• Energy Research
• 2016-2025close
• 2019 close
• 2020 close

It has been well reported that wind farms can impact and degrade the performance of radar systems for air traffic control, air surveillance, early warning systems and navigational. The potential interference generated by the scattering characteristics of wind turbines on radar systems is considered a significant issue and has received a lot of attention from the research community and industry alike. However, due to the geometrical complexity of the turbine structure and its enormous electrical size at radar frequencies, the study and modelling of the radar scattering presented a substantial challenge to the research community. The use of commercial Computational Electromagnetic (CEM) tools and other full-wave solvers was limited to a small number of predefined turbine orientations due to the inherent requirement of supercomputing environment or extended modelling runtimes. To accommodate for the growth in demand for renewable energy, larger wind farms are being planned for deployment further offshore -in deeper waters and less favourable seabed conditions. Floating foundations are being widely proposed to reduce costs and enable more rapid growth of offshore wind turbines. Future wind developments (Such as Hornsea Project Two and Three) included floating foundations within their Design Envelope. Some of these projects are located near a number of key shipping routes as well as offshore O&G platforms with REWS installations. To date, the effects of floating foundation on the operation and efficiency of navigational and safety radar systems operating near or within the wind farm is currently largely unknown. Large floating wind turbines will have unique scattering characteristics due to its size, construction materials, vibration profile and movements under wind loading and adverse weather/sea conditions. Floating turbines are likely to dramatically change the radar cross section and its dynamics and consequently impact radar systems. This project will study the effects of wind turbines mounted on floating foundations on offshore radar operations. The project will develop radar scattering models for the floating foundations and account for important parameters such as geometry, materials and platform movement under adverse weather conditions. This project will build on the recently awarded Supergen funding to measure and model the radar scattering from the large 7MW turbine managed by ORE Catapult. The project will analyse the measured data from the ORE Catapult turbine as well as the large dataset of wind farm/radar measurements made available to the University of Manchester by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa to further develop the existing turbine models and integrate them with the new models of the floating foundations. The analysis, verification and integration of measurements with the modelling capabilities will give a good representation of future offshore turbine. This will then be used to model the static radar returns and Doppler signature generated from the turbines under typical and adverse conditions for safety critical radar operations such as navigation under poor visibility, search and rescue efforts and REWS for collision prevention with offshore O&G assets.

Aim of the project PLASTICERA is to prevent nuclear accidents similar to Fukushima Daiichi from happening in Europe. Primary objective of PLASTICERA is to develop a new accident tolerant fuel (ATF) concept for modern nuclear light water reactors (LWR). Today, nuclear energy is an essential environmental issue as it is one of the key scalable technologies to battle climate change. Promoting the use of nuclear energy is largely based on public opinion and therefore creating safer and more sustainable ways to produce nuclear energy is more important than ever. The concept of PLACTICERA relies on amorphous oxide thin films to protect the primary fuel cladding from catastrophic damage during nuclear accident conditions. The oxide thin film can provide unique combination of a strong oxygen diffusion barrier with the capability to accommodate the plastic strain originating from the fuel bar thermal expansion. This functional coating could significantly delay the onset of uncontrollable degradation of the primary fuel cladding, allowing timely emergency cooling, and preventing the release of radioactive substances. The primary objective will be achieved by training Dr. Erkka J. Frankberg (fellow) with new skills in disruptive material manufacturing technologies capable of producing ceramic materials, especially amorphous oxides, with prerequisites for low temperature plasticity. These materials will then be tested for mechanical and corrosion properties in relevant environment resembling LWR normal operating conditions and conditions occurring during “loss of cooling water” (LOCA) -type accident.

Production of a prototype internal blade inspection system for use inside Offshore Wind Turbine blades including a cost benefit analysis.

Tackling climate change, providing energy security and delivering sustainable energy solutions are major challenges faced by civil society. The social, environmental and economic cost of these challenges means that it is vital that there is a research focus on improving the conversion and use of thermal energy. A great deal of research and development is continuing to take place to reduce energy consumption and deliver cost-effective solutions aimed at helping the UK achieve its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Improved thermal energy performance impacts on industry through reduced energy costs, reduced emissions, and enhanced energy security. Improving efficiency and reducing emissions is necessary to increase productivity, support growth in the economy and maintain a globally competitive manufacturing sector. In the UK, residential and commercial buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of the UK's total non-transport energy use, with space heating and hot water accounting for almost 80% of residential and 60% of commercial energy use. Thermal energy demand has continued to increase over the past 40 years, even though home thermal energy efficiency has been improving. Improved thermal energy conversion and utilisation results in reduced emissions, reduced costs for industrial and domestic consumers and supports a more stable energy security position. In the UK, thermal energy (heating and cooling) is the largest use of energy in our society and cooling demand set to increase as a result of climate change. The need to address the thermal energy challenge at a multi-disciplinary level is essential and consequently this newly established network will support the technical, social, economic and environmental challenges, and the potential solutions. It is crucial to take account of the current and future economic, social, environmental and legislative barriers and incentives associated with thermal energy. The Thermal Energy Challenge Network will support synergistic approaches which offer opportunities for improved sustainable use of thermal energy which has previously been largely neglected. This approach can result in substantial energy demand reductions but collaboration and networking is essential if this is to be achieved. A combination of technological solutions working in a multi-disciplinary manner with engineers, physical scientists, and social scientists is essential and this will be encouraged and supported by the Thermal Energy Challenge Network.

