$5m training centre to advance clean energy transition

The University of Wollongong (UOW) has been awarded $5 million in funding for an ARC Training Centre in Energy Technologies for Future Grids, as part of the Australian Government’s commitment to commercialising Australian research under its Industrial Transformation Research Program.

The program will provide $36.4 million in funding for eight new research hubs and $37.8 million for eight new training centres.

The ARC Training Centre in Energy Technologies for Future Grids at UOW will be led by Professor Kashem Muttaqi, from the School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences.

“The training centre will address the complex and challenging issues currently limiting the growth of renewable energy through innovations that facilitate widespread integration of these resources into electricity grids while maintaining grid stability,” Professor Muttaqi said.

“It will advance Australia’s transition to a clean energy future and will deliver the next generation of industry leaders and specialists in future grid technologies for renewable energy generation, transmission and distribution.

“Supported by renewable hydrogen energy storage and market-driven customer responsiveness enabled by new information and communications technologies, this will provide a more sustainable, reliable, secure and affordable electricity system.”

Professor Darmawan (Danny) Sutanto, Associate Professor Raad Raad, Associate Professor Ashish Agalgaonkar and Dr Md. Rabiul Islam from UOW’s School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering are also Chief Investigators on the project.

Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said the projects will create stronger research and industry connections in areas including energy, biomedical technology and agriculture.

“These facilities will bring together our finest research minds and leading businesses to tackle the key strategic challenges facing our nation, our region and the world,” Minister Tudge said.

“They will ensure we are getting the most out of our world-class research while transferring that information into real-world outcomes that will help our post-COVID economic recovery and strengthen our nation.

“The training centres will also equip our future generation of researchers by giving students and postdoctoral researchers practical skills and experience through industry placements.”

UOW Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Jennifer Martin (Research and Innovation) congratulated the team and said the funding will help deliver world-class industry-linked research into renewable energy and boost Australia’s transition to a clean energy future.

“UOW is committed to embedding the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across our three pillars of education, research and community. I am absolutely delighted that this new research training centre has been awarded to conduct world-class research with a direct impact on SDG7, Clean and Affordable Energy,” Professor Martin said.

“The new training centre will deliver solutions to complex issues that create barriers to Australia’s transition to a clean energy future which is sustainable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly.”

UOW researchers Professor Jiangtao Xi, Associate Professor Raad Raad and Honorary Fellow Dr Javad Foroughi are also collaborating with the new ARC Research Hub for Connected Sensors for Health.

Led by Professor Chun Wang at UNSW, the Hub aims to develop, manufacture and deploy high-tech, cyber-secure, medically certified IoT sensors to global health markets by integrating disparate Australian capabilities into a productive, end-to-end value chain.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Christos Georghiou