The striking, arched Energy Academy building incorporates the control room for Energy Works as well as education and research and development facilities. With full viewing windows on both floors, the building is purpose-designed to offer operational staff, researchers and visitors wide-ranging views of operations on site.
The partnership with the university will support two full-time PhD students and offer schools, other education institutions and the local community generally the opportunity to learn about the benefits of renewable energy technologies.
Specifically, the Energy Academy will support research related to the technologies within Energy Works and related processes.
Richard Burgess, Deputy Managing Director of Spencer Group, said, “Completion of the Energy Academy is a key milestone for the whole project. From the outset the objective was for Energy Works to be more than a power plant and construction of the Energy Academy demonstrates that ambition is being delivered.”
Energy Works will have an ongoing relationship with learning institutions at primary, secondary and higher education levels.
In addition to the partnership with the University of Hull, Energy Works has a well-established relationship with nearby Stoneferry Primary School in which pupils are learning about waste management and recycling and, especially, the necessity to save energy, for example by switching off lights and appliances when not in use.
Spencer Group Operations Director Andy Beach, said, “As a Hull-based company, everyone at Spencer Group is very proud of Energy Works and the benefits it will bring to the city and region.”
Energy Works is due to begin generating electricity this year using an energy recovery process called fluidised bed gasification to produce sufficient energy to power 43,000 homes by processing 240,000 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) annually, including Hull’s household waste.
