The new head of European operations for Japan-based GS Yuasa has told BBB the battery maker is looking at opportunities to expand the role of lead-acid in the energy storage business.
Andrew Taylor (pictured), who has been promoted to MD and CEO of GS Yuasa Battery Europe, said: “We are looking at some of the applications for energy storage, especially for new lead-acid technology that we believe can play a part. We’re already seeing some of the benefits of this with new products coming out of Japan.”
Taylor told BBB the group, which recently marked its centenary, is also building on its “heavy involvement” in lithium-ion.
“We have started our activities into lithium as far as industrial applications are concerned and we are now looking at energy storage and some of the more niche markets, like hybrid ferries,” Taylor said.
Taylor will continue to serve as MD of GS Yuasa Battery Sales UK— a post he has held since 2007— but he will be supported by James Hylton, who has been promoted to commercial director of GS Yuasa Battery Sales UK Ltd.
GS Yuasa Battery Europe is made up of five European sales companies and a manufacturing facility in Ebbw Vale, Wales.
The GS Yuasa group was created in 2004 following the merger of the Japan Storage Battery Co Ltd, formed in 1917 and the Yuasa Storage Battery Co Ltd established in 1918.
In 2015, the group acquired Panasonic’s lead-acid batteries business.
