Energy Technologies Partnership

General information on the development of the ETP

 The ETP Advisory Group held its third meeting in October 2009, co-chaired by Ian Marchant (CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy) and Prof. Anne Glover (Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland). The Advisory Group, which comprises senior industry and public sector agency representatives from across Scotland, provides strategic advice and support in relation to key business and policy drivers.

Papers discussed at the meeting, included;

• ETP plans for a pan-Scotland Energy Studentship programme (response to current SFC call);
• ETP Business Plan, 2009-2012;
• Proposed Marine Energy Research Centre in Scotland;
• Low Carbon RD&D Investment in Scotland (Scottish Government assessment of spend).

Activities

Main activities since the last newsletter are shown under ETP's four Strategic Objectives:-

• Capacity Building;
• Relationship Building;
• Internationalisation;
• Economic Impact.

Capacity Building - "Deepening and broadening existing relationships and partnerships (within the ETP) to promote increased collaboration."

• Several bids for funding have been submitted, and a number of them has been successful, which have included more than one university or have been led by a single institution with cross-reference in the proposal to the ETP's broader capabilities. Our ability to jointly submit and then win collaborative proposals is a key indicator of our success as a Partnership; 

• ETP co-hosted (with the Scottish Construction Council and Scottish Enterprise) on 24 June 2009 a built environment/demand side management workshop which brought together  ETP researchers and others to share knowledge and work collaboratively on specific funding opportunities;

• A second workshop is currently being planned with the Scottish Whisky Research Institute (SWRI) to identify areas where ETP expertise can support the SWRI in the implementation of its new sustainability strategy;

• Converteam is locating an Advanced Technology Centre at the University of Edinburgh to develop novel electrical machines and power electronic control systems for the renewable energy sector;

• Heriot-Watt has appointed a new Business Development Executive to develop Energy portfolio across the University.  Dr Andrew Liken joins the Energy Academy team from Napier University.  Andrew holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Penn State Univ. and has worked in Norway, US and Ireland before coming to Scotland.

Relationship Building - "Promoting the expertise and capabilities within the ETP, to develop new strategic relationships with industry, academia and others."

• Work continues to develop the Wind Energy Technology Alliance (WETA) with an industry stakeholder meeting held on 29 September to review WETA and the associated Wind Resource Centre. A similar initiative to better link areas of Research, Demonstration, Development and Deployment in the marine energy sector is also being developed;

• ETP promotion and awareness raising continues with a significant contribution to the All-Energy conference in Aberdeen with; a busy stand and many enquiries; a keynote address; a 90 min session to showcase ETP technology areas; participation and presentations in the rest of the conference from a number of ETP members;

• Discussions have been held with a number of companies (Scottish, UK and International) that have approached ETP to discuss potential partnerships. The concept of ETP being a ‘front door’ into the Scottish energy R&D community is working well in practise;

• ETP was invited to a reception at Edinburgh Castle to celebrate Scotland's Science and Innovation - Past, Present and Future, attended amongst others by the First Minister and Prof Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland. Along with colleagues from Aquamarine Power (demonstrating their Oyster wave device) the ETP stand helped showcase Scotland's energy-related scientific strengths and innovative projects;

• ETP's Programme Partner, University of Highlands and Islands (UHI) has recently established an Energy Research Group (ERG) led Dr Mike Weston, previously in ITI Energy. The primary aim of ERG is "to support the academic partners in developing UHI's overall capacity in the field of renewable energy ". ETP is working with ERG to identify areas of common interest and opportunity. 

Internationalisation - "Projecting the scale and expertise of the ETP on the international stage in order to promote new outreach and knowledge exchange opportunities."

• Profs Jim McDonald, Robin Wallace and David Infield were invited to the Chinese Association of Science and Technology's  Annual Conference to present on ETP and related strengths in wind energy, marine energy and power networks. This proved an excellent opportunity to further raise the profile of the ETP in China and also to develop relationships with selected Chinese Universities;  

• ETP is planning to develop an ‘India-Scotland Energy Research Collaborative’ to be launched at an international energy conference being hosted by IIT Bombay in December ’09. This will align with and support a clean energy MoU between Scotland and India that was signed on 14 October, as part of the Scottish Government’s overall Scotland-India plan. Good coverage for ETP in their press release;

• ETP has been shortlisted to provide mentoring support to one of the new Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Ropar). A delegation including the Directors of IIT Ropar and IIT Delhi and a representative of the Indian Ministry visited the ETP (along with ~10 other UK Universities) in September to discuss our proposals in more detail and we await their decision;
  

• ETP has been included as a Partner organisation in the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance (ESEIA) that has been established to collaborate on large EU and global funding opportunities.  ESEIA has recently led an EU bid for establishing a sustainable energy Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) in the framework of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The outcome is due to be announced on 17 December 09;
  

• ETP has participated in several international visits organised by SDI and SEGEC, e.g. the recent European Wind Energy Association’s satellite meeting in Stockholm on ‘Scotland’s offshore wind story’ and a Ministerial visit to tour the offshore windfarm infrastucture at Bremerhaven;
  

• Presentations on ETP have been made to a number of international guest delegations hosted by SDI, e.g. Indonesia, Inner Mongolia, Portugal and to companies considering inward investment where the ETP is an important element of the overall 'Scottish proposition'.
  

Economic Impact - "Connecting the work of the ETP with Scottish Policy and economic development opportunities for Scotland."

