The ‘ImpRESS’ project was officially launched on October 3, 2017, at Queen’s during an industry workshop with the International Energy Research Centre (IERC), which has funded the partnership.
Currently, Ireland is deploying variable renewable energies, such as wind, wave and solar energy, to help it decarbonize its energy use. While the opportunities for renewable energy systems to address electricity generation are increasing, the uncertainty and variability of the availability of renewables can pose challenges.
The Irish grid requires additional flexibility to be able to accommodate the variability of renewable. The ImpRESS project will focus on analyzing, innovating and improving the performance and efficiency of storage solutions on the all-island grid and the integrated single electricity market (I-SEM), due for launch next year.
Dr Peter Nockemann from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s, said “Queen’s University will act as the primary research and development team for both the electrolyte improvement and systems modelling, making use of our vast experience in the design and synthesis of electrolytes based on ionic liquid technology.
“This partnership of world class experts will form a creative synergy for electric storage systems to meet the current and future needs of electric power systems in Ireland.”
The IERC and Queen’s University Belfast are collaborating with a number of companies including Bombardier, Flow Energy Solutions, Williams Industrial Services and Green Lizard Technologies. The project also involves collaboration with Rongke Power in the deployment of a 125 kW flow battery solution on an Irish test site with multiple renewable energy inputs.
Professor Tony Day, Executive Director of the IERC, commented: “Ireland has fluctuating energy dynamics, and as a consequence of being an island, the scale of the power system is such that it provides an excellent test-bed for the evaluation of energy storage solutions.
“The ImpRESS project focuses on all-island electrical energy generation, consumption and storage to meet current requirements, and examines technologies for future electrical networks and grids. It will deliver engineering recommendations capable of influencing future grid-code standards and electrical power system policy development.”
Photo courtesy of Queen's University
