IES Research Projects

Research Projects at the Institute for Energy Systems (IES). You can search keywords within Project Titles.

We also have many Energy Systems PhD opportunities for postgraduate students looking to join the School.

Search keywords within Research Project titles
Project Title Principal Supervisorsort descending Project Summary
RealTide

Prof David Ingram

The aim of the RealTide project is to identify main failure causes of tidal turbines at sea and to provide a step change in the design of key components, namely the blades and power take-off systems, adapting them more accurately to the complex environmental tidal conditions. Advanced monitoring systems will be integrated with these identified sub-systems and together with maintenance strategies will be implemented at outset from the design stage to achieve an increased reliability and improved performance over the full tidal turbine life.

TIDES: Tidal Demonstration for Energy Scheme

Professor David Ingram

A full tidal array has not been installed anywhere, commercially to date. A number of the leading turbine manufacturers have part or full scale working prototypes which are under-going testing in various sites the majority of which are enclosed in semi-test environments. In order to move this nascent technology into the commercial arena and expedite market deployment, it is necessary to establish an array of turbines in one site to verify the performance capability and environmental characteristics of a full array.

Structural Design of Wave Energy Devices

Professor David Ingram

The Structural Design of Wave Energy Devices project (SDWED) 2010-2014 is an international research alliance supported by the Danish Council for Strategic Research. The project is a five-year endeavour to harness the energy potential in wave energy at competitive costs.

IDCORE: Industrial Doctoral Centre in Offshore Renewable Energy

Professor David Ingram

The drive to meet the UK’s ambitious deployment targets for offshore renewable energy technologies requires the development of new techniques and technologies to design, build, install, operate, and maintain devices in hostile environments at affordable economic cost with minimal environmental impact. It requires a supply of highly trained scientists and engineers to deliver their skills across the sector. The Universities of Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Exeter together with the Scottish Association for Marine Science and HR-Wallingford form a partnership to deliver the EPSRC/ETI Industrial Doctorate Centre in Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE).

TROPOS: Modular Multi-use Deep Water Offshore Platform Harnessing and Servicing Mediterranean, Subtropical and Tropical Marine and Maritime Resources

Professor David Ingram

TROPOS is a European collaborative project funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development, more specifically under the "Ocean of Tomorrow" call OCEAN 2011.1 – Multi-use offshore platforms. The TROPOS Project aims at developing a floating modular multi-use platform system for use in deep waters, with an initial geographic focus on the Mediterranean, Tropical and Sub-Tropical regions, but designed to be flexible enough so as to not be limited in geographic scope.

PolyWEC: New mechanisms and concepts for exploiting electroactive Polymers for Wave Energy Conversion

Professor David Ingram

Wave energy has a great potential as renewable source of electricity. Studies have demonstrated that significant percentage of world electricity could be produced by Wave Energy Converters (WECs). However electricity generation from waves still lacks of spreading because the combination of harsh environment and form of energy makes the technical development of cost effective WECs particularly difficult.

ARIES: Adaptation and Resilience in Energy Systems

Professor Gareth Harrison

The energy supply sector is undergoing massive technological changes to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the climate is progressively changing creating new challenges for energy generation, networks and demand. The Adaptation and Resilience in Energy Systems (ARIES) project aims to understand how climate change will affect the UK gas and electricity systems and in particular its 'resilience'.

Land of the MUSCos

Professor Gareth Harrison

Present infrastructure service delivery, characterized by isolated supply streams for an uncontrolled demand, is uneconomical, inefficient, and ultimately unsustainable. What kinds of alternatives can be identified and implemented? In this project, we research and promote the establishment of Multi-Utility Service Companies, or MUSCos.

TEDDINET: Network of (Build) TEDDI projects

Professor Gareth Harrison

Established in September 2013 and funded for four years, TEDDINET is a research network examining the interactions of people with digital technologies and the potential for smart metering to transform energy demand in the home and at work. TEDDINET’s primary purpose is to create added value and enhance the impact of 22 individual research projects funded under the ‘Transforming Energy Demand through Digital Innovation’ (TEDDI) and ‘Transforming Energy Demand in Buildings through Digital Innovation’ (BuildTEDDI) programmes. Sponsored by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), these 22 projects encompass 26 (UK) universities, 75 partners from industry and the housing sector, and over 200 researchers from engineering, informatics, design and social sciences.

Direct Drive Generator for a Tidal Turbine

Professor Markus Mueller

Nova Innovation and IES are collaborating to design, build and test a direct drive generator for Nova’s tidal current turbine.

Pages

Subscribe to IES Research Projects