Former president and chief executive of GE Grid Solutions Reinaldo Garcia has joined British battery storage firm Smart Power Systems (SPS) as a director.
Garcia joins after the completion of an investment round with a consortium of funders including Mark Hutchinson, former GE president of Europe and China.
SPS, a niche energy storage and power systems business, has been led by founder Dr Ian Chilvers since 2013.
The company is currently delivering on contracts for its resGRID (residential battery), comGRID (commercial-scale battery) and evGRID products alongside project-specific engineering work that it is undertaking for renewable power sector clients.
All of its initiatives build on Dr Chilvers’ background as a power systems engineer designing and building microgrids and battery storage systems within energy intensive industries including critical oil and gas installations since the 1990s.
Its smartPhase control system has been developed by the SPS team working from its base in Market Harborough in the East Midlands.
Chilvers said: ”We are seeing a huge transition taking place in how energy is used.
“Smart control of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) within a microgrid or connected to the existing grid will be critical to achieving global energy security and decarbonisation.
“I am delighted to be supported by Reinaldo Garcia and the team of investors that have recently joined. We have a shared vision of SPS bringing its smart technology and expertise to the complex technical challenges that lie ahead.”
Garcia added: ”What I like about Smart Power Systems is that they combine traditional power systems and control expertise with machine learning in producing innovative products to optimise the use of new power sources and their network connections.
“There are only a few businesses that have a deep understanding of how to successfully integrate power electronic-based renewables, EV Infrastructure and energy storage to overcome multiple grid constraints and achieve global clean energy goals.
“Smart Power Systems solutions are more advanced than many of the battery storage products already in the marketplace and commercialisation is already underway in Europe and the US, with the Australian market as a target going forwards.
“I see Smart Power Systems playing a key role in the residential and commercial storage, EV charging and grid resilience markets in the coming years.”