UK Research and Innovation launches Energy Revolution Research Consortium call

As part of the government’s Industrial Strategy, UKRI is investing in a new Prospering from the Energy Revolution Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has launched a call to form the Energy Revolution Research Consortium (ERRC), a new network of researchers and stakeholders to help to put the UK at the forefront of knowledge services for integrated energy systems.

As part of the government’s Industrial Strategy, UKRI is investing in a new Prospering from the Energy Revolution Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) programme.

The programme will support academia, industry, public bodies and communities to develop a world-leading smart energy systems industry in the UK, delivering environmental and economic benefits.

As part of the challenge, UKRI will commit up to £12 million over four years to establish the ERRC, a network of multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary researchers, and key stakeholders, to work together on smart local energy systems.

The ERRC will work closely with the Energy Systems Catapult to provide analysis, evaluation and assessment of the demonstrators and designs funded under the Prospering from the Energy Revolution programme. Additionally, the ERRC will deliver a suite of strategic research projects that address industrially led challenges in the development of local, investable, consumer-centred energy approaches to create prosperous clean energy communities, in collaboration with existing research from within and beyond energy research investments.

The call will launch in June and, in collaboration with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Knowledge Transfer Network, UKRI is hosting a consortium-building workshop in Birmingham on 9 and 10 July, 2018.

This workshop will be an opportunity for potential applicants to explore and shape what the structure of the ERRC might look like, and what services and support it will offer, for instance in system modelling and access to test facilities.

The workshop will discuss approaches and propositions for the ERRC and undertake consortium building, and is expected to produce:

• A strong grouping of engaged people across disciplines who support the concept of the Energy Revolution Research Consortium;
• Agreement and understanding of potential formats, associated skills/capability requirements that are additional vs existing capability;
• Future research challenges of ERRC, and its relationship with other research and innovation activities.

As part of the ERRC call for proposals it will be a requirement that the core consortium members (Principle Investigators and Co-Investigators) of any proposal must attend this workshop. However, this does not restrict subsequent partners from joining the consortium prior to final proposal submission.

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