Funding secured for new renewable energy battery storage facility in Chesterfield

5th May 2022

Chesterfield has been named as one of the areas to benefit from investment in a battery storage facility, adding to the town’s green growth.

Santander UK has provided a £27m funding package to 4 Renewable Energy, the independent power producer (IPP) arm of RGREEN INVEST, an independent French investment management company specialised in equity investments and financing for energy transition and climate change adaptation infrastructure projects. The funding supports construction and operations of four new-build battery storage facilities in England that 4 Renewable Energy acquired last year.

The new local facility will be based on Back Lane in Chesterfield, with facilities also being built in Rochdale, Plymoth and Bexhill on Sea.

Battery storage is key to ensuring the UK’s homes and businesses can be powered by renewable energy. It plays an important role in boosting the nation’s capability to capture, store and release renewable energy, providing a more reliable and regular supply.

Owned 100% by RGREEN INVEST’s INFRAGREEN IV fund, 4 Renewable Energy has plans to expand its UK portfolio beyond its first four battery storage facilities. It is actively pursuing additional battery storage projects under development or ready-to-build in the UK and is establishing a local team.

RGREEN INVEST’s managed entities have invested in more than 1,500 renewable energy projects to date and in large battery storage facilities in France – on the mainland and overseas. 4 Renewable Energy has wind, solar and battery storage projects under development and construction in Spain, Bulgaria, Portugal, Romania and Poland. Its portfolio of renewable energy projects totals more than 1.5 GW.

Since the start of 2019, Santander UK has committed more than £250m to the battery storage sector. This funding is part of Santander’s global target to lend €120bn in green finance to businesses throughout the world by 2025. The funding package provided to 4 Renewable Energy was partly financed by Santander UK’s Environmental and Social Growth Fund, which is designed to support lending that benefits the environment or society and contributes toward the UK’s sustainability agenda.

Sébastien Rondel, Head of Direct Investment for RGREEN INVEST and Director of 4 Renewable Energy, said: “This is our first venture into the UK market, and we are excited to be an active player. Our banking partner, Santander UK, has greatly supported this venture and is helping us pursue our strategic development abroad. Our choice of the UK is significant as the nation has made an ambitious decision to accelerate its transition to renewable energy sources, and battery systems are poised to become a key component of this strategy’s success.”

Mark Cumbo, Director, Specialised and Project Finance at Santander UK said: “We are delighted to support RGREEN INVEST’s entry into the UK renewables market with funding for the construction of its four battery storage facilities. Santander UK strongly supports clients such as RGREEN INVEST that are bringing positive environmental change to the UK’s energy sector, and we are delighted to provide funding for these new battery storage facilities throughout England.”

Posted in About Chesterfield, Celebrate Chesterfield, Development, Featured, Home, Property and Construction, UncategorisedTagged in Battery storage, chesterfield business news, Chesterfield green energy, chesterfield news, Green growth, green jobs, Renewable energy, Sustainability

Chesterfield Borough Council backs sustainable electricity bill

20th December 2021

Chesterfield Borough Council has unanimously approved a motion that supports the Local Electricity Bill.

The motion means the council will support the bill when applied to renewable electricity and will also write to local MPs to encourage them to support the bill in parliament. The Local Electricity Bill empowers community groups, local businesses and councils to become local energy suppliers, which aims to help ensure that the supply of renewable energy across the UK can be increased.

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, deputy leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “It was important for the full council to support this motion and for us to support the Local Electricity Bill in principle, because we all agree that we must reduce our carbon emissions in order to minimise the effects of climate change. We are already doing lots to reduce emissions in Chesterfield but energy remains one of the most significant areas to decarbonise.

“I hope our local MPs will listen to our motion and support this bill in parliament. It could help revolutionise electricity supply and create new local networks of renewable energy generation, which is essential to helping reduce emissions both in Chesterfield and across the UK.”

Currently to sell electricity there is a high cost because of complex grid balancing codes and network agreements, which is a barrier to entry for small local electricity generation.

The Local Electricity Bill aims to remove this barrier, making it financially viable for electricity generators to sell directly to local people.

