Mitsui invests £10m in UK clean energy supplier Tonik

Japanese multinational Mitsui & Co. is setting its sights on the UK's growing clean energy market, funnelling "approximately" 1.4 billion yen ($13m) investment in Tonik Energy, an independent supplier of renewables and flexible tariffs.

Mitsui, which expects to make a JPY 440bn ($4.04bn) net profit this year, said the investment - around JPY 1.4bn - was being made through holding company Retig Ltd, which owns 100 per cent of Birmingham-based Tonik.

The firm was by far the largest investor in the fundraising round by Tonik, which raised a total of £13m ($16.8m) for the company. 

Founded in 2015, Tonik supplies green power and integrated grid services to around 100,000 residential customers in the UK. The capital injection will help it scale commercial activities across the UK, according to CEO Chris Russell. 

"This is a fantastic endorsement of our strategy to combine affordable energy supply with renewable and energy saving technologies in solar power, electric vehicles (EV) and battery storage," he said of the funding round. "We look forward to working closely with Mitsui to further develop compelling offerings for homes and businesses that will reduce both their energy bills and their carbon footprint."

Tonik launched its first 100 per cent renewable electricity tariff designed for EV drivers last September, offering a variable rate and discounts on the use of charging points. It also previously teamed up with home battery storage specialist Powervault to trial the UK's first smart 'storage tariff'.

It is also currently developing electric vehicle charging services in partnership with Leeds-based green technology firm The Phoenix Works, another wholly-owned subsidiary of Retig.

Mitsui said decarbonisation, digitisation and decentralisation of the energy sector was "progressing rapidly", increasing demand for distributed power sources such as solar, battery storage, EV charging infrastructure and energy management.

"The UK is at the forefront of these trends due to early power-market liberalization in the 1990s, meaning energy suppliers there provide some of the most advanced services to their customers," the Japanese firm said in a statement. "Through the cutting-edge expertise acquired through this investment, Mitsui will continue to expand its global downstream business and services in gas and power sector."