Battery Storage Has Passed the Tipping Point | Mark Duxbury, iWell

Some businesses trying to electrify their fleets are discovering the real barrier isn't cost, it's power. A new grid connection can cost over a million pounds, if it's even available at all. This week's guest spends his days helping businesses work around exactly that problem.Mark Duxbury is UK Country Director of BESS and EMS Solutions for iwell, a commercial battery storage and energy management company operating across four countries from its Dutch headquarters. He spent close to a decade at E.ON, followed by roles at E.Energy Group and ISTA Energy, before taking on iwell's UK expansion, backed by the company's track record of more than four hundred projects across Europe. Mark leads with a clear philosophy: give every team member a crystal clear vision of where the company is headed, and lead with empathy for what they are carrying outside of work.In this conversation, Mark explains why grid constraints are now stalling business expansion across the UK, sometimes at a cost of over a million pounds just to secure a new connection. We get into why battery storage has passed what Mark calls the tipping point on commercial viability, with returns now landing in under four years, how iwell is building the UK's first community-owned battery storage project in Oxfordshire, and what it actually takes to build an agile, energetic culture from scratch in a brand new market.In this episode we cover:Why grid constraints, not just rising energy prices, are now the bigger barrier to business expansion in the UKThe full accountability model: why iwell designs, installs, and operates every asset for ten years rather than selling and walking awayThe UK's first community-owned battery storage project in Oxfordshire, where local investment funds local energy efficiency workWhy battery storage has passed the tipping point on commercial viability, with ROI now landing in under four yearsMark's leadership philosophy: giving teams a crystal clear vision and leading with empathy for what people are carrying at work and at homeWhat agriculture, particularly poultry farming, reveals about hidden energy costs most people would not expectHis advice for leaders considering a move from a traditional corporate into a smaller, more agile businessIf you are thinking about where energy costs, grid capacity, and leadership collide, this conversation is for you.Connect with Mark Duxbury: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-duxbury-21ab454bConnect with Michael Thornhill: I help renewable energy companies find exceptional talent and develop the leadership and culture that makes them stay. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-thornhill-b42603367 www.thornhillgrid.com