A pilot project for an innovative energy systems accelerator – one of several schemes to have benefitted from government funding secured by OxLEP – is set to make a major impact in the drive towards a zero-carbon future, after it was announced officially open yesterday (Thursday 26 May).
The Energy Systems Accelerator pilot – better known as Mini-TESA – is a world-leading multi-disciplinary hub, championing technical and services innovation in the energy systems transition. The hub is based at Osney Mead in Oxford and began operating at the start of the year.
Mini-TESA is one of several projects supported by the government’s Getting Building Fund, set up with the aim to help kick-start the UK economy following the emergence of COVID-19.
The pilot project has seen the transformation of Holywell House into a co-working space with the potential to host up to 100 workstations (with social distancing), as well as being home to an ideas-exchange hub where different disciplines and organisations can develop radical thinking.
By facilitating industry and academic collaboration across all energy sectors (electricity, heat and mobility), new approaches to the energy transition can be accelerated and deployed at scale. This will drive innovation in low carbon technologies and services nationally and internationally, helping to ensure the UK meets its legally binding carbon targets.
The pilot space will now be used to inform the final design and operational practices of a ‘full TESA’ project, bringing forward its benefits by a whole year. The pilot itself is set to create 102 new jobs for the Oxfordshire economy.
Now operational, Mini-TESA houses two University research groups, the Low Carbon Hub (a social enterprise), and a team from Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (the local electricity distributor).
It also houses the University’s MSc in Energy Systems and has hot-desking spaces for part-time occupants. Finally, it has a facility for hosting large-scale ‘SPRINTS’, where many stakeholders can come together to discuss underlying issues to the energy transition, with the aim of identifying pathways to smooth the transition.
Once the pilot has proved to be successful and further funding is secured, the full TESA will incorporate a 10,000m2 international facility where up to 800 practitioners, stakeholders and academics can work and interact, maximising creativity. The full TESA is set to be net-carbon negative and located in the new Innovation District, which will regenerate the West End of Oxford.
The full TESA is a flagship project within the Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy – launched by OxLEP in September 2019 – which will underpin UK innovation in net-zero solutions, as well as pioneering energy systems.
OxLEP – working with the University of Oxford – secured £600,000 of funding for the Mini-TESA project via the Getting Building Fund, with the total cost of the project being £785,000.
Working alongside private and public sector partners from across the county, during the summer of 2020, OxLEP secured a total of £8.4million-worth of investment for Oxfordshire, giving businesses and communities an all-important boost following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Since its inception in 2011, OxLEP – with its partners – has secured over £1bn-worth of investment for Oxfordshire, which has seen more than 65,000 new jobs created in the county to-date.
In total, OxLEP currently oversees a £2.2bn growth programme for the county.
Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive of OxLEP, said: “The opening of this initial project is excellent news, as the space will have a significant impact on supporting the drive towards a zero-carbon future for the county.
“This project showcases how – with the right level of investment – Oxfordshire is well-set to ‘do more’ and create further solutions to address the climate emergency.
“It is particularly clear in light of COP26, how Oxfordshire is inspiring young minds, entrepreneurs and collaborators to understand that the county is the location ‘of choice’ when it comes to opportunities available to support the drive to zero-carbon.
“It also aligns directly with the Getting Building Fund’s main aim of accelerating economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As the Local Enterprise Partnership for Oxfordshire, we will continue to play a vitally important role for the county moving forward, helping to secure investment that enables new opportunities that will benefit the county’s businesses for many years to come.”
Professor Nick Eyre, Director of the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions and Co-Director of ZERO Institute, said: “To stop climate change, we need to move away from fossil fuels by mid-century. This will require transformation in the ways we capture, convert, store and use energy. It’s an unprecedented challenge.”
Professor Malcolm McCulloch, Head of Energy and Power Group, founder of YASA motors and Co-Director of ZERO Institute, said: “This launch of both the ZERO Institute and of mini-TESA is an exciting milestone to realising the ambition of Oxford University to play its role in helping the global transition to a zero-carbon energy future.
“The institute convenes an exceptional group of minds to address the problem and mini-TESA provides a place to accelerate the translation to real world innovation.”
Dr Andy Gilchrist, Low Carbon Energy Partnerships, University of Oxford, said: “To deliver a zero-carbon world, the way our energy system moves energy to and between all consumers will need to change radically. And to make this challenge even harder, our energy system must evolve extremely rapidly and without interrupting supply. It’s undoubtedly humanity’s biggest ever challenge.”
Overall, Oxfordshire’s Getting Building Fund investment is set to support a number of emerging clean energy projects in the county, creating hundreds of new jobs in the process.
Getting Building Fund projects also recognise the possible ‘changing face’ of work patterns in Oxfordshire, supporting businesses to be more agile in-light of COVID-19.
Collectively, Oxfordshire-focused schemes supported by the Getting Building Fund are set to lead to the creation of 472 new jobs – as well as an additional 43 construction-focused roles – with the fund also ready to safeguard a further 324 jobs.