Member Article

Government invest £9m in low carbon energy storage

Government investment of £9m into energy storage research and development has been announced alongside a further £4m from industry investors.

A specialist site called the UK Energy Storage R&D Centre will advance electric and hybrid vehicle batteries at the High Value Manufacturing Catapult from the University of Warwick.

The market for electric and hybrid batteries is estimated to be work £250m for the UK by 2020, and this investment is the most recent in a series of funding over the next four years behind low carbon and electric vehicles.

Business Minister Michael Fallon said: “[This] will put the UK in a much stronger, competitive position to capitalise on a growing worldwide market for low carbon vehicles, alongside other world leaders in the field including the United States, Japan and Germany.

“This £13 million facility will help accelerate the development of battery cells for the next generation of vehicles, is a vital investment in the future of the automotive sector. It complements over £5.5 billion that global vehicle manufacturers have committed to UK projects in the last 18 months.”

Research carried out in electrochemistry at the West Midlands base will focus on developing a new generation of batteries that will be more economic and have heightened stability, and maintain a higher energy density level than current batteries on the market.

The centre will concentrate on battery research immediately but has the capabilities to research storage for other transport types including off road, commercial, rail and marine vehicles, as well as fuel cell technology.

David Bott, Director of Innovation Programmes at the Technology Strategy Board said:

“The establishment of this centre will help to increase the global competitiveness of the UK’s emerging Low Carbon Vehicle’s industry.

“By locating the centre within the new High Value Manufacturing Catapult, it will be possible to draw on capabilities that have already been developed in energy storage and help to speed up the commercialisation of new products. The benefits that this centre brings will also spill over into wider markets.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .