Decentralised Integration of Renewable Energy sources through smart grid Technologies (DIRECT)

Renewable energy sources (RESs) open up new opportunities for improving sustainability, but they also introduce more risks or failures, e.g., widespread blackouts on 9th August 2019 in the UK were exaggerated by inadvertent tripping and disconnection of RESs. Hence it become urgent to develop more innovative and secure technologies for integrating RESs. Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is one of such potential technologies. It aggregates small embedded generation (e.g. solar), and then operates as a conventional power plant (from transmission system point of view) by complying with grid codes. DIRECT project aims to develop new decentralised VPP operation mechanisms for improving system security, and test them at Durham Smart Grid Laboratory that is equipped with £1m worth of real-time digital simulators (2 RTDSs) and RES emulators (wind/solar emulators). A particular focus will be placed on coordinating RESs with energy storage by exploiting data using machine learning techniques. Moreover, new p2p energy trading and multi-vector energy system mechanisms will be developed using Blockchain technologies. We will use this expertise to examine the impact of new PV technologies on the grid, for example, considering differing PV yield in low/diffuse light conditions. The key questions to answer will be what opportunities and challenges do new PV technologies present for future smart grids.

ReNU's enhanced doctoral training programme delivered by three uniquely co-located major UK universities, Northumbria (UNN), Durham (DU) and Newcastle (NU), addresses clear skills needs in small-to-medium scale renewable energy (RE) and sustainable distributed energy (DE). It was co-designed by a range of companies and is supported by a balanced portfolio of 27 industrial partners (e.g. Airbus, Siemens and Shell) of which 12 are small or medium size enterprises (SMEs) (e.g. Enocell, Equiwatt and Power Roll). A further 9 partners include Government, not-for-profit and key network organisations. Together these provide a powerful, direct and integrated pathway to a range of impacts that span whole energy systems.

Industrial partners will interact with ReNU in three main ways: (1) through the Strategic Advisory Board; (2) by providing external input to individual doctoral candidate's projects; and (3) by setting Industrial Challenge Mini-Projects. These interactions will directly benefit companies by enabling them to focus ReNU's training programme on particular needs, allowing transfer of best practice in training and state-of-the-art techniques, solution approaches to R&D challenges and generation of intellectual property. Access to ReNU for new industrial partners that may wish to benefit from ReNU is enabled by the involvement of key networks and organisations such as the North East Automotive Alliance, the Engineering Employer Federation, and Knowledge Transfer Network (Energy).

In addition to industrial partners, ReNU includes Government organisations and not for-profit-organisations. These partners provide pathways to create impact via policy and public engagement. Similarly, significant academic impact will be achieved through collaborations with project partners in Singapore, Canada and China. This impact will result in research excellence disseminated through prestigious academic journals and international conferences to the benefit of the global community working on advanced energy materials.