23 May 2008 11:08
E.ON announces research grants to investigate energy storage technologies

Electric cars which return unused power to the national grid and technology which can store wind energy under the sea are just two of the projects to be awarded funding from a €60 million (£48 million) research programme from

 E.ON, one of Europe's leading renewable energy generators.

Storing the energy generated by renewable sources is the focus of the first round of E.ON's 10-year Energy Research Initiative, which has awarded grants to projects at the universities of Nottingham and Strathclyde.

Researchers are dealing with different methods of energy storage, ranging from highly efficient batteries and new heat storage devices, to the use of electric vehicles as mobile storage units and compressed-air storage systems on the seabed.

"Energy storage is key to the further development of renewables," said Allan Jones, Managing Director of E.ON Engineering.

"It's our duty, more than ever, to reconcile the three goals of reasonable pricing, climate protection and security of supply. If we're to succeed it's essential not only to improve energy efficiency but, above all, to create an energy mix with the lowest possible share of CO2.

"It is necessary to store energy on a large scale if renewables like wind, which only produces electricity under favourable wind conditions, can make their full contribution to power supply."

Across the world, E.ON intends to double its renewables share to almost a quarter of the energy mix by 2030. Up to 2010 alone it will invest at least €6 billion in this area but to make best use of the technology is looking for innovative solutions to store the energy that is generated.

The idea is that the energy generated is used to charge batteries or is converted, for instance, into compressed air and can then be retrieved when the rotors are not turning.

This would enable renewable sources to contribute constantly to power supply.

The successful United Kingdom projects are:

• Dr Andrew Cruden of the University of Strathclyde will assess the benefits of dual use energy storage using vehicle batteries capable of both taking from and delivering power to the grid as appropriate. 
  A future scenario could be when motorists return home and upload the remaining energy in their car battery to the grid at times of high electrical demand on the system.  They would then charge the battery overnight when electricity demand is lower, ready for the next day;
  
• Professor Greg Asher of the University of Nottingham aims develop a demonstration model of a supercapattery, a novel energy storage which combines the benefits of a supercapacitor and a battery -  having fast charge/discharge rates and the capability to store a large amount of electrical energy;

• Professor Seamus Garvey, of the University of Nottingham, is looking at using wind-generated energy to compress and pump air into underwater bags, anchored to the seabed.
  When energy demand is highest, the air would be released through a turbine, converting it to electricity.

The next round of the E.ON International Research Initiative was launched in Berlin this week. The focus of the 2008 call is Application of Nanotechnology in the Energy Business.

More detail on E.ON's Energy Research Initiative is available here: www.eon.com/research_initiative

E.ON has a renewable development portfolio in the UK that could produce enough renewable power for around a million homes and displace the emission of almost two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Worldwide, the Group plans to invest €6bn in renewable energy projects by 2010.

In addition, E.ON is also committed to cutting the amount of carbon it produces for every unit of electricity it generates by 10% by 2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990. The Group is aiming to cut the same figure by 50% by 2030.

To that end, its investment plans include:

• £1.5bn for a 1,600MW cleaner coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent;
• £700m for the 300MW Humber Gateway offshore wind farm located over 8km off the East Yorkshire coast;
• £500m for one of the world's largest combined heat and power stations at the Isle of Grain in Kent;
• £325m for the 180MW Robin Rigg offshore wind farm in the Solway Firth;
• A 1,200MW CCGT in Drakelow in Derbyshire;
• A wave power scheme off the north coast of Cornwall; and
• A tidal stream project off the coast of Pembrokeshire.

Ends

Notes to editors:

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. We employ around 17,000 people in the UK;
• E.ON is the new name for Powergen. Our retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK, with around 8 million electricity and gas customer accounts, covering domestic, SME and industrial. E.ON offers central heating and boiler care through its Home Energy Services business;
• Our distribution business, branded Central Networks, provides a reliable supply to 4.9 customers in central England through 133,000km of underground and overhead cables - enough to go round the Earth more than three times - and via almost 97,000 substations. The company covers an area from the Peak District in the north to parts of Bristol in the south, and from the Welsh Borders to the Lincolnshire Coast;
• We are sponsoring The FA Cup, which is known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON. We are an official partner of The Tour of Britain, sponsoring the King of the Mountains competition;
• The generation business produces enough electricity to cater for the needs of around eight million homes from a portfolio of world-class gas, coal and oil fired power stations;
• We are a market leader in combined heat and power, providing our customers with around 600MW of electricity and more than 1,000MW of heat at 13 sites across the country;
• E.ON Climate and Renewables is the name of the E.ON unit that operates and develops renewable energy projects in the UK and around the world;
• We're one of the leading renewable generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland and we have recently finished construction of one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations, Steven's Croft near Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough renewable energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;
• Our renewable development portfolio could power over a million homes and displace the emission of almost two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by building new onshore and offshore wind farms, biomass power stations, and tidal stream and wave power schemes;
• We have 1,300MW of renewable capacity under development in the UK
• E.ON Group aims to spend €6bn on renewable generation by the end of 2010.
• Our target is to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity we generate by 10% between 2005-2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990;
• We invested £53 million in energy efficiency in 2006. These measures included loft and cavity wall insulation, installation of energy efficient boilers and smart metering, a technology we are investing a further £12 million in over the next two years;
• Our non-operational carbon intensity dropped by 15.5% per employee in 2006;
• We are investing £50 million in new technologies and approaches over the next 5 years, through the Energy Technologies institute;
• We have Biodiversity Action Plans at many of our sites which align us with the UK target of significantly reducing biodiversity loss;
• E.ON Group recently announced it intends to reduce the carbon intensity of its generation by 50% by 2030 (on 1990 levels).

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