Wind power is a key component in the transition towards a society based on renewable energy. However, wind turbine operation and maintenance costs remain high and represent a third of the total costs of energy. Maintenance of critical components can be drastically reduced through early fault detection using advanced sensor signals. However, current analysis methods are highly manual and do not scale well. The EU-funded PAVIMON project is focused on the implementation of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze data from these sensor streams. The aim is to increase the resource efficiency of signal analysis and improve predictive capabilities. The PAVIMON project will effectuate a feasibility study at technical, transformational and commercial levels.

Roughly 40% of the current global energy demand is consumed in commercial and residential buildings. Thanks to advances in technology, Building Integrated PhotoVoltaics (BIPV) have emerged, enabling all buildings to become electricity producers and strive towards self-sustainability. Due to stringent energy efficiency norms in the EU, demand for BIPV products is soaring: PV incorporated in shells of multi-story buildings is required for supplying these high rise structures with energy. But also other artificial structures, e.g. sound barriers along highways, shall be used for energy provision, without further impact on the environment. Yet, truly integrated and aesthetic BIPV modules are currently neither available in commercial volumes nor at sustainable costs. Prices of products with still limited adaptability hinder the actual market growth. crystalsol addresses these shortcomings with a patented and entirely new type of cost-efficient, flexible and transparent PV technology where advantages of an efficient and stable monocrystalline absorber and low cost roll-to-roll (R2R) module production are combined. Due to the reason that crystalsol is able to produce semi-finished modules that allow full integration into building elements without any expensive and complex integration steps, BIPV products can pricewise finally compete with standard building shell elements (like facades without PV). This offers a huge competitive advantage, resulting in an enormous potential in the BIPV market. This Feasibility Study (cs-BIPV-FS) will bring crystalsol closer to the market entry stage. It will be a first step towards full commercialisation before upscaling the company’s operations and production processes. The cs-BIPV-FS project will help to analyse and conclude the technical feasibility and commercial potential of the ground-breaking BIPV technology, resulting in advancing the innovative technological concept into a credible business case.

International shipping is a large and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). It transports 80% of the global trade at the cost of 940 million CO2 tons (2.5% of global GHGs). Despite mandates from the EC or the UN on tackling this situation, the industry remains heavily fossil-fuel dependent. Some efforts are being made in harnessing the wind to propel ships, going back to its origins. These are soft-tails, fixed-sails, flettner rotors, kite sails and even some wind turbines. However, they all remain at the research stage failing to represent a feasible and reliable power source. Sidewind is a breakthrough innovation in the use of wind power in transport ships. Designed to utilize the wind energy that is wasted around cargo ships by converting that energy (kinetic) into electricity, Sidewind incorporates horizontal turbines inside recycled cargo containers. This results in a flexible, practical and cost-effective solution to the maritime transport sector, without the need for major changes in the ship. By installing just 20 turbines (standard cargo ship), a ship will save 40% average fossil fuel and energy, translated in €328k per year. The EU has 329 key seaports, controlling around 60% of all container cargo ships. Our customers are maritime transport companies (183 in Europe, managing 23,000 vessels) and ship builders (150 shipyards in the EU). The number of vessels calling in the main EU ports in 2017 was estimated at above 2.1 million, and we will target the most important shipping companies. We count with support from public entities (Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of industries and innovation) and key industry players like Samskip (maritime transport), Hedinn (engineering in fishing industry) and Rafnar Hull (ship builder). Sidewind is opening a new market niche as provider of wind technology for the maritime transport. Our vision for Sidewind is to play the leading role in a new green shipping era

The aim of SUNRISE is to make sustainable fuels and commodity chemicals at affordable costs of materials and Earth surface, using sunlight as the only energy source. This includes nitrogen fixation and the conversion of atmospheric CO2 into products, which will be a game changer in the fight against climate change. The CSA SUNRISE gathers the scientific and industrial communities that will develop radically new technologies to harvest solar energy and enable the foundation of a global circular economy. SUNRISE targets three synergistic S&T approaches: (i) electrochemical conversion with renewable power, direct conversion via (ii) photoelectrochemical and (iii) biological and biohybrid systems. These will be implemented with the crucial support of novel material design via high performance computing, advanced biomimicry, and synthetic biology. Ultimately, the novel solar-to-chemical technologies will be integrated into the global industrial system. In 10 years, SUNRISE will bring renewable fuel production to TRL 9 at a cost of 0.4 €/L and atmospheric CO2 photoconversion at TRL 7. The ambition is to convert up to 2500 tons of CO2 and produce > 100 tons of commodity chemicals (per ha per year), realizing a 300% energy gain over present best practices and deploying devices on the 1000 ha scale. This requires new solutions for absorbing >90% of light and storing >80% of the photogenerated electrons in fuels/chemicals produced in large-scale solar energy converters, in close interaction with social and environmental sciences to optimize their deployment. SUNRISE will make Europe the leading hub of disruptive technologies, closing the carbon cycle and providing a solar dimension to the chemical industry, with enormous economical, societal and environmental benefits. SUNRISE is an intrinsically flagship enterprise that has obtained explicit commitment from top organisations, both from industry and academia across Europe, to set the stage for the next steps of the action.