Transport + Energy talks to Valor Power’s Chris McAnearney, the Co-Founder & Managing Director, about the company and its plans for the future.
1. Tell us about your business…
Valor Power is an energy‑technology company focused on solving the hardest part of the UK’s electrification challenge: how to deliver high‑power charging and resilient energy infrastructure anywhere, without waiting years for grid upgrades.
We design and deploy modular, grid‑integrated systems combining:
- Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
- Ultra rapid to Megawatt scale EV charging infrastructure
- Direct renewable integration such as Solar, wind or other technologies
- Tariff‑optimised energy management
- MIC/MEC‑aware grid interaction
Our systems are engineered to operate in urban depots, rural logistics hubs, construction sites, ports, and off‑grid locations. Volt Station enables fleets to electrify faster, at lower cost, and with far greater operational certainty.
We work across the UK, Ireland and further afield supporting logistics operators, local authorities, developers, and national infrastructure partners.
2. Can you tell us more about the challenges and opportunities around the energy sector – and some of your products and systems, including BESS?
Sector Challenges
The UK energy system is undergoing a structural shift, and fleets feel the pressure most acutely:
- Grid constraints delaying electrification by 3–7 years in many regions
- Volatile wholesale prices and increasing peak‑time charges
- Uncertain timelines for network reinforcement
- Growing demand for high‑power charging that depots cannot support
Sector Opportunities
At the same time, the transition creates major opportunities:
- Falling battery costs
- Flexible markets rewarding storage and smart charging
- Government support for depot charging and zero‑emission fleets
- A national push for energy resilience and local generation
Volt Station Products & Systems
Volt Station’s platform is built to unlock these opportunities:
- Volt Station ranges from 50kW to multi-MW scale systems and also scaling in duration to multi hour systems. These provide peak‑shaving, arbitrage, resilience, and EV‑charging support.
- Ultra Rapid to Megawatt scale charging designed for HGVs, vans, buses, and specialist vehicles.
- Renewable integration directly via our microgrid enabled platform or integrated via our Volt OS software platform
- Volt OS Energy Management System (EMS) Optimises charging against Agile/ToU tariffs, negative pricing, and MIC/MEC constraints.
- Off‑Grid Mode enables charging in remote or grid‑limited locations.
- Removal of civil and structural engineering to reduce costs as the Volt Station is built and commissioned in the factory and delivered to site ready to plug and play
Volt Station is engineered to be deployable in weeks, not years, bypassing the grid bottleneck that holds back fleet electrification.
3. What are your decarbonisation goals or targets as a company?
Volt Station’s mission is to accelerate the UK and Ireland’s transition to zero‑emission transport by removing the infrastructure barrier.
Our targets include:
- Enabling 10,000+ zero‑emission vehicles to operate through Volt Station infrastructure by 2030
- Deploying 250+ MW of distributed Volt Station capacity across the UK and NI
- Supporting operators to reduce fleet emissions by 80–100% depending on duty cycle
- Ensuring every Volt Station installation is renewable energy ready and optimised for low‑carbon operation
We measure success not just in tonnes of CO₂ avoided, but in real-world fleet uptime, operational savings, and avoided diesel dependency.
4. In what ways have you collaborated with others – whether transport or energy companies, and public or private sector?
Volt Station’s model is inherently collaborative. We work with:
- Fleet operators transitioning vans, HGVs, and specialist vehicles
- Energy suppliers to optimise tariffs and flexibility services
- DSOs and TSOs to ensure compliant grid integration
- Developers and construction firms needing temporary or permanent charging
- Local authorities planning low‑carbon transport hubs
- OEMs and vehicle manufacturers to align charging with vehicle capabilities
We also engage with public‑sector programmes, including depot‑charging grants, regional decarbonisation initiatives, and innovation pilots.
Our approach is partnership‑driven: we integrate engineering, commercial modelling, and operational design to deliver bankable, scalable solutions.
5. What is your biggest overall challenge as a company when it comes to transport and energy?
The single biggest challenge is the misalignment between fleet electrification timelines and grid reinforcement timelines.
Fleets need charging now. The grid can take years.
This creates:
- Uncertainty for operators
- Higher costs
- Delayed decarbonisation
- Risk to service levels and logistics planning
Volt Station exists to bridge this gap — but the challenge remains systemic. The UK needs faster, more predictable grid processes and clearer national planning for high‑power charging.
6. What policy changes or support would you like to see from the UK Government on decarbonisation and the NI Assembly on energy?
We would welcome policy that recognises the urgency and scale of fleet electrification:
UK Government
- Long‑term certainty for depot charging grants
- Faster DNO connection processes with guaranteed timelines
- Support for behind‑the‑meter BESS as critical infrastructure
- Clear national strategy for HGV charging corridors
- Incentives for flexibility markets that reward smart charging and storage
Northern Ireland Assembly
- A dedicated NI fleet‑electrification strategy
- Reform of grid connection processes to reduce multi‑year delays
- Support for microgrid and hybrid‑energy systems in rural areas
- Funding for commercial‑scale BESS to stabilise the NI grid
- Policies enabling private‑sector charging hubs for logistics and freight
Both jurisdictions need to treat depot charging as strategic national infrastructure, not discretionary capex.
7. How do you see, and what would you like to see, the energy sector progressing in the next 5, 10, 15 years?
5 Years
- Rapid expansion of depot charging
- Widespread adoption of BESS to manage grid constraints
- Negative pricing and flexible tariffs becoming mainstream
- Early HGV charging corridors established
10 Years
- Majority of commercial fleets operating zero‑emission vehicles
- Large‑scale co‑location of solar + storage at depots
- Grid reinforcement catching up with demand
- High‑power charging (350–750 kW) becoming standard for HGVs
15 Years
- A fully integrated, flexible, decentralised energy system
- BESS acting as a stabilising backbone for the grid
- Zero‑emission logistics as the default
- Energy and transport sectors operating as a single, optimised ecosystem
Volt Station’s role is to accelerate this trajectory — delivering the infrastructure that allows fleets to electrify today while building the foundation for the energy system of tomorrow.
