Grant secured to help firm deliver sustainable power to Ukraine

AceOn Group, a Telford-based specialist battery supplier and manufacturer, has been awarded its third government grant from Innovate UK to support energy provision in Ukraine, facilitated by Azets, a UK top 10 accountancy and advisory group. It comes as AceOn was been chosen to present at COP29, held in November.

With a commitment to innovation, AceOn Group, known for its expertise in designing and assembling custom-built reusable battery packs, has embarked on a project aimed at bringing clean, sustainable, and affordable power to millions of people in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion, in collaboration with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.

This latest £1 million grant from the Innovate UK Energy Catalyst 8 fund will accelerate the development of AceOn Group's newly designed mobile solar energy storage unit. Utilising second-life UV batteries, this project promises to revolutionise energy storage in remote areas that have limited access to conventional power sources.

On the project in Ukraine, Mark Thompson, Managing Director at AceOn Group said: “We are passionate about innovation and technology development, especially in areas such as Ukraine, where conventional methods won’t suffice. By using second-life solar-powered lithium-ion battery technology, we’ve been able to create a product that is sustainable, widely available and brings clean and affordable power to the people in Ukraine, which for many will be a lifeline.

“Looking forward, we hope to also enable the creation of a local manufacturing facility in the country, where it will produce swappable power packs and generators that not only supports local economic growth but also helps with the wider advancement of renewable energy solutions.”

“We’re extremely grateful to the Azets team, whose specialist knowledge and experience of grant funding enabled us to deliver this, the third such research we’ve undertaken, quickly and efficiently. Without this funding, we wouldn’t have been given the opportunity to present at COP29, which is a huge milestone for us in our commitment to leading the charge on sustainable energy solutions” added Mark.

Philip Lowe, Partner at Azets in Shrewsbury, highlighted the importance of their collaboration, saying: “We’re delighted to have helped AceOn secure the grant funding through our unique capability across multiple disciplines, delivering specialist assurance reporting from our Wolverhampton office and a broad range of other compliance and advisory services from our Shrewsbury office.”

He added: “On behalf of me and Sally Taylor, Director at Azets in Wolverhampton, it has been a pleasure to support Mark and his team. We look forward to working together on future grant funding opportunities, which are a great way to deliver research projects that can help companies learn new technologies and methods to implement in their own production.”

To allow for this provision, AceOn Group partnered with the Institute of Electrodynamics and Technoservicedrive from Ukraine, alongside the University of Liverpool. The project marks a significant milestone in AceOn Group's journey towards driving sustainable energy solutions in emerging markets.