electricity; give grid the capacity to deliver security of supply; and give time-shifting to renewables so that solar energy after sunset becomes reality.

The market drivers for energy storage are set in legislation. Increasing distributed renewables generation, especially the recent growth in solar PV on top of onshore and offshore wind, is causing pain points for grid infrastructure and incumbent generators; creating urgent global need for reliable low-cost, scalable grid-level energy storage.

CES has taken the bold and visionary step of combining a 200 year old technology from one industry, with technology from two other industrial-scale processes, to create a disruptive opportunity – electricity super-storage – using patent granted technology in the form of a low-cost grid-scale rechargeable Copper/Zinc battery.

With financial support from the UK government and investment from business angels, CES has extended from Sheffield to San Francisco, with laboratory facilities developing a prototype 20kWh battery due to be grid-connected in August. Further investment in the second-seed round (please see Crowdcube investment opportunity), plus A round investment later this year, will enable pilot line production capacity of 1MWh/year by end of 2016 in Sheffield. B round investment is designed to facilitate a 500MWh-1GWh/year production capability in Sheffield, UK.