AsianScientist (Sep. 22, 2017) – Researchers from the UK and China have announced their intention to collaborate on five projects to develop the next generation of offshore renewable energy (ORE) technologies to enable the safe, secure, cheap and efficient provision of clean energy.
The collaborative, multidisciplinary three-year-long projects will use environmental science, technology and engineering to tackle key challenges affecting the development of ORE systems, such as offshore wind, wave and tide facilities. They will showcase the potential of ORE technologies to provide stable power supply for island and coastal communities, particularly in China, but also in UK offshore island communities.
Additionally, the collaboration will improve understanding of resources for ORE systems under different conditions between UK and China, thus moving both countries closer towards a low carbon economy. The risk of extreme events will also be explored, and the sustainable development of ORE systems will be encouraged, which could kick-start floating design methods and facilitate assessments of suitability of current standards and methods.
Finally, the knowledge gained from these projects will help to reduce the uncertainty in the potential power produced by offshore renewable energy facilities, also identifying and informing ORE system build sites. This research could underpin other aspects of ORE development, such as engineering and policy.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) are supporting the projects with almost £4 million of funding, which will be distributed from the Newton Fund. The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) is providing support for all the projects. The projects have been funded as part of the Joint UK-China Offshore Renewable Energy program.
“The UK is a world leader in offshore wind which helps us meet our climate commitments while we grow the economy and create jobs,” said Mr. Richard Harrington, Minister for Energy and Industry.
“This £4 million investment will support collaborative research into the next generation of offshore technologies with one of our largest global trading partners, unlocking further opportunities for projects across the UK and the rest of the world.”
EPSRC’s Chief Executive, Professor Philip Nelson noted that the Joint UK-China Offshore Renewable Energy program will build on a successful history of international collaboration between EPSRC and NERC in the UK, and the NSFC in China, across a range of topics.
“This multidisciplinary programme has already delivered invaluable research on reducing energy demand at the city scale, the integration of electric vehicles and grid scale energy storage,” said Nelson. “These new projects bring together some of the leading minds in this field from the UK and China to increase our capacity to generate and distribute affordable, safe, clean energy.”
“Further advancing China’s already world-leading renewable energy sector is an integral part of the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan and will help drive future economic growth and advance the cause of low-carbon development,” said NSFC President, Professor Wei Yang. “As always, partnership with the UK in this field helps build upon both sides’ complementary strengths in research and innovation and will definitely further strengthen our already productive bilateral relationship in the long run.”
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Source: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Photo: Shutterstock.
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