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Strathclyde to play central role in new phase of UK Energy Research Centre

The University of Strathclyde is to lead several strands of work that will help advance the UK’s energy transition as part of a new round of funding for the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC).

With a secretariat based at Imperial College London, UKERC is a multi-university, inter-disciplinary collaboration aimed at informing the low carbon energy transition.

It has been awarded £11 million between 2024 and June 2029 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Established in 2004, UKERC has become a trusted source of impartial analysis, valued by policy makers, industry and NGOs.

Academics at University of Strathclyde are responsible for leading major areas of work within the programme. They include:

  • Dr Jamie Speirs, Deputy Director at the Centre for Energy Policy (CEP), is a UKERC Co-Director and is leading research that will identify and address existing evidence gaps in the energy policy space and responds to emerging issues.
  • CEP’s Director, Professor Karen Turner is leading research that will contribute to one of the four key challenges that the UKERC programme aims to address on affordability and justice.
  • Professor Keith Bell, who holds the Scottish Power Chair in Future Power Systems in the Electronic and Electrical Engineering department, will lead a research theme on what is required to deliver the energy system infrastructure essential to the low carbon transition.
  • Dr James Dixon, based in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will lead a project on low carbon transport.

Critical role

Dr Jamie Speirs, Deputy Director, Centre for Energy Policy said: "UKERC has played and will continue to play a critical role in the energy policy landscape, and CEP is delighted to be part of this collective effort.

“Through our research, we aim to undertake responsive and policy-focused research that can generate the evidence-based insights and analysis needed to inform decision-making as activity around the energy transition ramps up to meet ambitious targets.

“This research can shape energy policy pathways that are economically, politically and socially feasible and around which consensus and public support for the transition can build and be strengthened.”

Professor Keith Bell said: “The energy system in the UK has undergone tremendous change in recent years with greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of energy more than halving. However, we now need to do the rest.

“As events over the last couple of years remind us, access to cheap, reliable supplies are critical to households and the economy.

There are complex policy choices to be made to achieve that with a need for major industry investments. UKERC’s research aims to inform those actions and ensure that the benefits of low carbon energy are widely shared.

Melanie MacRae, Scottish Government said: “Rigorous and independent evidence has a critical role to play in informing public policy design and implementation. We very much welcome the vital contribution that the work of research bodies such as the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) can make towards tackling critical energy policy challenges in the transition to net zero.

“We look forward to engaging with the University of Strathclyde and other UKERC partners around the programme of research.”