Independent and technology-agnostic, whole systems approach to accelerating innovation in energy storage
Accelerating innovation in energy storage to help energy system flexibility
Energy Systems Catapult offer world class systems engineering, working with government, regulators, industry, academia and innovators to overcome barriers and navigate the transition to Net Zero.
The Infrastructure and Engineering team offering specialist knowledge and practical experience in technology development and deployment, considering the technological, engineering, economic, regulatory and policy implications for innovations and investment decisions.
We have technical experts offering insights on Networks from a whole systems perspective:
- Energy Storage – assessing energy storage within the context of whole energy systems, including: the impact of new technologies, developing and adapting infrastructure network strategies to enable cost effective energy delivery and examining the detailed interactions between energy storage and other means of providing energy system flexibility.
Including access to our pioneering Storage and Flexibility Model that can assess the value of specific storage technologies, and identify the system service requirements of future energy systems for long term strategic and short term operational uncertainties.
What we offer
Technology development and deployment
We provide evidence-based guidance to the UK innovation community to help maximise the value of:
- Innovation assessments for new technologies, such as performance and cost characteristics
- Technical due-diligence
- Innovation management capability to support the progression of technologies towards commercialisation
- Market positioning and partnering options to accelerate innovations towards commercialisation
- Techno-economic analysis to assess the competitiveness of technologies and associated innovations in decarbonised future energy systems.
Supporting market and policy development
Our independent, whole systems approach can help develop market and policy frameworks that support new technologies deployed to optimise integration, deliver new services and value streams using multiple energy-vectors (electricity, heat, gas, hydrogen, etc).
Case studies
Commissions us
Good Energy commissioned Energy Systems Catapult to carry out whole system scenario modelling – with the specific constraints of allowing no nuclear power or fossil fuel energy supply – to determine if Net Zero by 2050 was still possible.
We utilised our Energy System Modelling Environment – which is a peer reviewed, least cost optimisation model. Plus our new Storage and Flexibility Model (SFM) – which provides a greater level of detail into how the energy system might function under Good Energy’s chosen scenarios.
The SFM platform produces highly granular dispatch information and explores the different roles and responsibilities of energy technologies and services in 2050, on an hour-by-hour basis.
Good Energy used the modelling results to compile a report supporting their efforts to increase renewable energy generation and storage in the coming decades.
Collaborate with us
Cheshire, in the North West of England, is home to one of the UK’s largest industrial clusters.
The region features major manufacturing employers, including oil refining, glass manufacture, nuclear enrichment, chemical production and automotive. This concentration of industry means the area around Ellesmere Port consumes around 5% of the UK’s energy, with Cheshire West and Chester the fourth largest carbon emitter in the country with a climate emergency declared locally.
Energy Systems Catapult provided whole systems modelling and systems engineering capabilities to help the consortium identify a portfolio of opportunities across renewables, hydrogen, carbon capture, energy storage and smart grids which offer long-term, sustainable investment opportunities in net zero.
An investment blueprint has been developed which could see £1 billion spent on low carbon projects in Cheshire and nearly 3 million tonnes of CO2 saved by 2030.
Collaborate with us
The Integrating Tidal Energy into the European Grid (ITEG) project aims to generate a clean, predictable energy supply from renewable sources in areas with weak electricity networks.
Energy Systems Catapult is partnering with 15 cooperating organisations on this €11 million initiative, which is spearheaded by Interreg North-West Europe and led by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) at their world-leading tidal test facility in the Orkney Islands off Scotland.
One innovative, multi-vector solution being tested by UK SME Orbital Marine Power. Their Orbital O2 next-generation 2MW floating tidal energy converter has been installed along with AREVA H2Gen’s new 500kW hydrogen electrolyser and a bespoke energy management system. This uses excess renewable electricity generation to create hydrogen that can be stored for use at a later date.
The consortium needed a partner to analyse the impact on the whole energy system – helping to create a robust business case for deployment at scale and to identify productive routes for technology development.
Energy Systems Catapult is drawing on:
- Local Energy Systems Modelling of Orkney using our EnergyPath® Networks tool
- National Energy Systems Modelling for UK and European analysis using Energy Systems Modelling Environment
- Systems Engineering team is looking at integration between the tidal turbine, electrolyser and local energy system to optimise for technical and economic performance
- Renewables & Marine Energy, Networks, Energy Storage and Hydrogen teams are contributing technical expertise
- Consumer Insights are supporting social studies with the local community.
Collaborate or Commission
Working with government, industry, utilities, local authorities and innovators to support the acceleration of innovation across energy networks.
Contact usWant to know more?
Find out more about how Energy Systems Catapult can help you and your teams
Get in touch
Want to know more?
Find out more about how Energy Systems Catapult can help you and your teams