CNE Eyes US Market with its Mobile Battery Energy Storage Solution

Two months after officially launching in the UK, Scotland-based Carbon Neutral Energy (CNE) has been looking to expand its operations in the US market with its mobile battery energy storage solution (BESS).

The hybrid power solutions company has been fast-tracking its overseas expansion due to the huge demand for mobile BESS which could prevent emergencies like the loss of power in Texas earlier this year.

The company, which has embarked on a £300m fund-raise and made several executive and non-executive appointments, has developed a BESS that meets the growing challenge of storing and using electricity produced from renewable sources.

Thus, it is currently exploring locations for its first overseas base in Texas. The US state experienced a major power crisis in February this year as a result of three severe storms sweeping across the US. Half a million Texans were without power. The company believed that its BESS can prevent this happening in the future.

Commenting on the development, Philip Patterson, sales director of CNE, said “two things happened: sources of electricity, like wind turbines, went offline and demand for the energy they produce went up. The crisis drew much attention to the state’s lack of preparedness for such storms. Damages from the blackouts were estimated at $195 billion, making this the costliest disaster in Texas’ history.”

Patterson further said “battery storage is a vital in balancing the grid. Without storage, power emergencies such as those in Texas could occur again across the globe. With ongoing climate change, these events could become more frequent, so we believe the time to act is now and are getting into the US market early. Our vision is that our product range will help achieve greater efficiencies and build resilience into the Texas grid.” 

The company offers BESS ranging from 1MW to 5MW in the form of a mobile unit with a suite of smaller static modules that can also be combined to create mega storage banks.

“The energy transition that is taking place will accelerate rapidly in the USA and presents a massive opportunity for CNE. Had I been 25 years younger, I would have seriously considered relocating there myself. As it is, we are presently recruiting for a CEO and looking for a suitable location in Houston where we will replicate what we are doing in the UK with local manufacturing and service in-country,” said Mark Patterson, chairman and interim CEO of CNE.