Transforming the UK electricity network to support the delivery of a low carbon economy is the vision of a new £3.2million Energy Networks “Grand Challenge” research project.
Professor Stephen McArthur from the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering has been awarded the grant by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), alongside substantial support from 9 industrial partners to lead research investigating how fundamental changes to the existing electrical power system will support the transition to a decarbonised energy network and revolutionise the electricity network by 2050.
The drivers that will shape the 2050 electricity network are numerous: increasing energy prices; increased variability in the availability of generation due to renewable energy sources; increased utilization due to growth in loads such as electric vehicles and heat pumps; and increased customer participation in system operation. As a consequence, by 2050, we will witness new physical and commercial patterns of consumption, a high degree of operation and planning uncertainty, and a high degree of complexity. These changes mean the energy networks of the future will be far more difficult to manage and design than those of today, for technical, social, environmental and commercial reasons.
This 4.5 year research project proposes a new autonomic power system as the solution to overcoming these changes. This system will rely on a fully distributed intelligence and control philosophy to deliver the future flexible grids required to facilitate the low carbon transition, while balancing the adoption of emerging technologies with uncertainty and complexity issues. It will also consider the new market and economic models required to underpin the future electrical power system with a focus on consumer participation.
Professor McArthur said, “As befits a Grand Challenge, the research project is very ambitious in terms of the science and the future vision of the electricity network. It challenges the current thinking within network operators and manufacturers, but offers the opportunity to deliver radical and fundamental advances to the power sector. If the plans for a low carbon economy are to be achieved, transformation of the existing electricity network is needed – and the adoption of an autonomic power system is the way forward.
The ultimate beneficiary of this research will be the consumer as our approach will make a customer driven, demand response a reality.”
The multi-disciplinary research team comprises experts from a consortium of UK Universities - Strathclyde, Durham, Imperial, Manchester, Cambridge and Sussex - spanning the electrical engineering, computer sciences, mathematics, business, economics and social policy disciplines.
Starting in October 2011, the grant will fund up to 21 years of researcher time and 24 PhD studentships. Complimenting the academic expertise, there is strong support from a broad range of influential external partners including IBM, E.ON, KEMA, Accenture, National Grid, SSE, Mott MacDonald, PB Power and Agilent. The partners will provide access to laboratories, products, simulation environments and electricity network data to underpin the research activities.
The investigators delivering this novel research programme are:
Strathclyde
Professors Stephen McArthur & Graham Ault, Dr Ivana Kockar (Electronic & Electrical Engineering); Professors Maria Fox & Derek Long (Computer & Information Sciences)
Durham
Professors Phil Taylor & Janusz Bialek, Dr Hajo Broersna (Engineering & Computing Sciences); Prof Michael Goldstein (Maths)
Imperial
Prof Goran Strbac, Dr Balarko Chaudhuri, Dr Jeremy Pitt (Electronic & Electrical Engineering)
Manchester
Prof Jovica Milanovic, Dr Joseph Mutale (Electronic & Electrical Engineering); Dr Paul Johnstone, Dr Markus Riedle (Maths)
Cambridge
Dr Michael Pollitt (Business)
Sussex
Dr Jim Watson (School of Business Management & Economics)
