and focus on solely UK energy sources.

 

After the event, Kate Gilmartin, CEO of the British Hydropower Association, said: “We are thrilled that members here at Labour conference have shown such enthusiasm for Tidal Range, given our very high hopes for the progression of the world’s largest tidal scheme right here on the River Mersey.

“Tidal Range is a key part of the decarbonisation jigsaw for the UK, which can bring forward social value and affordable energy through local energy markets and smart flexible systems. It has the potential to circumvent one of the biggest barriers to decarbonising the grid – transmission constraints.

 

“We look forward to giving evidence to Mr Esterson’s committee and to persuading the government that the time for tidal is very much here and we urge ministers to ride the wave for this important, predictable, energy generation technology.”

 

Energy, Green Energy, News, Renewable Energy News, Sustainability, Technology, Wiltshire News

Renewables company Sinewave chooses Mintivo as strategic IT partner to help home in on £100 million turnover target

RENEWABLES company Sinewave has appointed Mintivo as its strategic IT partner to help reach its £100 million turnover target within five years.

The Swindon-based independent connection provider designs and builds electrical infrastructure solutions for major EV charging stations, Renewable sites and has more than 2,500 maintenance sites across the UK, including supermarkets, factories and battery storage sites.

Sinewave CEO Adam Woodley said the nine-year-old company chose Chippenham-based Mintivo, which offers managed IT support, consultancy, cyber security and automation, because of its track record in helping companies push their boundaries through strategic IT development.

“We need an IT partner who is going to push us to make sure that we’re at the top of our game and that we’re not falling behind the competition,” he said. “Having someone that’s agile, forward thinking, also growing and can understand us as a business is really important.

Sinewave, which became B-Corp certified in 2022, is one of the top UK companies helping lead the charge into renewable energy and its 60 per cent growth over the last year reflects the surge in sustainable projects as industry gets to grips with climate change.

“We’re in the energy transformation sector and if you look at the government’s agenda, if you look at net zero targets, existing energy sources are all turning green,” said Mr Woodley.

“We’ve grown because of this pace of change and the increasing size of the projects we are undertaking. If you go back five years we were looking at five megawatt solar parks, we’re now connecting solar parks that are 120 megawatts, so significantly bigger. That drives the opportunity for growth that we have.”

Its work includes connecting large-scale projects that are helping convert traditionally diesel-powered vehicles, like buses, HGVs and shoreside maritime equipment, to cleaner electricity. It is currently engaged on an £11 million contract in Stockton-on-Tees that includes three solar parks and eight kilometres of cabling.

“Our involvement in these projects is the infrastructure, bringing in electricity from the grid,  connecting the renewable energy sources up so it can then power them and then bringing those renewable energy sources back onto the grid,” said Mr Woodley.

The company has around 40 staff at its Swindon base and 50 more engineers working remotely around the UK. It is forecasting £35 million turnover this year but Mr Woodley said its ambition is to keep growing on the back of the sustainable energy boom. “We have a target to be a £100 million business in the next five years, with a headcount of around 250,” he said.

Mintivo is charged with keeping Sinewave’s remote staff connected and its workforce management system resilient. “The workforce management system runs our end-to-end process, from bid management right through to contract management, deployment of field engineers and down to the final invoicing,” said Mr Woodley.

“We have a lot of field-based staff who may not come into the office, in some cases for months on end, so making sure their connectivity, their support, is there is really important to us.

“If we lose a couple of hours because of an IT outage or there’s an issue with systems that means we lose data, we’re not going to be compliant on projects. We are also measuring our carbon footprint across all of our projects to be able to offset. Every project we do is carbon neutral.”

Mintivo Managing Director Alex Jukes said the two companies are aligned in their values because they are of similar age and size. “We understand the challenges they have because we’ve been going through a similar journey ,” he said.

“We’re fortunate because Sinewave is so forward thinking, they’ve got a very clear vision for the future. We will be advising Adam and his team on how IT can support them, what routes will be the right ones and then help them to make the right decisions in getting there more efficiently from an IT point of view.”

Mintivo is already helping Sinewave migrate to a fully cloud-based system and exploring the use of AI to help staff work more efficiently. “We’re looking at AI to streamline some of our existing processes to make sure that we’re making the systems work harder for us and allowing our team to concentrate on the more technical and enjoyable aspects of their jobs,” said Mr Woodley.

Mr Jukes said: “We’re excited to be working with a company like Sinewave. Our responsibility is to use our strategic knowledge to ensure the opportunities to leverage technology better are efficient, scalable and secure.

