By Stephen McArthur, Principal Investigator, EnergyREV, University of Strathclyde
As you would expect, the EnergyREV consortium has been focused on adjusting its operation in light of the COVID pandemic. I’m really pleased to report that we’ve been able to continue our activities and managed to rapidly re-plan a number of them to ensure we continue to make progress. This has been helped through excellent support from InnovateUK and UKRI. We discussed progress during our online ‘Whole Consortium’ event last week which allowed us to share the insights that are arising from EnergyREV. We’ve made this a priority focus. We want to provide early insights from our work to help partners in the PFER programme. We believe these are also valuable to wider stakeholders interested in Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) and their contribution to a Net-Zero future.
As examples, we’re uncovering the step changes and innovations required from a policy perspective to drive net-zero advances, while uncovering specific challenges in data architectures and control of SLES that need to be addressed in order to scale-up and replicate these solutions. In addition, we are now understanding the opportunities for new business models and the challenges in delivering them. We’ve also built a better understanding of how clean energy and Net-Zero ambitions can become a reality across all local authorities, leading to multiple societal benefits.
This newsletter, and upcoming events, will provide more details on our insights. We’re also exploring how our learnings and innovation can help with a post-COVID recovery, and you will hear more of this going forward. In summary, we’ve had to adjust but we’re still delivering value. I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone in the consortium, as they have all worked tirelessly to ensure this.