£10m centre for industry-led sustainable energy research

£10m centre for industry-led sustainable energy research

£10m centre for industry-led sustainable energy research

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What is CASE?

The Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE) is an industry-led sustainable energy research centre.

Through the Invest Northern Ireland Competence Centre programme we fund collaborative Research & Development (R&D) in sustainable energy. We bridge the gap between industry research needs and academic research offerings.

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Research

We’ve listened to organisations operating in the sector and focused our research agenda in three strategic areas.

Our work helps to position Northern Ireland at the forefront of the global sustainable energy market; by integrating leading research into the local industrial base, for the benefit of the business community and the wider economy.

Bio-Energy

With a number of commercial scale energy from biomass plants operational in Northern Ireland at present, CASE Research will focus on optimising the efficiency of the plant in terms of operational capacity and optimising the resource feedstock.

Biogas is of increasing importance and value as a biofuel, particularly for transport.

Marine Renewable Energy

With wind energy regularly contributing over 12% of Northern Ireland’s energy portfolio, wind energy is an established technology. Nevertheless, single turbines with stranded grid connections remain an issue.

Northern Ireland is one of the best tidal energy resources in Europe and research in this area is required to reduce the levelised cost of energy to compete with offshore wind.

Energy Systems

The 2013 Matrix (Sustainable Energy Science Advisory Panel) Report identified Northern Ireland as an ideal test bed for intelligent energy systems.

A 40% renewable energy target by 2020 and an electricity grid requiring significant investment to deliver on these renewable targets provides plenty of opportunity for innovation through R&D.

Our Support Mechanisms

Established in September 2013, we can access £5m of research grant to fund collaborative R&D projects in partnership with academics at Queen’s University Belfast, University of Ulster and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute. We can also signpost companies to other grant support through Invest NI, UK Government, the EU and Internationally.

The results of CASE R&D also provide a solid base for influencing local government policy in the sustainable energy sector and we proactively promote Northern Ireland’s sustainable energy innovation capability within government circles.