Applied Research and Innovation for Net Zero: Smart Energy Context

Digitalisation, decentralisation and decarbonisation are transforming approaches to the design and operation of industrial, business, and social systems across the globe. In this context, smart grids are electrical grids that include a variety of interoperable communication and control devices to optimally facilitate the production, distribution, and consumption of electricity. They are seen as key enablers in the decarbonisation of both industry and society, and along with renewable energy will power the smart and connected industries, businesses, and citizens of the future net zero digital economy. This talk will outline innovative and disruptive smart systems for energy control and management developed over the course of a decade of ongoing applied research and innovation work at Teesside University in the UK. Activities within the context of the IDEAS, DR-BoB, InteGRIDy, REACT, VICPorts and other funded research and innovation projects will be outlined. The talk will then focus on the development and deployment of digital system architectures for data-driven energy asset modelling and for distributed optimal (or near-optimal) control of energy assets in real-time, within the context of a rolling-horizon optimization framework. The talk will outline results achieved to date and some of the remaining open issues and challenges in industrial smart energy systems. Finally, it will outline opportunities for further applied research, innovation, and industrial collaboration available through the Smart Energy Laboratory in the new Net Zero Industrial Innovation Centre (NZIIC), which is due to open in Middlesbrough in June 2023.