A Cumbrian company has developed a revolutionary technology to boost energy efficiency – by using ice.

Ice Bank Ltd is based run by two directors, Jonathan Steven, of Brampton, and Bob Long, who lives in Lancashire and its registered office is in Cockermouth.

They have developed a new battery which has been designed to store unused energy in the form of ice which can then be used at a later time for cooling effect.

The company has been backed by Innovus, a fund set up to give financial help to businesses in Cumbria which are developing innovative technologies and products.

Patents have been filed for the product – known as Cool Stor – and it has already attracted interest from potential customers and investors.

Mr Steven said: “As the amount of renewable energy being fed into the National Grid increases so the problems of maintaining a balance of electrical supply and demand have grown and that’s because wind and solar energy can’t just be switched on and off at will.

"The frequency of electricity generation has to be governed within very tight tolerances in real time – to avoid damaging electrical equipment – and the quickest frequency response measure is to switch off power where possible.

“Our technology, which is fully scalable, will allow instantaneous electrical load shedding on industrial chillers – as used for example in dairies, breweries and data centres – while maintaining process cooling.”


Jonathan Steven “Our technology enables not just Grid frequency response via ‘load shedding’ – which is generously rewarded by the Grid – but also ‘load shifting’ ie using off-peak electricity to generate cooling effect for delivery during peak tariff times,” he added.

“Energy can be taken and used to generate ice which can then be used in industries which require cooling effect.”

Mr Steven also said: “We see this as a financially viable technology which will contribute to solving the very significant problem of energy imbalance on the grid because of the impact of renewables.”

The technology allows for the shifting of energy loads at times when power is most expensive to times when it is cheaper, such as overnight.

“We see this as being an essential part of an energy mix,” added Mr Steven.

“The level of cooling support which can be provided is at the Megawatt scale.”