Clean energy innovators in spotlight

A Telford battery storage and clean energy company has taken centre stage at London Climate Action Week highlighting how local innovation is being used to tackle global energy challenges.

AceOn Group was featured at the flagship ‘Ayrton Forum’, where the UK Government announced a major new phase of its international clean energy leadership - confirming the extension of the Ayrton Fund to 2030 and an £88 million scale up of its flagship Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform - strengthening global partnerships while supporting UK innovation, jobs and long-term economic resilience.

Backed by the Ayrton Fund, AceOn has been developing battery storage systems for off-grid areas in countries including Uganda and Nigeria, with its technology now in use across Africa and Europe.

The company, which has bases in Telford and Coventry, is delivering reliable power in places where electricity is limited or unavailable - from rural communities to crisis zones - supporting homes, businesses and essential services, and in humanitarian settings, including supporting the Ukrainian Red Cross. It has also expanded into Uganda, opening a new operation to manufacture battery packs locally, while working to bring next-generation sodium-ion technology into production.

The Ayrton Fund builds on innovative UK-international partnerships in more than 100 countries, which have already improved the lives of 46 million people across Africa, Asia and the Indo-Pacific, mobilised £3 billion in additional public-private investment, and enabled more than a quarter of a million green jobs globally.

The Fund has also delivered clear benefits for the UK, supporting over 300 UK‑based organisations involved in clean energy research and innovation, and enabling more than 1,000 UK jobs.

Mark Thompson, CEO of AceOn, said the Ayrton Fund support had been key to scaling the business beyond the UK.

“Support through the UK Government’s Ayrton Fund is helping us scale far beyond our West Midlands base - growing AceOn’s footprint across Africa and deepening partnerships in markets like Uganda.

"As a UK SME, Ayrton Fund backing is transformative. It allows us to take cutting-edge UK battery innovation into real-world deployment - working with locally led partners to deliver solutions that create long-term economic and social impact.”

Speaking at the event, Professor Sir John Edmunds, chief scientific adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said: “The future of development is about bringing innovation and investment together and delivering smarter, more sustainable and more diverse finance flows. Fairer access to knowledge, skills and technology, and ensuring countries and communities shape solutions. 

“Ayrton exemplifies this – the UK working as an international partner - moving ideas from research into the real world by bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs, governments, investors and multilateral institutions.

"In an uncertain and contested world, energy is the pivot issue on which so much rides – security, development, climate, and equality. Through this work, these partnerships, this Forum, and this week in London, I am proud that the UK is playing its part in building a cleaner, fairer, healthier future for all."

Highlights at the Ayrton Forum included keynote speeches from UK chief scientific advisers Professor Sir John Edmunds, and Professor Emily Shuckburgh CBE, representatives from the Governments of Uganda and Türkiye, Rachel Kyte (UK special representative for climate), and speakers from the World Bank, alongside speakers from the Carbon Trust and across the sector.

Paul Wedgwood, associate director at the Carbon Trust, said the LCAW event demonstrated how UK companies are playing an increasing role in global clean energy markets.

“The Ayrton Forum shows how UK innovation is being translated into real-world impact. Businesses like AceOn are a strong example of how clean energy solutions supported and developed here are now being delivered internationally - supporting jobs, supply chains and economic growth.

With demand for reliable, low-carbon energy continuing to grow worldwide, companies like AceOn are expected to play an increasingly important role - linking local expertise in places like Shropshire to global markets."

Pictured: Mark Thompson and Mercy Kyaslimire