University of Strathclyde News

24 May 2023

Trailblazing ‘Digital twin’ project will inform future innovation in the UK energy industry

A major ‘Prosperity Partnership’ project, awarded to a consortium of partners led by SP Energy Networks and the University of Strathclyde, has received industry and government funding of almost £10 million.

The project will create a ‘digital twin’ of future multi-vector energy networks, and will assist with the drive to meet the UK’s 2050 net zero emissions objectives.

Achieving a net zero energy system is a complex and challenging task, involving integrating a variety of renewable energy sources, decarbonised loads, and non-electrical energy vectors – such as wind, solar, tidal, geothermal, hydrogen, plus electrified transport and heating – into an integrated system that is reliable, resilient and affordable.

Digital twins – virtual representations of physical systems and environments which allow engineers and scientists to model, test and analyse scenarios before applying them in the real world, and to also make decisions in real time based on observed and anticipated behaviour informed by the twin – will play a key role in designing and operating such future energy systems.

The ENSIGN: Energy System Digital Twin project is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's Prosperity Partnership Fund, with matched funding from SP Energy Networks and contributions from several other organisations.

Partners in the four-year project include the University of Glasgow, University of St Andrews and Heriot-Watt University, UK Power Networks, D’Arcy Thompson Simulator Centre, National Grid Electricity Transmission, and the National HVDC Centre, and the project will create more than 20 new, highly-skilled, academic research jobs and PhD positions.

It will deliver new knowledge and understanding of future energy systems, and will integrate real-time modelling, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to help introduce and progress the application of Digital Twins closer to ‘business as usual’.

Professor Campbell Booth of Strathclyde, said: “I am delighted to receive funding for this exciting project. This Partnership will create an Integrated Energy System-Digital Twin (IES-DT) to facilitate reliable, resilient, affordable, low-carbon, multi-vector energy systems of the future.

“The project will deliver understanding, knowledge, visibility and applications that are urgently required to facilitate accurate and informed decision-making, risk management, and functions required for effective design and operation of future multi-vector energy systems. It will be used by future system operators to balance supply and demand in a very different future energy system context.”

As the first energy provider to receive this category of EPSRC funding, SP Energy Networks is focusing on reducing costs, improving network resilience, and enhancing strategic planning. The research findings from this project will be made available to distribution network operators and their supply chains across the UK and further afield.

James Yu, Head of Innovation at SP Energy Networks, and the industry lead in the Partnership, said: “In our pursuit of becoming global leaders in the net-zero energy transition, teamwork plays a vital role. It is a privilege to have access to the academic expertise of the team, and the opportunity to collaborate and represent the industry. Together, we can work towards realising our ambitious goals.”

Scott Mathieson, Network Planning and Regulation Director at SP Energy Networks said: “The pace of change in the energy industry is like nothing we’ve ever seen so it’s vital we can stress-test tech and services before they launch publicly. This new ‘digital twin’ will allow us to simulate innovations and understand the potential benefits of new services.

“We’re partnering with some of the world’s most renowned universities to create this new model powered by AI and machine learning. It’s great that we can access the best research talent in our own community.

“The insights from this project will help to shape the future of the energy system in the UK and the energy grids of countries around the world. Having the support of the Prosperity Partnership enables us to deliver this industry-leading project to create a better future, quicker, for everyone.”

SP Energy Networks is a distribution and transmission network operator with more than six million customers across three-and-a-half million homes and businesses throughout Central & Southern Scotland and Merseyside, Cheshire, North & Mid-Wales and North Shropshire.

Dr Andrew Bourne, Director of Partnerships at EPSRC said: “Prosperity Partnerships demonstrate how business and academia can come together to co-create and co-deliver research and innovation that address industry-driven challenges and deliver economic and societal impact. These new projects showcase the breadth of research and innovation in the UK, covering a wider range of sectors, and support the UK’s ambitions to be a science superpower and an innovation nation.”

The ENSIGN: Energy System Digital Twin project is one of 19 projects which have received a total of  £149 million from EPSRC’s Prosperity Partnerships scheme.

Contact Information

Stuart Forsyth
Corporate Communications Manager
University of Strathclyde
0141 548 4373
07976 660 433
stuart.m.forsyth@strath.ac.uk

Notes to editors

About Prosperity Partnerships

This is the fifth round of prosperity partnership funding. Previous winners and further info here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/leading-uk-businesses-and-researchers-in-75-million-collaboration-to-create-technologies-of-the-future

Since 2017, when the initiative was launched, 66 EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships have received a total investment of £491 million:

  • £182 million invested by EPSRC
  • £8 million invested by MRC/BBSRC
  • £240 million committed by industry partners
  • £61 million committed by research organisations

EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships fund business-led research that arises from an industrial need, with the work being co-delivered and co-created between the business and academic partners. Prosperity Partnerships support excellent, world leading fundamental research which has clear benefit to the businesses involved, resulting in accelerated impact arising from the new knowledge, innovations or technologies.

Co-creation of the research programme is essential. EPSRC expects Prosperity Partnership projects to:

  • drive forward shared research challenges
  • demonstrate impact beyond the partners
  • provide benefits to the businesses involved.

 

University of Strathclyde

The University of Strathclyde is a leading international technological university based in the centre of Glasgow.

Inspired by our founding principle as ‘a place of useful learning’, our mission is to make a positive difference to the lives of our students, to society and to the world.

Strathclyde students benefit from an innovative and practical educational experience enhanced by its integration with our research capabilities, high-quality academic resources and an unparalleled industry engagement programme.

The excellence of our research is evidenced by the growth in range and scale of our research collaborations and by our performance in the Research Excellence Framework 2021 where almost 90% was rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’.

We have redefined how we collaborate and work with industry, government and the third sector to ensure innovation and knowledge exchange are fundamental activities that deliver tangible impact.

Strathclyde was named Scottish University of the Year 2024 in the inaugural Daily Mail University Guide, Sunday Times Good University Guide Scottish University of the Year 2020, Times Higher Education UK University of the Year 2019, and was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its excellence in energy innovation in 2020, for excellence in advanced manufacturing in 2022 and for excellence in photonics research in 2023.