A new ARC Research Hub for Integrated Energy Storage Solutions at UNSW, led by Professor Joe Dong, will focus on facilitating transition towards sustainable, reliable, secure and cost-effective energy sectors.
The Research Hub, funded through the , will generate knowledge in storage technology manufacturing, control and management, and provide solutions to a more sustainable, secure, reliable and economically efficient energy supply.
It will develop advanced energy storage technologies including聽batteries for extreme environments, structural supercapacitors, innovated fuel cells, and power-to-gas systems. The goal is to integrate these storage solutions into existing energy networks and applications using novel storage monitoring, control and optimisation technologies.聽
The new hub was launched at a ceremony at UNSW on Thursday by聽the Federal Minister for Education, the Hon. Dan Tehan, who joined a group of researchers and Hub partners on a tour of the world-class facilities, including the Particles and Catalysis Research Laboratory and rooftop solar energy facilities.
Special guests at the launch included the CEO of the Australian Research Council, Professor聽Sue Thomas;聽UNSW President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor聽Ian Jacobs;聽Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, Professor Nicholas Fisk;聽and Hub Director and Professor of Energy Systems,聽Joe Dong.
鈥淲hat this Integrated Energy Storage Solutions Hub will embark on is absolutely vital to our nation鈥檚 future,鈥 Minister Tehan said.
鈥淚f we are to transition our economy, then having the energy solutions to do it is absolutely vital because if we don鈥檛, we won鈥檛 be able to transition in a way which takes all Australians with us.鈥
He said that the research conducted at this hub will drive more secure, sustainable and economically efficient energy usage through effective storage devices and advanced technologies. 聽
鈥淚mportantly, this research hub will bring together experts from universities and industry to work together to develop new, commercially-viable methods to capture surplus electricity from Australia鈥檚 abundant renewable resources,鈥 he said.聽
Professor Jacobs said he was proud to help launch the facility where UNSW researchers will collaborate with colleagues from UTS and Deakin University.
鈥淲e need to take the world class research being done at Australian universities and translate it into industrial solutions. And that is precisely what this Research Hub will do,鈥 Professor Jacobs said.
鈥淚mproving the lives of people around the world is an ambition shared by all universities and I am supremely confident the Hub will make an enduring contribution to that goal,鈥 he concluded. 聽
The new research hub will involve 14 participating organisations and international collaborations providing a total input of $12聽million.
Professor Fisk said that this hub team had spectacular credentials for truly transformative research in the energy storage space 鈥 essential for tackling the intermittency bugbear of renewable energy.聽
For more information go to the ARC Research Hub .