Company History
Founded in 2001, SmartestEnergy acquires energy from both small and large scale operations, then distributing this energy throughout the United Kingdom. SmartestEnergy is an owned subsidiary of the Marubeni Corporation, a trading company with business divisions in a whole range of different sectors.
The Marubeni Corporation, founded over 150 years ago are one of Japans biggest trading houses. SmartestEnergy work hand in hand with Marubeni Europower, their sister company with projects across the globe including Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
SmartestEnergy became the first UK supplier to supply renewable energy with support from the Carbon Trust. This meant the supply was reinforced with “origin certificates”, guaranteeing the energy comes from specific renewable sources.
2008 was the year that SmartestEnergy Limited became a registered supplier, supplying UK businesses with energy. Later, in 2019, SmartestEnergy Business Limited (formerly Dual Energy) was acquired.
In 2020, SmartestEnergy expanded worldwide, with the launch of their Australian branch. SmartestEnergy Sydney supports industrial and commercial businesses to New South Wales and beyond.
Company Today
Today, SmartestEnergy has become the UK’s leading purchaser of independent generation and supplier of renewable electricity. They were awarded ‘Energy Supplier of the Year’ twice, both in 2012 and 2018. SmartestEnergy has also been nominated for six industry accolades. These include the Guardian Sustainable Business Awards, for improving transparency in the renewables market.
They boast popular clients such as Toyota, British Airways and Marks & Spencer. Their current portfolio of independent renewable generators provides up to 40% of the renewable energy in the UK.
SmartestEnergy stick by their core values, these are:
- Own it – caring about the work they do, making sure to enjoy it.
- One team. One future – considering a sustainable future through diversity and without borders.
- Innovate to accelerate – looking at creativity and challenging the status quo as they move towards a net-zero future.
- Think customer – putting customers first and building relationships based on trust.
Map of Business
SmartestEnergy currently provides energy to the equivalent of 1,281,234 British homes and supply 14,555 MPANs. SmartestEnergy has also launched a new online platform SmartFlex, aimed at UK customers to flexibly sell their power online.
In the industrial and commercial scene, SmartestEnergy has a 5.1% market share, leaving them in 8th place in the UK. Their GWh contracted annual volume was 6652 and had a Net Promoter Score of +23.
In 2020. SmartestEnergy worked with the highly established Cambridge Collages, supplying 33 collages across over 130 sites. SmartestEnergy also became partners for Birmingham Net-Zero which is a 5 step plan to get 2000 businesses on the journey to net-zero within 5 years.
For smart generation in 2020, SmartestEnergy had a market share of 9.1%, ranking 4th with a Net Promoter Score of +39. SmartestEnergy also added 185MW of wind capacity to their SmartFlex platform.
Operations Overseas
With operations in both Australia and the United States, SmartestEnergy is a global company. Both branches have developed during their short lifespans. SmartestEnergy US recently became a member of TEPA (The Energy Professionals Association) and SmartestEnergy Australia secured a deal with CEP Energy for 400MW Battery Storage Virtual Power Plant.
SmartestEnergy US has seen a growth in their team, from 20 to 35. In 2020, there were over 1400 active meters. They signed an agreement in 2020 with Green-e, launching 100% voluntary renewable RECs products, in line with their net-zero plans.
| American Locations | Australian Locations |
| Ohio | Sydney |
| Illinois | |
| New York | |
| Pennsylvania | |
| Maryland | |
| Delaware | |
| District of Columbia | |
| New Jersey |
Products & Services
Being outside the ‘Big 6’, SmartestEnergy offer a range of electricity and gas products.
SmartestEnergy I&C products include:
- Fixed Fully Delivered
- EnviroPass
- Energy Only Fixed Price
- FlexiLite
- FlexiBase
- Flexible Framework
SmartestEnergy business products include:
- SmartPay
- SmartFix
- SmartTracker
Sustainability
In an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, SmartestEnergy purchased gold standard carbon offsetting certificates from tether Xenamnoy 1 Hydropower Project based in Laos. This reduces 48,000 ICO2e each year.
