The boss who is taking the next step in renewable energy

From the mines across South and West Yorkshire through to the giant power stations in the North of the region, Yorkshire has been powering the nation for centuries.

Now the region stands on the cusp of a new era of energy production, and one that does not involve destroying the planet in the process.

Green energy is widely tipped to one of the principal drivers of Yorkshire’s economy in the coming century. The Local Government Association has predicted that the sector will create 150,000 jobs in Yorkshire alone over the next three decades as the UK moves towards becoming an economy that generates net zero carbon emissions.

Wind turbines, solar panels, hydroelectric and new era nuclear power will all form part of this new offering.

However, an underrated and crucial piece of the renewable energy puzzle lies not in producing energy but storing it. It is this area that Harmony Energy is directing its focus.

Set up in Knaresborough just eight years ago it is now preparing to enter an exciting growth phase and it works with some of the biggest brands on the planet.

This Summer it completed the commissioning of the first facility in Europe to use Tesla’s Megapack batteries.

It is developing, building and operating wind, solar and battery energy assets across the UK, some of which are due to come on stream in the coming months.

And it is already looking beyond the UK’s shores as it looks to expand its horizons.

For chief executive Peter Kavanagh, it is an exciting time. “It is a really exciting place to be because for the next generation particularly,” he said. “We are really passionate about what we do.”

When Harmony Energy was founded, Mr Kavanagh and his team initially intended to work in the field of small scale wind turbines, mainly aimed at providing power to large scale farms and the like.

It operated 15 turbine sites in the UK and was backed originally by a pension firm. However four years ago working on large scale battery energy storage and the shift began.

Mr Kavanagh said: “We figured out the missing link to make renewables really work was large scale storage.

“Obviously storage is key to storing intermittent renewable energy such as wind and solar. This is the most exciting area of the business for me.

“The storage sector is still reasonably new but it is the missing link. It is where we see the most value creation for the whole network to enable more renewables and ultimately achieving a zero carbon economy.

The current speciality that Mr Kavanagh is talking about is the Megapack, the latest evolution of a utility scale battery. It holds energy, electricity, predominantly from renewable sources and you can change it for a two hour duration. Then it will discharge back to the gid for a two hour period.

For comparison, most batteries on the market in the UK are typically only providing power for 30 minutes to an hour.

Mr Kavanagh said: “The clever part is that it is a more condensed system, From a lay person point of view it is a very compact system that stores energy on a smaller physical footprint for a longer period of time than the competition does.”

Harmony has just completed its first project in Poole in Dorset, which as mentioned is the first tetra mega pack in Europe. It also plans closer to home, including in Yorkshire, the largest of which is at Creyke Beck near Hull.

“We have three that are the same size and that is our biggest in Yorkshire,” said Mr Kavanagh.

“It is actually going to be one of the biggest in the UK. It is 99 megawatts of power. We hope that will go into development next year.”

He added: “We see the next two years as a very exciting growth phase. Over the last four years the storage is something we spent a lot of time getting planning permission secured for large sites. “Now it is all about building them out and pushing them on and seeing how far we can take things.”

The deal with Tesla is certainly eye-catching. Harmony is responsible for a lot of jobs but only employs six people directly.

The firm approached Tesla directly four years ago. Mr Kavanagh said at that time they were one of the few firms taking battery storage seriously.

Working with the Tesla team based in Amsterdam a relationship was forged between the two organisations. Unlikely as it sounds, a six person firm from Knaresborough is now working alongside one of the planet’s best-known brands.

“We met them quite early on,” said Mr Kavanagh. “I had a Tesla Car so I loved the technology.”

He added: “I could see the passion that the company was driven by, right down to the junior level. They were so passionate about what they were doing. It just really felt like a really good fit.

“I guess we held faith with them and they held faith with us - and things have worked through from there.”

As Harmony enters a growth phase it is now setting out its stake in the green energy market for the UK.

Mr Kavanagh is hopeful that his firm will help engender an economy which allows the reason to generate cheaper and renewable power, something he says can be a great success story for Yorkshire business.

And to do that he wants to put more wind solar and batteries across Yorkshire and the UK to enable a more sustainable economy.

“From an economic point of view, people would often look at wind and solar and say it is very expensive and subsidized energy, which is true.

“But now we are in a position where onshore wind and solar is so cheap, and even offshore wind is so cheap, Yorkshire as a county by just using our natural land resource we could get to a really attractive place, providing cheaper power to Yorkshire business.”

He added: “Yorkshire is in a tremendous position because of the space we have and the business we have as well. Yorkshire has always been a great place for businesses to grow.

“We have a big population, a lot of land space - there is a lot more we can do.”