The UK’s march towards an energy sector dominated by renewables shows little sign of slowing. Government figures state that renewables (pdf) accounted for more than 30% of electricity generation in the first quarter of 2018, up 3.1 percentage points on Q1 2017.
The news will have brought a smile to the faces of academics and students at the University of Plymouth, where the UK’s first MsC in marine renewable energy was launched in 2010. Since then, the university has remained at the forefront of renewables technology and thinking, from testing the latest offshore structures to game-changing ideas around solar power.
“Offshore renewables is an exciting and rapidly expanding field, and we expect it to play a significant role in providing energy for the UK and globally,” says Prof Deborah Greaves OBE, head of the University’s School of Engineering. “Our aim is to accelerate the development of ORE [offshore renewable energy], working closely with industry, the government and colleagues in other universities.”
The University’s COAST Engineering Research Group focuses on many of the major marine issues facing society today, such as the impact of rising sea levels and flood risk, as well as conducting research into renewable energy. Much of this is carried out in the COAST lab, a state-of-the-art facility that enables researchers to test and model how new devices, such as floating wind turbines, are affected by waves, currents and wind.
It’s an important international testing ground. Hybrid offshore arrays, which combine wind and wave, are currently being tested at the facility, as are offshore structures that not only convert waves into energy but also protect the coast from erosion.
“A lot of new ideas are coming through around wave and tidal,” says Greaves. “For the wave energy industry there is a huge prize out there; it’s a massive resource and will be an important part of renewable energy in the future.”
The university also “hires” out the lab to businesses and research groups, which gives students a chance to work closely with industry pioneers, often leading to placements and even future employment. “We really want all of these activities – teaching, research and commercial work – to feed into one another,” says Greaves.
In addition to its world-leading facilities, the university is part of a number of national and international collaborations driving offshore renewables to the next level. MaRINET2 is a €10.5m European commission initiative through which the lab is offered free of charge to projects looking to test their ideas in real-world conditions.
Greaves, who was recently awarded an OBE for her contributions to research into offshore renewable energy, also heads up the influential Supergen ORE Hub, a consortium of 10 universities with industry and policy stakeholders to champion and maintain the UK’s world-leading expertise in ORE. It aims to pull together the related areas of wave, tidal and offshore wind, to address challenges at a national level, and improve R&D cooperation. The initiative is supported by UK government and industry, and has been backed with £5m of funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
She is also founding chair of the Partnership for Research in Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE), which has brought together experts from across higher education, research and industry to establish a “network of excellence”.
Last year, the university opened its dedicated School of Engineering, which is home to its ORE research and has experts in control, structures, civil and materials engineering – all crucial aspects in the design of ORE structures.
“A key to the university’s success in this area is its ability to adopt a multidisciplinary approach, combining the environmental and marine biology aspects with the engineering,” says Greaves. “I think that comes very naturally … and that’s definitely an advantage.”
While its expertise in marine renewables is well-known, it is also developing innovative ideas around solar power. PulsiV Solar is a spinout venture set up by Dr Mohammed Zaki Ahmed, an associate professor in the School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics.
Ahmed, a graduate of the university, is currently working on two ideas that could have major implications for renewable energy, and which came about as he looked for new ways to teach and inspire his students.
“Rather than just teaching out of a textbook, I started looking at building some practical experience in solar,” he explains. “In the process, I discovered that there was a whole area of solar energy harvesting that wasn’t really being investigated.”
His research is investigating ways to pulse photovoltaic panels and draw their power in bursts rather than continuously, which can lead to the sun’s energy being captured more efficiently.
He has also looked at LED lighting and, using some of this new solar technology, has built drivers capable of raising efficiency levels from around 90% to closer to 94%. As use of LEDs – particularly in street lighting – becomes more commonplace, this could lead to significant savings.
But the innovation doesn’t end there. Working with his postgraduate students, Ahmed has also discovered that the same electronics principles used on the LED, but working in reverse, can be used to extract more energy from wind turbines, especially when the wind is erratic.
The superfast electronics have been shown to react 30 times quicker to changing conditions, says Ahmed, whose innovations have earned two patents in the United States. “It is potentially disruptive technology and has amazed those who have seen it work.”
Geothermal energy – in which steam from water naturally found in hot, often volcanic, rocks, is used to drive turbines and produce electricity and heat – is another area of research for the university.
In partnership with the British Geological Survey and private companies GEL and Geoscience Ltd, Plymouth is involved with the United Downs Project, a European Research Development Fund (ERDF) project in Cornwall – both on the technical side and in assessing public responses to it.
“This project is just one in which we are breaking new, interdisciplinary ground,” explains Iain Stewart MBE, professor of geoscience communication and director of the university’s Sustainable Earth Institute. “In this case, we’re mixing geologists, psychologists, sociologists and communication professionals to understand how the geotechnical challenges gain social acceptance among local communities.”
University students involved in the project have gone on to study for PhDs in the very specialist research field of geothermal energy. “So Plymouth’s involvement in this world-leading project is feeding back to the students,” says Stewart.
Dr Hazel Gibson, who recently finished her PhD at Plymouth, now works as a research fellow in public perception of geothermal power, finding out how much people really know about new and unfamiliar technologies, and how these views could affect future rollout.
“When we are looking at renewable energy issues in modern society, the problems are always more complicated than just figuring out the technical questions,” she explains. “They involve dealing with aspects of society, and politics, and the economy that are often overlooked by technical experts.
“What we are doing at Plymouth is quite unique, because we are not separating science from society – we are putting these two things together. Sustainability isn’t just about science, it’s about people. Projects such as this are a great opportunity for us to use our geological skills, but to do it in an environmentally and socially responsible way.”