• ETP has submitted its bid into the Scottish Funding Council for establishing a new Energy Industry Doctorate Programme as part of an overall Scottish Energy Research Academy. The programme will initially produce 50 students that will be augmented by a further 50 in a second phase to deliver a total of over 100 Energy Industry Doctorates in Renewable Energy Technologies over five years. These will quickly contribute to industry, increase the research capacity of ETP and significantly enhance energy sector knowledge exchanage and innovation. Contact was made with over 100 companies and letters of support for in-kind and/or financial support received from over 30. We await the outcome of the bid in January/February 2010 and if successful the first group of students will start in October 2010; 

• ETP is well represented on the new Scottish Advisory Board and its Ministerial led theme groups with Prof. Jim McDonald Co-Chair (with the First Minister) of the Advisory Board, Prof. Paul Mitchell on the Renewables group, Prof. Stuart Hazeldine and Simon Puttock on the Thermal Generation/CCS group and Simon Puttock on the Oil & Gas group;

• Work is underway to develop an ETP Business Plan for the next three years. The current focus is seeking input on ETP priority areas (through survey and interviews). Thanks to all of you who took the time to complete the survey (88 respondents in total representing a high response rate). The results of the survey are still being analysed, although the summary data and comments can be viewed here;

•  Work continues to identify and develop options to enhance the knolwledge transfer performance of ETP with a focus on knowledge exchange with Scottish SMEs. This work, funded by Scottish Enterprise and being carried out with SQW Consultants, is an important part of ETP's Business Planning.

Please contact us if you would like more information on any of the above.

The University of Dundee has been successful in its 2.7 million Euro bid with other EU partners. POLINARES concentrates on the global challenges faced with respect to access to oil, gas and mineral resources over the next 20 years and proposes solutions for the various policy actors, including the EU. Combined theoretical and empirical analyses will use expertise from a wide range of disciplines including political science, economics, geology, engineering, technology, law and security studies. More details here. 

Latest Energy Technology Institute Success

The Energy Technology Institute has announced its latest project. The £5 million condition monitoring project is being led by UK-based wind turbine blade monitoring specialists Insensys in partnership with EDF Energy, E.ON, Romax Technology, SeeByte and the University of Strathclyde. The consortium will develop and demonstrate advanced systems to monitor the condition and performance of turbines and predict future maintenance requirements for key components so they can be corrected before expensive damage occurs;

International Building Performance Conference

More than 400 experts from over 35 countries attended the 11th International Building Performance Simulation Association Conference at the University of Strathclyde in July - the first time the event has been held in the U.K. Organised jointly by the University of Strathclyde and the Sustainability in Architecture Programme, SUST, the event addressed a diverse range of issues, from the impact climate change will have on homes to air quality in public buildings.

EPSRC/NSF Grant Success

Profs John Irvine (St. Andrews University) and Peter Robertson (Robert Gordon University) have been successful in securing funding for 'International Collaboration in Chemistry Enhancing Direct Photoelectrochemical Conversion of CO2'. This is a significant achievement, being co-funded by both EPSRC and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and therefore competing with other international bids. More on the project here.

 Energy Mapping

The ETP has been working with Scottish Development International to develop an 'Energy Sector Map'. This currently contains information on existing and planned energy related infrastructure across Scotland, demonstration/test facilities and energy-related research groups. The map is still under development and additional material will be added in due course. Click here for link to map.

Selection of energy related funding opportunities

Thanks as ever to Dr Jeff Hardy at UKERC for identifying most of these opportunities.

EPSRC has recently published its future funding calls 2009-2011, including many related to energy technologies. Current EPSRC calls can be found here. Energy related grants awarded over the past six months are here, including a number from Scotland (thanks to Anne Bruce at IPA for compiling this).

Royal Society Industry Fellowships 2010 – Call for Applications

These appointments (for up to two years full time or pro-rata) are funded by the Royal Society, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, Rolls-Royce plc and Astra Zeneca.

BBSRC IBTI Club Call  

Carbon Trust Fuel Cells Challenge

COST open call

COST invites researchers throughout Europe to submit proposals for research networks and use this unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and to embark on new European perspectives. COST's main objective is to stimulate new, innovative and interdisciplinary scientific networks in Europe. COST activities (Actions) are carried out by research teams to strengthen the foundations for building scientific excellence in Europe. This continuous call is thematically open. COST invites proposals for new COST Actions contributing to the scientific, economic, cultural or societal development of Europe. Proposals playing a precursor role for other European programmes involving young groups' ideas are especially welcome.

For further details see: http://www.cost.esf.org/opencall

EUROSTARS - Funding for Research Intensive SMEs 

Energy-related articles of a more general interest

Scottish European Green Energy Centre (SEGEC)

SEGEC is a programme partner of ETP. The First Minister opened the new SEGEC offices in Aberdeen on 17 August 2009, and announced the initial package of funding for SEGEC from the Scottish Government and others.

New Renewable Energy Centre of Excellence

New Scottish Government Energy Publications

The Scottish Government has published several significant energy related reports in the past few months;

• Conserve and Save: A Consultation on the Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland [Report]

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act commits the Scottish Government to prepare and publish a plan for a) promoting energy efficiency; and b) improving the energy efficiency of living accommodation.

• Scottish Energy Study Volume 4: Issues, Opportunities and Barriers [Report]

Considers the many factors and key drivers that influence energy use in Scotland today. Based on this understanding Volume 4 identifies the opportunities to improve energy use within Scotland and the barriers that must be overcome if this is to be achieved.

• Marine Energy Road Map [ Report]

Forum for Renewable Development in Scotland's Marine Energy Group Roadmap for the Sector.

• Renewable Energy: Changes to the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2009: Consultation [Report]

A consultation on a number of proposed changes to the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2009. 

• Renewables Action Plan [Report]

An Action Plan that sets out what needs to happen and by when to meet the Scottish Government's Renewable Energy targets, with a focus on the next 24-36 months.