Aceon in Telford is leading the way in the world of battery power . The Govenor of the Bank of England paid a visit to learn more.
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00:00So we're here at Telford, Aison, Stafford Park, and Mark Thompson, this is your place!
00:05It is, Steve, it's home of batteries, you know, if you think about, in the 50s, Ever Ready was here in Telford and Aison's still carrying the batons, so...
00:14I didn't know Ever Ready was in Telford, I've just learned something there!
00:17Oh, absolutely, you'll see these blue batteries here, actually made here in Telford, so...
00:23So what do you do? So you do batteries, we've got a special visit today, the Governor of the Bank of England,
00:28he doesn't just go anywhere, so, I mean, this particular project you're involved in, which sounds very interesting, just fill us in, Mark.
00:35Yeah, I mean, we're on two fantastic projects, I mean, one that's close to my heart is what we've called Metal,
00:41and this is about portable generators using second life batteries, and really, it all started off when I appeared on Dragons' Den in 2012,
00:50with the product above me, and my passion's always been about this portable off-grid energy,
00:56but using second life EV car batteries and finding a purpose and a home for them is something very close to me.
01:03So this is our Metal project, so we've got the team in Ukraine today in Kyiv actually exhibiting, so it's been a busy day today, so this is our Metal project.
01:12So where does Ukraine come into it then?
01:14Well, it's an Innovate UK funded project, so you have to win these projects through Innovate UK, and we won that about a year ago, and we kicked off in March last year.
01:26So we're designing some of the products that you'll see upstairs.
01:30But yeah, our Innovate team are really coming to the fore with what we're going to be delivering in second life and first life portable energy generators that replace petrol generators.
01:40I can see there we've got the Ukrainian Red Cross on board, I mean that's going to be much needed.
01:45So you're on about second life, so did I hear you right that when we think a car battery's done, not necessarily then?
01:53Absolutely not, so even, you know, we've had cross batteries over 200,000 miles, still got 86% capacity left in the battery, so they're not going to run you 400 miles.
02:03They're good enough for portable energy storage units and also static storage, so that's the projects we're working on.
02:10So, Andrew Bailey, sir, Governor of the Bank of England, what do you think of what you've seen? It's fascinating, isn't it?
02:16It's fascinating, it's so impressive as well actually, I mean this is real innovation.
02:20And, you know, these units are going to Ukraine.
02:22They are, Andrew, yeah.
02:24This is brilliant, you know, just well done, I mean this is brilliant.
02:28I mean, listening to Mark, you know, as we go around, all of a sudden I feel very positive about what could be, not what is going to be, but what could be of the future business in this country.
02:39Yeah, made in Telford.
02:41Yeah, made in Telford, yeah, we need to add a little add to that sticker just there.
02:45Made in Telford.
02:47So, where are these going, Mark? Sorry, what application will they be used in in Ukraine?
02:51Well, these are going to be going to the rescue centres for the Ukraine Red Cross and medical centres.
02:55So, we've identified, you know, these guys really, you know, they do need power.
03:01Oh, desperately.
03:04Absolutely, but running petrol around roads, you can imagine how dangerous that is to even get into the petrol generators.
03:10And remember, these can be charged by solar.
03:12So, you know, the difference between fossil fuel and batteries is solar, tidal and wind charge up these units.
03:20So, you're not having to drive into dangerous areas to find more fuel.
03:24And what's really exciting, Steve, is having our swappable system.
03:28That's the game changer for me.
03:30And using Second Life EV car batteries is going to put ACEM on the map.
03:34And Mr Bailey, so do you get round to a lot of businesses?
03:38This is part of the remit of the role, is it?
03:40Well, it's not just that, you know.
03:42It's actually one of the most fun parts of my job, is going around the country visiting businesses.
03:48And you learn so much.
03:50I learn so much to reapply in policy, but you also just learn things like this.
03:52I mean, this is just such a good story.
03:54So, I love it.
03:56Are you familiar with Shropshire at all? Have you been here before?
03:58I'm very familiar with Shropshire, yeah.
04:00My family originally came from Birmingham, the black country.
04:04Okay, yeah, yeah.
04:06That's why I'm a West Brom supporter.
04:08Oh, no. You're talking to a wools fan here.
04:10We'll gloss.
04:12And a Birmingham fan is ours.
04:14And a Birmingham fan is ours.
04:16Yeah.
04:18But it is amazing what's going on.
04:20A lot of people just don't realise the amazing things that are happening in this country.
04:24And just down the road from them, quite often as well.
04:26Yeah.
04:28You come to Telford and this is what you find.
04:30It's just so impressive.
04:32And also, you're retrofitting a ship, is that right?
04:34Yeah.
04:36To my left-hand side, I think Princess Royal, I think she was here in Shropshire last week.
04:44So, that is the Princess Royal ship that we're retrofitting in Newcastle.
04:50It's a crew transfer vessel where it takes staff to wind farms and back.
04:56So, you can imagine that dirty, smelly diesel vessel ship going to a lovely renewable energy wind farm.
05:02That actually produced 49% renewable yesterday for the UK.
05:06So, 49% of our renewable energy need for the UK was done by offshore wind.
05:14So, what we're doing with this boat is basically we're retrofitting it.
05:18We're putting diesel on, but we're putting battery system on, but we're also putting green hydrogen on.
05:24So, we've got the battery, one of the packs are running the vessel while the other one's being charged through green hydrogen.
05:32So, really exciting project.
05:34It's certainly got ASON into the maritime business.
05:36And here we are in the middle of the UK and supporting the maritime industry.
05:42But it's all around battery electrification.
05:44We've got partners that are on this fantastic project that finishes in April.
05:50But yeah, we see a fantastic market for retrofitting existing ships that need to decarbonise.
05:56But, you know, not taking away the diesel.
05:59But if they can reduce by 40, 50, or even 70%, that's a massive CO2 carbon reduction.
06:07Who knows what's going on on these industrial estates in Shropshire.
06:11This advancement sounds amazing.
06:13And I now totally understand why the Governor of the Bank of England is about to pay us a visit.
06:18Thank you, Mark.
06:19No problem. Thank you.