Fuel Mix
Energy companies are required to provide detailed publishing of their fuel mix each year. This gives a transparent view of how the company is working within the guidelines and requirements set to help us deal with climate change.
Below are 4 diagrams showing the fuel mix for 4 separate supplies from SmartestEnergy:
Executive Committee
Hiroyuki Sawada: Executive Chairman
Hiroyuki Sawada started his business career at Marubeni Corporation Japan in 1987. After numerous roles in the energy sector, he joined SmartestEnergy in 2007 as Deputy Vice President of Finance. After some time spent at Marubeni Europower Limited, he returned to SmartestEnergy in April 2020.
Robert Groves: Chief Executive Officer
Robert Groves began his energy career with Enron in 1997. Becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2006, he was later announced as Chief Executive in 2011. As a former submarine engineer in the Royal Navy, Robert Groves has an MBA from London Business School and a BEng(Hons) in Mechanical Engineering.
Takafumi Shigemura: Chief Operating Officer
Takafumi Shigemura began his career at Marubeni Corporation in 2007 as Foreign Exchange & Financial Products Dept. With 8 years of experience in business in Japan, covering the renewable sectors, he became Chief Operating Officer in April 2019.
Louise Wapshare: Vice President Supply
Louise Wapshare became part of SmartestEnergy in 2016 as VP Finance, from her previous role at Centrica. Louise Wapshare is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Certified Accountants as well as the Chartered Institute of Management.
James Graham: Vice President Sales
James Graham joined SmartestEnergy back in 2012. He started out as a Business Development Manager, then after over 10 years experience in the energy sector, he became Head of Direct Sales. James Graham has also held roles at Reactive Technologies and Bergen Energi.
Rob Pringle: Chief Technology Officer
Joining in 2019, Rob Pringle has over 25 years worth of experience in the energy sector. He has held senior roles at Gazprom Marketing & Trading and Centrica Energy. Also, he was the co-founder of the European Energy Trading CIO Forum.
Goula Charalambous: Vice President Human Resources
Goula Charalambous has been employed in Human Resources for over 15 years. Her role involves the responsibility of the coordination of Human Resources related activity at SmartestEnergy.
Websites & Social Media
Unlike many other energy companies, SmartestEnergy hosts their own podcast. Currently 17 episodes in, they talk about a range of topics related to the energy sector, including news headlines. The podcast SmartestEnergy Talks also hosts energy experts who give their insights into the current energy market. You can find out more here: https://www.smartestenergy.com/en_gb/info-hub/podcast/
SmartestEnergy also has a successful blog. The long-standing service reached over 16,000 views last year. The blogs can be found here: https://www.smartestenergy.com/en_gb/info-hub/blog/
Alongside the podcast and blog, SmartestEnergy host events and webinars. The webinars are a great way to stay on top of the energy industry, with insights from key members of the industry. You can find more information here: https://www.smartestenergy.com/en_gb/info-hub/events/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/SmartestEnergy
| Name |
| Marubeni Corporation |
| Marubeni Europe PLC |
Subsidiaries
Formerly Dual Energy, SmartestEnergy Business was formed in 2019. This latest department in the company is responsible for the energy supply to medium-sized and small enterprises across the UK.
Recent News
In recent news, SmartestEnergy unveiled a new partnership with Ventient Energy. This new combined venture added more sites to the SmartFlex program. This will provide enough power for 117,279 home via renewable, natural energy.
Back in November 2020, Aviva, UK insurance provider Aviva announced their new solar and storage project in Perth. SmartestEnergy worked alongside Aviva, providing guidance on storage and a net-zero future.
Key Financial Data
Based on their latest annual reports, submitted in 2019, SmartestEnergy had a Turnover of £590m, with a Gross Profit of £48m.