The bill would establish a Right to Local Supply which would make the setup and running costs of selling renewable electricity to local people proportionate to the size of the supply company.

Provided the carbon cap on electricity generation is low enough it could lead to increasing the supply of local renewable electricity which could help the UK meet its climate change targets.

The council will now write to local MPs to encourage them to support this bill in parliament.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Development, Home, UncategorisedTagged in chesterfield borough council, chesterfield business news, chesterfield news, Renewable energy, Sustainability

Management Restructure for Chesterfield’s Custom Solar

25th November 2021

Green energy company Custom Solar has announced that the company has been restructured, with a new senior leadership formation taking the helm.

10 years from the company’s inception, Custom Solar has seen exponential growth from completing major solar projects such as the UK’s largest in the Port of Hull to securing large-scale commercial contracts with UK-leading businesses.

Growth and success have resulted in an increase in Custom Solar personnel working nationwide as well as in the firm’s new head office located in Chesterfield. The new invigorated management structure will seek to take the company forward into the future and continue to deliver further success.

Company founder Matthew Brailsford stated his pride in the progression since founding the Company: “The last 10 years at the helm of Custom Solar have been more exciting and challenging than I could ever have imagined, as a team we have achieved amazing things and have pioneered new and exciting projects across the UK.

“The business and sector show unrivaled potential in the coming years and as such Custom Solar is preparing for the mammoth challenge of decarbonising the UK’s electricity supply.

“As we continue to grow, I recognised the need to bolster the senior leadership team with a mix of industry seasoned professionals and outside expertise. Gary Sucharewycz (CEO), Victoria Brown (CFO), and Kristian Clark (COO) all have proven track records of success and add another level of professionalism and dedication to the business.

“I very much look forward to the leadership taking the reins of the day-to-day operation of the business as I know they will expand our reach, impact, and ongoing financial stability.”

“I personally now move to the role of Group Chairman to focus on strategic growth, acquisition, and investment. This is an incredibly bright and exciting time for Custom Solar, and I hope everyone will join me in wishing the senior leadership team all the very best as they continue to drive the business forwards.”

Gary Sucharewycz CEO, has been with the business for the last 6 years in the role of Director of Development and Strategy and has been in senior roles within the solar sector for the last 11 years with over 20 years of experience in the Energy industry. He has been pivotal in driving Custom Solar’s growth, developing a commercial pipeline and development process that has achieved an incredible success rate of contracted projects that has reflected in year-on-year growth with many major contracts secured across the UK.

Gary has expressed his delight to have taken on the new position: “I am really proud to have been asked to take on this role at this point in our journey having been heavily involved in the company’s growth since joining the business.

“The new position requires me to take on additional responsibility in driving us forward through an incredible growth period and I am delighted to be supported in this by Victoria and Kristian whom I have been working with over the last 8 months transitioning into our new roles.

“Through this time we have already seen an exciting period of growth in terms of recruiting new members of the team, contracts secured and projects delivered. We are supported by an experienced and successful management team and a very talented wider team internally, who is based at our new head office location and site-based through our engineering teams.

Victoria Brown CFO, who joined the business earlier in the year is a qualified accountant and Award-winning Chartered Director with over 20 years post qualified experience in various businesses. Knowledgeable in change management, risk management & mitigation, funding, and phases of high growth, Victoria brings a wealth of financial expertise to the company.

Victoria is also NED for Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, sits on the Risk and Audit Committee at Sheffield Hallam University, is Chairman of the Institute of Directors for South Yorkshire, and is a Member of the Company of Cutlers.

Kristian Clark COO, has been Operations Director at Custom Solar for the last 2 years and has been intricately involved in the businesses’ continued scaling up of its delivery model. His knowledge and approach have helped the business focus on its core deliverables, whilst seeing a controlled strategy of growth.

Kristian is highly experienced in Solar PV delivery with a history of developing businesses operations functions to manage growth efficiently and safely, he is an experienced people manager which will allow us to progress on to the next phase of our evolution.

Custom Solar supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Destination Chesterfield, Home, UncategorisedTagged in business growth, Chesterfield business growth, chesterfield business news, Chesterfield green energy, chesterfield news, custom solar, green energy, Renewable energy