UK-funded research consortium EnergyRev is collaborating with Tetra Tech to carry out research and deliver findings about how to accelerate the uptake, value, and impact of smart local energy systems.
Working with over 50 researchers from 22 UK academic institutions, Simon Sjenitzer – Director of Energy & Climate Change, Tetra Tech – will serve as an industrial roving champion for the £9.5m consortium. His role will focus on enabling effective two-way communication between experts across the industrial sector, whilst helping to articulate the benefits of adopting smart energy systems in commercial language.
To help address gaps in energy efficiencies and jobs growth, Sjenitzer will also work to increase engagement between EnergyRev and commercial organisations associated with the delivery of local energy systems, products and services.
EnergyREV is one of three components in the Prospering from the Energy Revolution (PFER) programme under the wider £102.5m UK Industrial Strategy Challenge. PFER intends to provide investable, scalable local business models using integrated approaches to deliver cleaner and cheaper energy services. The goal is to both create prosperous and resilient communities and benefit the energy system as a whole. New products and services will be demonstrated throughout the programme to progress towards full commercialisation.
Simon Sjenitzer said: “At a time when we desperately need to drive an energy revolution in the UK, we absolutely need research from the finest academic minds in the UK into how we use electrical systems to deliver power, improve efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions all at the same time. But it’s just as important that we translate that information into a business model that is commercially sustainable in today’s marketplace.”
The expertise of the academics working together ranges from energy system integration, business finance and markets to governance regulation and policy, cyber physical infrastructure and artificial intelligence, end user and citizen engagement, and the natural and built environment. These experts will all collaborate with a broad range of stakeholders, including government, industry, national organisations, and the general public to deliver their research.
Professor Stephen McArthur, Deputy Associate Principal for Research, Knowledge Exchange and Innovation at the University of Strathclyde, who is leading EnergyREV said: “This is an exciting time for energy innovations. We all rely on energy and we all need it to be cleaner and cheaper, both as consumers and as a nation. New technologies point towards a new energy future, one of lower carbon and more efficient energy supply, distribution and storage, giving consumers more control.
“We are focused on using our novel research to accelerate and help deliver the Industrial Strategy goals and enhance UK competitiveness.”
EnergyREV is funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. The fund programme began in December 2018 and will run until March 2022.
We Need Your Help
EnergyREV is trying to understand what successful smart local energy systems look like for different energy system stakeholders. We’ve made a start but we need your help. There is little consensus to date on what a “smart local energy system” is and what success looks like. This makes it hard to determine how private investment might be incentivised, how policies might need to adapt to realise the benefits of future innovation in this space, or how communities might play a role alongside other local and national institutions.
To overcome this, we’re reaching out across the sector to explore the ways in which different stakeholders believe successful smart local energy systems can drive energy benefits and beyond, and through what mechanisms. Please follow this link to respond to our survey by 8 November 2019 (estimated completion time around 20 mins).