The University of Edinburgh will help decarbonise the English and Welsh electricity system and accelerate progress towards net zero, through a five-year innovation partnership with National Grid Electricity Transmission that was agreed with Edinburgh Innovations’ support.
Researchers from the School of Engineering and across the University will partner with NGET in research and development to design, operate and maintain the electricity transmission network in England and Wales. The partnership involves Edinburgh and five other top UK universities: Cardiff, Exeter, Manchester, Southampton and Strathclyde.
The partnership will help to enable the transition to a cleaner electricity system through knowledge sharing and creation of a culture of innovation between NGET and the partner universities. The collaboration will enable NGET to unlock new technologies, processes and systems that will make its network cleaner, at the same time as driving costs down for consumers.
Nicola Todd, Head of Strategy and Innovation at National Grid Electricity Transmission, said:
Innovation will be crucial in helping to achieve a safe, resilient and decarbonised electricity system. Collaborations such as these will enable us to move faster and further, unlocking new technologies, processes and systems that will make our network cleaner, at the same time as driving costs down for consumers.
Professor Gareth Harrison, Deputy Head of School of Engineering, said:
The University of Edinburgh is delighted to be joining the National Grid Electricity Transmission Innovation Framework at what is an exciting and pivotal time for the UK electricity supply industry. We regard this as a tribute to the University’s history of inter-disciplinary energy research and an opportunity to apply this to some of the big engineering challenges of our time. The University is looking forward to sharing and developing its expertise on power system modelling, power electronics, energy system decarbonisation and net zero.
Professor Harrison and Stephen Finney, Professor of Power Electronics in the School of Engineering, were supported by Edinburgh Innovations' Business Development team to join the collaboration.
National Grid Electricity Transmission
