A start-up with technology that cools overhead power lines has completed a series A funding round.
Leeds-based AssetCool has secured £2.25m, including a majority capital commitment from Northern Gritstone and sums from existing shareholders Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, managed by Mercia Asset Management and Kero Development Partners. The firm has developed a durable coating that when applied to power lines can enhance the performance of busy electricity infrastructure, improving transmission capacity by up to 30%.
Its technology reduces energy losses, costs and emissions and allows more electricity to pass through conductors, freeing up bottlenecks in networks. The coating reduces conductor operating temperatures using passive radiative cooling which transfers heat away from objects.
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AssetCool was originally co-founded by Barry Johnston and Dr Niall Coogan as a University of Manchester spin-out in 2016 and subsequently relocated to Nexus at the University of Leeds, where its team of physicists, formulation chemists, power engineers and mechatronics experts can benefit from the University’s research in photonics.
Dr Coogan said: "With grid infrastructure becoming a frequent bottleneck as growing populations demand greater levels of electricity, we believe that our photonic coating and related in-situ application technology can offer a discontinuous reduction in costs for adding capacity to overhead lines, helping to facilitate electrification around the world. We are excited with the continued support of our existing investors and to attract new investment from Northern Gritstone. This investment will allow us to further accelerate our commercial roll-out and develop effective techniques to fit it to existing networks."
Duncan Johnson, Northern Gritstone CEO, said: "As the modern world becomes increasingly reliant on the energy grid to provide electricity for sustainable modes of transport such as electric vehicles, the bottleneck in transmission networks is becoming ever more prevalent. AssetCool’s innovative technology provides a solution to increasing the capacity and efficiency of these networks that has the potential to transform the energy transmission process across the globe.
"With links in both the Universities of Manchester and Leeds, AssetCool is a living example of the breadth of the technology ecosystem in the North of England. We look forward to working with Niall and his team as they continue to develop their technology and roll it out across the energy grid."