The University of Birmingham has signed an agreement with the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (IET) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to form a joint centre for mechanical energy storage technologies.
The agreement marks the start of a formal partnership between IET, a top research institute in compressed air energy storage and associated technologies in China, and the University of Birmingham, a leading organisation in thermal and liquid air energy storage research.
Witnessed by Mr Dianwen Cao, Deputy Director-General of Bureau of International Cooperation, CAS, the signing is also the first formal agreement the University has made with Chinese Academy of Sciences, the largest and most prestigious Chinese research organisation.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Schofield, University of Birmingham, said:
“The University of Birmingham is delighted that, based on a productive ongoing collaboration between IET Centre for Physical Energy Storage led by Professor Haisheng Chen, and Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage led by Professor Yulong Ding and Dr Jonathan Radcliffe, we are now entering into an agreement that formalises our partnership.
“This will allow us to better align our complementary strengths, to work more closely on a strategic level to make a greater impact on the development of more efficient, clean and low carbon energy systems in our two countries.”
IET Director Professor Junqiang Zhu commented:
“It is very important for IET to develop and maintain our mutually beneficial collaborations with leading international institutions such as the University of Birmingham. We hope that, through the joint centre, we will develop long-term programmes in collaborative research, staff/student exchanges to help further enhance our research capabilities, and to enable us to make greater contributions to the development of new energy technologies.”
Dr Jonathan Radcliffe of Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage added:
“Energy storage is likely to be a critical component of future energy systems in many markets around the world. The technologies IET and the University of Birmingham are developing together will be able to large store quantities of energy, helping to balance fluctuations in demand and supply at the grid level. Now is the time to be scaling up our technologies and building the capability to have a global impact.”
Notes:
- The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 5,000 international students from over 150 countries.
- The Chinese Academy of Sciences focusses China’s drive to explore and harness high technology and the natural sciences for the benefit of China and the world. Comprising a comprehensive research and development network, a merit-based learned society and a system of higher education, CAS brings together scientists and engineers from China and around the world to address both theoretical and applied problems using world-class scientific and management approaches.