Creative Energy Homes gets £500,000 boost
The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is to invest nearly £500,000 to support the continued development of the University of Nottingham’s Creative Energy Homes project.
The existing Creative Energy Homes scheme at the University Park Campus in Nottingham consists of four detached and three semi-detached properties built to different building regulations and acts as a test bed for the integration of new energy efficient technologies into houses.
The ETI investment into the three year project will further develop the existing Creative Energy Homes scheme allowing it to become a fully flexible integrated community smart heat and power network demonstration test facility. A new small-scale heat network with heat storage capability to provide heat directly to the homes on the scheme will be introduced.
ETI energy storage and distribution project manager Susie Winter said: “Our analysis has shown that heat networks could play a significant part in decarbonizing the provision of heat in the UK’s future energy system and this combined with the potential for localised electricity storage using battery, hydrogen or other solutions may provide real benefits to the energy system.
“The additional facilities which will be added to the Nottingham project will help us to understand the interaction of electrical and heat networks on local communities coupled with storage solutions in real-life situations.
“Developing this test facility will provide a platform for de-risking and trialling new ideas and technologies and showcasing them to potential investors.”
Prof Mark Gillott from the University of Nottingham’s Faculty of Engineering said: “The addition of the heat network and storage facility at the Creative Energy Homes site is an exciting addition to our unique research test facility. Over the coming years we will be working with the ETI and industry partners to develop and trial the next generation of low carbon community energy solutions in order to inform larger schemes within our towns and cities.”
The ETI is a public-private partnership between global energy and engineering companies – BP, Caterpillar, EDF, Rolls-Royce and Shell – and the UK Government.
