Field starts construction on first 20MW project, and secures 160MW pipeline of battery storage sites in the UK

• Field has secured a pipeline of 160MW in battery storage, in operation by Q1 2023 - with plans to get to 1.3GW operational by 2024
• Construction has started on Field’s first 20MW project, in Oldham
• In its first six months, the company has raised £10 million pre-seed and Series A funding, ahead of Series B in September
• Virmati Energy Ltd, the renewable energy infrastructure business set up by Amit Gudka, will operate under the name Field

Field, the renewable energy infrastructure startup has secured a pipeline of 160MW battery storage sites in the UK, with construction already started on the first 20MW site.

Founded earlier this year (as Virmati Energy), Field is dedicated to building the renewable energy infrastructure and technology needed to reach net zero and avoid climate catastrophe.

Field has secured a pipeline of 160MW in battery storage, in operation by Q1 2023 - with plans to get to 1.3GW operational by 2024

The pipeline includes sites across the UK, with advanced discussions for a further 330MW. The first site - Field Oldham - is due to go live in April 2022, with the next - Field Gerrards Cross - by August. These two projects will be able to supply enough electricity to meet the demand of 120,000 households for an hour.

Field will finance, build and operate their sites themselves, with an agile operation that has much lower overheads, and a much more comprehensive view of the energy market, than traditional infrastructure businesses. They’ll combine this with extensive experience trading energy and optimising revenue.

Field has raised £10 million in pre-seed and Series A funding, to cover initial acquisition and construction costs, ahead of a Series B fundraise in September. Early investors include Wise founder Taavet Hinrikus, Songkick founder Ian Hogarth, Allplants’ Jonathan Petrides, Mixcloud’s Nikhil Shah and Giant Ventures - as well as leading energy traders Phil Sutterby and Richard Henson.

Field is setting out to align capital wealth with planetary health, bringing new sources of investment into the transition to net zero. By generating outsized returns from storage assets, the business intends to encourage large-scale institutional and ESG investment into renewable energy infrastructure. Field will continue to draw on the team’s experience from technology scale ups to raise capital from sources which might not typically invest in energy infrastructure, such as VCs.

Amit Gudka, founder of Field, said:

“Tackling the climate crisis requires belief that large systemic changes can be made, with the determination to make them happen fast. The pipeline and the funding we’ve secured over the last few months, with the team we’ve built, shows it’s possible to move fast to make the changes we need to reach net zero.

I’m really excited about the progress we’re making, and the opportunity to show there's a better way to invest, which redirects capital towards the assets needed to accelerate the renewable transition.”

In its first six months, Field has built a 10-strong team, combining proven success delivering innovative energy products and quickly scaling a billion dollar companies with deep energy industry knowledge.

Before Field, Amit founded a green energy supplier and also spent 8 years trading electricity and gas at Barclays. The team joining him includes Stephen White (previously at Community Fibre and the Ministry of Justice), Luke Gibson (Glovo, Fidelity), Charlotte Nathan (H+K Strategies), Simon Williamson (Kiwi Power, Aurora Energy Research) and Chris Wickins (Welsh Power, DECC), .

Field has just hired Chris Wickins as Technical Director. He joins from Welsh Power, where he was responsible for some of their most innovative national infrastructure projects including a “synchronous condenser” in Rassau, South Wales - a zero carbon solution to provide inertia and stability for the grid as fossil fuel power stations are decommissioned.