About the Welsh Energy Research Centre
Wales has a number of Energy Research groups operating within the Universities and Research Institutes. These groups cover the majority of the energy production and supply chain, from alternative energy technologies, energy transportation and management through to utilisation. Many of these groups are acknowledged as International leaders in their areas of technology.
To strengthen further the sector within Wales and to facilitate the more rapid commercialisation of developments, the academic groups, supported by the Welsh Assembly Government, have combined to create the Welsh Energy Research Centre (WERC). WERC is a virtual centre, based at the Engineering Centre for Manufacturing and Materials (ECM2 ) at Port Talbot. WERC will enable much closer collaboration between the groups, which will lead to the development of integrated energy projects. An industrial membership scheme will enable early commercial involvement in projects.
The centre will focus on development and demonstration projects, to facilitate the rapid commercialisation and exploitation of the research carried out within the research institutes. The implementation and exploitation of these developments will ensure that new technologies are available to reduce the carbon emissions from Energy production, and will realise the huge potential for job creation in the new energy sectors.
The WERC is governed by a Steering Board made up of leading academics from Welsh research institutes and is supported by a secretariat based in Port Talbot at ECM2.
Wales is rapidly becoming a major energy centre within the UK. The development of LNG importation in Pembrokeshire and the associated gas transmission facilities is providing a key focus of activities. There are a number of new wind farms both onshore and offshore, which are adding to the mix of energy production including the existing coal fired and nuclear generation capacity. WERC will extend the research activity in this vital area to broaden the mix of energy supply options and to utilize the existing capacity in a more efficient way. By reducing our reliance on the present limited number of resources we will greatly improve our security of supply. WERC will be working with other research initiatives to make the best results possible, especially the Energy Technium in Pembrokeshire and Sustainable Technium at Baglan Port Talbot. Energy Technium will be a key factor in large scale Marine Energy projects such as Tidal Stream and Wave.
WERC was formally launched in the summer of 2005, and an inaugural Conference was held on the 23rd September 2005 at ECM2 . The conference was launched by Andrew Davies, the Welsh Assembly Minister for Economic Development and Transport, with a Key Note Speech from Dr. Ron Loveland, the Chief Technology Officer for the Welsh Assembly. The conference was also attended by Dr. Hywel Francis, MP for Aberafan, and chair of the Welsh affairs committee. Officers from Local Authorities and local energy agencies joined over 140 industrial and academic attendees at the conference.
Papers were presented by a number of the key research teams within Wales, covering the Built environment, Marine Energy, the Hydrogen Economy, PV Developments, Biomass and Contemporary fuel combustion technologies.
You can access the presentations, attendance list and pictures of the day at the members webarea. If you have not already registered with the website you are able to do so by using the Register Now button to the left.
The Built Environment |
Prof. Phil Jones: Head of School and Director of Architectural Science at the Welsh School of Architecture |
Power Electronic systems |
Dr. Salah Khanniche: Electronic Systems Design Centre University of Wales Swansea |
Photo Voltaic's |
Prof. Stuart Irvine: WDA Professor of Optoelectronics University of Wales, Bangor |
Energy from Bio-Mass |
Dr. John Valentine: Team leader Bio energy crops Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research |
Combustion |
Prof. Phil Bowen: at the Institute of Sustainability, Energy and Environmental Management Cardiff University |
Marine Energy |
Dr. Ian Masters: at the School of Engineering University of Wales Swansea |
Hydrogen Economy |
Prof. Dennis Hawkes: School of Applied Science Glamorgan University |