Smart Grids research launched by University of Greenwich

(Nanowerk News) Smart grid schemes that will enable companies to decrease their energy use, utility bills and carbon dioxide emissions are being developed by the University of Greenwich.
The university has secured funding for two projects to investigate the future use of Smart Grids. The latter will enable electricity networks to become flexible and intelligent, so that they can accommodate the limitations of renewable energy sources, such as variability of power output.
Dr Spyros Skarvelis-Kazakos, Lecturer in Sustainable Electrical Power Engineering at the university, who led the funding bids, says: "Smart Grids are an increasingly important source of renewable energy. This important research has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of electricity generation."
The projects are being funded by the Technology Strategy Board. One is being led by DSE Consulting, with Cardiff University and Critical Software Technologies as partners, while the other project is led by Moixa Technology, an expert in smart DC and storage technology.
In addition, the university has also launched a PhD research project into Smart Grids, which has received backing from the Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship Fund at Greenwich. The main aim of this project is to study the technical challenges of how to integrate wind and wave farms with electricity grids.
The University of Greenwich is the greenest university in the UK, according to the most recent People & Planet Green League table, topping a league table of more than 140 higher education institutions. It was praised for having "one of the most comprehensive and ambitious environmental policies" ever seen by the People & Planet judges.
Greenwich's carbon management plan has set out how it will reduce carbon emission from energy use by 40 per cent over the next decade, while the university has committed to investing £6 million on carbon reduction projects by 2016.
Source: University of Greenwich