My work here is done: Limejump CEO Erik Nygard exits

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Erik Nygard: Still happy

Limejump CEO Erik Nygard will leave the aggregator in September with new COO Catherine Newman to take the reins on an interim basis.

Nygard led the company from start-up to its acquisition by Shell, recognising early on the value of obtaining a supply licence in order to access deeper value pools than contracted services for flexibility, such as the wholesale markets and balancing mechanism. Aggregators waiting for reforms would lose out, he warned in 2017.

A year earlier, Nygard told The Energyst that energy suppliers would have to acquire demand-side response aggregators or fall by the wayside. Over the next few years, suppliers spent big money doing just that, with Enel buying Enernoc for £236m, Centrica paying £62m for Restore, and Engie taking a big stake in Kiwi.

In 2017, Nygard sold the the company’s capabilities to Norway’s Statkraft, which bought into Limejump as part of a £3m funding round. 

In February last year, Shell bought the firm for an undisclosed sum.

With management expertise and big money coming into the firm, plus 1.2GW of mostly renewable flex under management, Nygard feels his work is done. 

“After all that’s been achieved, it’s a massive decision for me to leave Limejump but I have full confidence in Cat, her leadership team and the amazing people at Limejump to drive the next stage of the company’s exciting journey,” said Nygard.

“It has been an absolute honour to have worked alongside the most amazing team of people who have built Limejump to where it is today.  With the active support of Shell, Limejump is in a strong position to strengthen its services to its customers, continue to grow its market share and so realise the vision of a fully sustainable future.”

Cat Newman, a former Gazprom and BP exec, joined the firm in April.

“All of us at Limejump and our colleagues at Shell are sad to see Erik go. He founded a fantastic platform in Limejump – it is now our responsibility to see it go further,” she said.  “I want to thank Erik for his support since my arrival at the company earlier this year and as I have got to know the Limejump business better. I look forward to taking his vision of a green and renewable future even further with the team.”

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