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NETWORK / 11 / MARCH 2019 transmission network. Each site will have a 57MW grid connec- tion. Pivot Power has said that co-locating batteries and charg- ers and connecting them to the transmission network will reduce building and operating costs, giving it a competitive advantage over rivals installing them separately or connecting them to distribution networks. In particular, the batteries will allow it to maximise the value of the costly grid connections, which would otherwise need to be bigger. Selecting the sites "Sites were selected where there was the capacity, where we could host a battery on National Grid land and where these sites were close to the road network and populations," explains Allen. "We therefore narrowed down potentially 300 sites to 45." Pivot Power is taking a long- term lease with National Grid on commercial terms, and is not getting any subsidy or grants. "We are a customer of Na- tional Grid. We essentially put forward connection applications to National Grid which evalu- ates them and sees if they have spare capacity and at what cost, rather like they do with their other customers. "Once we are connected the tables are turned and they essentially become a customer to us." He is hoping to roll out 45 of these battery sites by the end of 2024. "By Q4 Southampton and Carlisle will be on stream; in 2020 there will be another eight and then 10 more each year." Planning permission has been granted for Ž ve sites so far. The batteries are on lithium ion batteries of which there are about a dozen manufacturers in the market. "We're supplier neutral." Bringing on board investors With each new facility costing around £25 million, the success of the plan will depend on get- ting investors on board. Private equity Ž rm Downing LLP has provided cash "to get the busi- ness o˜ the ground, build up a team and make the connection applications and generally get going," says Allen. "We've not disclosed how much investment we've had – but its millions." Pivot Power has just launched a funding round for Q1 and Q2 which is to raise £250m for the Ž rst 10 sites. Downing has invested more than £500m into renewable energy.› Allen says that Southampton has the Ž rst because that was the site National Grid was able to make available and the most straightforward to get fully operational. The chargers may be at hubs, but connections could go straight to large users, to bus depots, taxi and delivery van œ eets, within a Ž ve-mile radius of the battery. "A number of companies are dipping a toe in the water in terms of having electric vehicle œ eets; our USP is that we have the ability to scale up with those organisations," he says. "We're looking at a distri- bution centre with 20 rapid chargers; as we start scaling up with the uptake of EVs we will be able to increase the volume to those sites." Opportunities and risks So will Pivot Power be able to raise the huge funding needed to deliver this ambition and what are the risks? The huge opportunities for storage combined with the expected growth in EVs is an attractive proposition to investors, but Brexit, and snap policy changes outside of the private sector's control always make for risk, he acknowl- edges. He talks through the invest- ment model and how batter- ies can provide a number of di˜ erent services and income streams. The Ž rst is in trading elec- tricity, Ž lling up during the cheap time and selling back at highest demand; the second is in ancillary services – provid- ing balancing mechanism and frequency response to the National Grid; and thirdly as a backstop to the capacity market. He expects that Pivot will appeal to investors who take the view that there will be scale of EVs and greater de- mand for charging in future. He says that interest in in- vesting in Pivot is coming from multiple sources - incumbents in the market – both the power companies and also the oil companies and also from infra funds and pension funds. "To cement anything new there will always be challenges – but investors so far have been positive," says Allen. "The key is making sure we have the right investment part- ners on board; partners who believe in the vision." And also, other risks are the bottlenecks in the EV industry – including waiting times to get an EV from placing an order. "There are enormous op- portunities for œ exible storage. We are managing the control- lables, which is all we can do. "As Pivot Power we need a business plan that morphs to meet the needs of energy sys- tems; the adaptability mindset is within our DNA." DECARBONISATION OF TRANSPORT DECENTRALISATION "Tackling climate change is not a periphery sport" Like many of the new breed of energy entrepreneurs coming into the market, there's very much the fairer society dimension to the venture. "Getting out of bed for me has always been about more than making money – and the culture of the team and those involved are all about that," says Allen. Allen, originally from California, has been in the UK for 13 years and in energy for 10 – with spells at Bloomberg and Good Energy, before setting up Become Energy in November 2015. Pivot Power currently employs 10 people, and 20-30 consultants and plans to scale up to 30 or 40 full time staff by the middle of the year once the fi rst projects get into build mode. Pivot Power is currently based in Old Street in the City of London though Allen says they are looking to open a second offi ce in the Midlands. He says that in future he would like to do behind- the-meter storage linked to solar on the roof, and distributed energy. "A big part of the business is giving to the community – the social impact we can have, we're committed to be fair and transparent on cost and make it affordable – we're also exploring local ownership as well. "Being sustainable and tackling climate change is not a periphery sport – we want to get people involved." CHANGE MAKERS Matt Allen is part of Utility Week Live's series of 'change mak- ers'. In the run up to the event which is taking place at the Birmingham NEC on 21-22 May, Network and sister publication Utility Week will be talking to six industry leaders driving change across energy, water and utili- ties. You can discover our other change makers at https://www. utilityweeklive.co.uk/uwl19- change-makers Matthew Boulton, chief operat- ing offi cer of Pivot Power, will be speaking about EVs and the decarbonisation of transport in the Network Theatre at Utility Week Live on 21 May.