The UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has given £4m ($6.75m) for a research project that aims to set the nation’s energy storage course.
The Supergen Energy Storage Hub will draw together experts from seven universities and 14 industrial and governmental partners to address the technical and scientific challenges facing energy storage technologies and develop an energy storage roadmap for the UK. The project also aims to accelerate the process of scaleup, prototyping and commercialisation.
Professor Peter Bruce of Oxford University, the project’s leader, said, “Energy storage is more important today than at any time in human history. It has a vital role to play in storing electricity from renewable sources and is key to the electrification of transport. The Supergen Hub will be working with industry, government and the education system to improve the performance of electrochemical, mechanical and thermal devices, develop and tested new materials and optimize thermodynamic processes, all against a background of robust integrated systems.”
Philip Nelson, EPSRC’s CEO, said, “Developing efficient energy storage technologies and infrastructure is crucial to decarbonizing and strengthening our energy system and security. Working with industry, this new Supergen Hub will move the UK closer to where it needs to be for a safer, more sustainable future.”
