Low Carbon Accelerator has made a further equity investment of GBP300,000 in Responsive Load (trading as RLtec), following the achievement of the certain milestones set out by LCA on 8
Low Carbon Accelerator has made a further equity investment of GBP300,000 in Responsive Load (trading as RLtec), following the achievement of the certain milestones set out by LCA on 8 October 2008.
The milestones include gaining approval from Ofgem for a demonstration action under the Carbon Emission Reduction Target scheme comprising a trial of RLtec equipped fridges, and signing their first significant commercial contract with npower to supply them with carbon savings towards their CERTs obligations.
Following this investment LCA now holds an 83 per cent equity stake in RLtec.
RLtec has developed smart grid-management technology to increase the energy efficiency of the whole electricity supply chain, from white goods and appliances through to large scale power generators.
Appliances such as fridges and air conditioning systems can be fitted with RLtec’s dynamic demand technology to automatically modify their power consumption in response to second-by-second changes in the balance between supply and demand on the grid – without affecting performance. The technology has the potential to create a ‘virtual’ power station and if widely used in the UK could eliminate the need for carbon emitting coal-fired balancing stations and save up to twp million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Dr Stephen Mahon, chief investment officer for LCA and board member of RLtec says: "RLtec has made excellent commercial and technical progress in the last year and the industry has realised the enormous potential for energy and carbon savings that it can bring. It gained approval from Ofgem to run a trial of dynamic demand equipped fridges with the major utility company, npower, under the UK’s Carbon Emissions Reduction Target programme. It is also trialling its product with the large retailer, Sainsbury, and working with National Grid defining contractual frameworks and test strategies for load-balancing services. These will provide RLtec will a route to recurring revenues from grid based balancing services.’
Dynamic demand technology was examined in detail in a report published in December 2008 by the Department of Energy and Climate Change called "The Potential of Dynamic Demand". The UK Government has recognised the benefits of using dynamic demand, which could include 2,000,000 tonnes of reduced carbon emissions, assisting with integration of the 35GW of renewable generation on the grid and reduced risk of black-outs.
Low Carbon Accelerator Limited is a closed ended investment company created to invest in a portfolio of fast-growing low carbon businesses. The company listed on the Aim market of the London Stock Exchange on 11 October 2006, raising GBP44.5m.
