Toddington’s is a fascinating story, if you want to know about his childhood of TV powered by Solar in the deserts of Bahrain, or why he’s named after a service station, listen to our first conversation (episode 15- link below), but on this episode we focus on the concept of ‘Sun to wheel’, using solar power and batteries to power fast charging of electric vehicles through Electric Forecourts and Electric Highway hubs. The Gridserve story is a great one, enjoy the episode.
About Toddington Harper
Toddington is a second-generation solar energy and energy storage professional, whose parents pioneered some of the world’s first commercial deployments of solar energy and battery storage systems more than 45 years ago. He has spent virtually his entire career focused on delivering sustainable energy solutions, including creating five successful sustainable energy and low carbon businesses which he has led as CEO over the last 19-years. Prior to establishing GRIDSERVE Sustainable Energy Ltd, Toddington was co-founder and CEO of BELECTRIC UK (2010 & 2011 solar world market leader), responsible for the development, construction and financing of c.350 MWp of utility scale solar farm & solar rooftop projects, including a 3.5MWp 20-acre solar rooftop project for Rolls-Royce.
At BELECTRIC UK Toddington built a multi-award winning team that delivered a fully integrated development, construction, financing, operation, maintenance, asset management solar energy & energy storage business. The business was successfully sold to RWE Innogy (largest European utility) in December 2016.
Toddington created GRIDSERVE to #deliver sustainable energy and move the needle on climate change. GRIDSERVE’s first major success was winning the highest price battery storage enhanced frequency response contract with National Grid, where GRIDSERVE was awarded one of only seven successful contracts out of 208 tendered. Since then GRIDSERVE has grown from strength to strength. In 2019, against the odds of a year dominated by Brexit, GRIDSERVE pushed through, pioneering and delivering the UK’s largest and most technically advanced hybrid solar projects, and becoming the UK solar energy and technology market leader.
In 2020 a year dominated by the global pandemic, and the country locking down multiple times, GRIDSERVE persistently and safely managed to open the world’s first Electric Forecourt®, powered by solar energy and battery storage projects, designed to provide the best possible charging experience for electric vehicle drivers, and assist the uptake of net zero carbon electric vehicles in the earliest possible time frames. This was also supported with the launch of a new electric vehicle solution leasing business, in partnership with GRIDSERVE’s 20% shareholder and strategic funding partner Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC.
In 2021 GRIDSERVE have continued to rapidly scale the business, purchasing the Electric Highway from Ecotricity, which hosts EV chargers on a majority of motorway sites, and re-powering it with new world class chargers, with the objective of enabling anyone, anywhere, with any type of electric vehicle, to traverse the country free of range or charging anxiety, and with a fantastic customer experience.
GRIDSERVE has recently also gained The Rise Fund as a new investor – TPG’s global impact investing platform.
About GRIDESERVE
GRIDSERVE® is a tech-enabled international sustainable energy business, whose purpose is to #deliver sustainable energy and move the needle on climate change. We develop, build, own and operate ‘sun-to-wheel’ hybrid solar, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging critical power infrastructure.
GRIDSERVE® are accelerating the transition to electric vehicles, by delivering the GRIDSERVE Electric Highway, our sustainable energy powered electric vehicle charging network for everyone, that includes GRIDSERVE’s pioneering Electric Forecourts® and Electric Hubs, catalysed by our Electric Vehicle Solutions leasing business. Our GRIDSERVE Electric Highway network delivers the fastest and most reliable charging for all types of electric vehicles, is supplied by net zero carbon sustainable energy, and is designed to deliver a fantastic customer experience.
GRIDSERVE® is interested in connecting with people and businesses interested in leasing electric vehicles, project developers, landowners, land agents, local authorities, and multiple other potential partners across the world who share our vision in collaborating across all the critical power infrastructure markets we operate in, including Electric Forecourts®, hybrid solar farms, and remote power solutions.