“We’re going to be focused on the future with Sinewave and how we can help push them forward.”

Find out more about Sinewave at sinewave.co.uk and about Mintivo’s services at Mintivo.co.uk.

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Pictured: Mintivo Managing Director Alex Jukes, left, with Sinewave CEO Adam Woodley

Energy, Green Energy, News, Renewable Energy News

Vertus Energy secures €8.75m seed funding to drive delivery of European renewable energy agenda

  • Proven technology receives further backing from global to scale carbon negative energy production, set to revolutionise the Waste-to-X* sector.
  • New funding powers expansion, aligning with ambitious EU targets, making biomethane more economically viable and accessible, contributing to the global transition towards a more resilient, versatile and sustainable energy system;.
  • Expansion secures path to first commercial scale unit in Europe. 

 

London, UK, GMT 27 June 2024: Vertus Energy – a Waste-to-X* industrial biotech startup specialising in advanced control of bacteria behaviour – has closed a EUR 8.75 million seed funding round, it was announced today.

The funding, led by prominent global investors Energy Capital Ventures®, joined by Blackbird, the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and Aussie Angels, alongside all their existing investors, will be used to scale the firm’s flagship product, BRIO, into pilot projects.

BRIO – a product of extensive research and development – is a revolutionary biogas technology that:

 

  • Generates biomethane up to 3 times faster than currently possible
  • Boosts energy production by up to 60% from the same amount of waste
  • Is flexible, having the potential to service the entire industry, at every scale
  • Easily retrofits into existing anaerobic digestion plants
  • Is highly adaptable to diverse systems – controls existing bacteria rather than by introducing new bacteria, enabling the potential to utilise any waste stream.

 

The new funding will be directed towards accelerating the adoption of the BRIO technology in commercial units across various applications, from full scale wastewater treatment plants to the large-scale biogas plants, that are integral components of the renewable energy ecosystem.

The global biogas market is projected to grow at around 5.2% annually from 2020 to 2030, reaching $86.7 billion by 2030. Europe is expected to be one of the major players in this field, having set biomethane production targets to reach 35 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year by 2030.

 

Vertus Energy is a Waste-to-X industrial biotech startup specialising in advanced control of bacteria behaviour. Encouraged by the region’s ambitious biomethane production agenda, the company made the strategic move of establishing its regional HQ in Vienna, Austria, to expand influence across the breadth of Europe and the UK, where existing AD plant infrastructure increased by 30%  to reach a total of 1,322 biomethane-producing facilities by April 2023.

 

Leading the operations from the UK, Co-founder and COO, Benjamin Howard will focus on delivering Vertus Energy projects across Europe and implementing a strategy for global commercialisation.

“Vertus Energy is determined to radically improve access to sustainable energy and help Europe meet its renewable energy objectives,” he says. “Thanks to the backing of our proprietary BRIO technology by world-class investors, we’re able to deliver some key objectives.

“We’ve already established relationships with global players, who have recognised how the technology can help them to meet their renewable energy goals and are genuinely excited by what we can deliver. It’s an incredible time for us as we partner with companies to pursue an enormous common benefit, impacting on global energy equity, sustainability and resilience. BRIO is the first of many innovations we’re working on; but our purpose remains the same. ‘Delivering Energy Justice for All’.”

 

Vic Pascucci, Managing General Partner and Cofounder of Energy Capital Ventures, comments: “As the only venture capital fund solely dedicated to green molecules™, we have devoted the last several years to analysing technologies and start-ups in biogas, biomethanation and renewable natural gas.  It was abundantly clear from our exhaustive due diligence that Vertus Energy’s technology, commercial progress and team were far superior to anything in the market.  We backed Vertus Energy because they have a fantastic team, clearly demonstrative technology and verifiable results that vastly surpass competitive options.”

 

For Wolfgang Neubert, General Partner at the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, it was the scientific data that drew them to invest. He comments: “We were impressed by Vertus’ commitment to deep-tech innovation and their solid foundation of scientific data. It aligned perfectly with our focus on supporting companies that are not only driven by innovation but also committed to sustainability. Looking through a long-term lens, we are excited by BRIO’s potential for further advancements in the biogas market and look forward to uncovering those broader possibilities, with Vertus being positioned at the forefront of the sustainable energy push.”

