UK battery storage developer Anesco has combined its behind- and in front of the meter storage divisions as part of a wider internal restructure which has triggered the loss of 18 jobs.
Anesco, the UK’s most prolific developer of utility-scale battery storage assets, confirmed the decision to Energy-Storage.News sister publication Solar Power Portal, revealing that some senior roles at the company had too been lost.
The combination of the two battery storage divisions was a central element of the firm’s restructure. The two remained separate despite technical and operational teams working across both, principally because they were targeting different ends of the market.
However, it is now hoped that combining the two will make Anesco’s battery storage output more efficient, eliminating some of its cost base.
Steve Shine, executive chairman at Anesco, said: “What we’re doing is focusing the business a little bit differently and restructuring it so we’re really focused on the revenue streams, giving our investors a better position, giving us a better position with our assets and placing us in a better position moving forward.”
It is also hoped that the restructure will enable Anesco to focus more on the management of battery storage assets. Recently the company recruited ex-National Grid man Mike Ryan to lead that division and his role will be to lead a team built around helping asset owners eke more value out of their projects.
Last year Anesco toasted a quadrupling of its utility-scale battery storage asset pipeline and set its sights on developing some 380MW by 2020, and earlier this year announced that it would be developing an asset on behalf of global energy major Shell.
But despite its undoubted potential, Shine has been quick to suggest that revenue streams need a great deal more certainty before battery storage captures the imagination of financiers.
“You don’t want to keep building battery assets at the moment until your position is correct with your investors, and that’s what we’re spending our time on now; getting those returns right so we can move on,” he said.