 

Climate, News, Renewable Energy News

Engenera and Costco forge dynamic solar partnership in new collaborative venture

Engenera Renewables Group, a leader in the UK’s renewable energy landscape, and Costco Wholesale, the operator of global network of membership-based retail establishments worldwide, have revealed a new partnership. By merging their expertise, these industry frontrunners aim to empower customers in tackling the mounting challenge of rising energy costs by embracing solar power, offering innovative and sustainable solutions for a changing world.

With energy prices at an all-time high and global warming a growing threat, a growing number of households are exploring investing in solar power. Thanks to this new partnership, Costco is now able to make bespoke solar PV systems, sold with a full warranty, available to its members.

Members will benefit from the excellent customer service and quality assurance offered by both Costco and Engenera, as well as the guaranteed lower prices it offers members. All systems will exclusively be designed and installed by Engenera Renewables, a company with a long track record in delivering renewable energy solutions. All systems will feature fully calibrated high energy-yielding solar panels, a 5.4kW Huawei battery and a smart energy inverter. Customers will also benefit from a Smart Home App that helps to track performance and clearly displays generation and consumption data.

The partnership represents a move back into the domestic market for Engenera, which, on the back of demand driven by government targets, has been focused on the commercial side in recent years working on large projects for blue chip clients such as Nissan. The partnership with Costco, with its reach and customer focus, meant a move back to the domestic market represented a natural step for the company.

Each installation will be designed for optimal performance specific to a building’s roof, along with a complete report on that specific system. All systems are installed by fully qualified engineers then commissioned and tested by an electrical team to ensure it is MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) compliant. Once complete, customers will receive a handover pack with manuals, warranty information and maintenance advice.

Lloyd Lawson, Chief Strategy Officer, said:

“This partnership represents an exciting step for the business, but it is also a natural progression for us on the back of the way the company has developed in recent years. We now have the expertise and capacity to commit to a partnership on this scale and we could not think of a better company than Costco to be working with on this. Underpinning this deal is a commitment from both companies to help people; rising energy costs are putting incredible strain on households. Embracing renewable energy offers a way of reducing bills and offering long-term energy security, while also doing the right thing for the planet in the context of global warming.”

Business, Renewable Energy News

Engenera bolsters team with key CFO hire on back of expansion

Engenera Renewables Group helps large organisations embrace green energy and reduce their carbon footprint

 

One of the UK’s leading renewable energy companies has hired a new chief finance officer (CFO) as it continues to rollout ambitious UK-wide expansion plans on the back of completing one of England’s biggest ever solar projects.

 

Engenera Renewables Group, based in the North East of England, works as a decarbonisation partner with large companies looking to reduce their carbon emissions and operate using cleaner, greener – and often cheaper – energy.

 

The business recently completed work on the largest solar park with a private wire connection in the whole of England, which will shortly be operational. The landmark project represents a sign of the future as large corporates, pressured by rising energy bills and government targets, increasingly embrace all forms of renewable energy.

 

Now, Newcastle-based Engenera has embarked on a major drive to help more large businesses reduce their carbon emissions. It works with clients on a range of renewable technologies, including commercial solar PV and battery storage, air and ground source heat pumps, combined heat and power, electric vehicle charging points and LED lighting.

 

As it continues to drive into the utility scale sector, it is actively looking for more large projects to work on – and has stressed that it has the funding behind it to start on such projects, of any size, immediately.

 

To fulfil this growing order book, and to manage the finance involved in such schemes, it has hired an experienced CFO. Chris Alete joins with over 22 years of experience as a finance director including considerable experience of working with private equity and venture capital-backed business.

 

In that time, Alete has worked across a variety of industries. Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse, he moved into industry where he has worked as finance director across a number of sectors including training, hospitality, manufacturing, technology and most recently in the domestic heating sector.

 

He also serves as a Trustee and Treasurer of The Key, a charity based in Newcastle dedicated to inspiring belief in young people and, through practical activities, helping them to discover what they are capable of. This is a non-executive role which is undertaken voluntarily.

 

Lloyd Lawson, Chief Strategy Officer, Engenera, said:

 

“This is a very exciting time for the business. We are in a phase of exponential growth for the company as more and more businesses want to examine their carbon footprint and the benefits of reducing this. To help us manage the growth trajectory we are on, we are delighted to welcome Chris into the team. He has a proven track record of career progression, the ability to operate strategically at both executive and board level and manage critical relationships with internal and external stakeholders. He is experienced in all aspects of finance, commercial and general management operating at board level with considerable experience working with PE/VC backed businesses.”