ETI grants over £53 million for 15 energy projects

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), the association commissioned to develop the engineering and technology approaches that will support the UK to meet its carbon emission targets in 2050, published a summary of the projects it has financed in 2009.

In total, the ETI has granted over £53 million for 15 projects in carbon capture and storage, energy storage and distribution, offshore wind, marine, and transport. The institute is moreover in partnership with global industrial groups such as BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E.ON, Rolls Royce and Shell.

ETI had earlier provided £11 million for a plug-in vehicle survey project that evaluates consumers’ attitudes toward electric cars and £8 million for a facility that estimates the power yield of tidal stream arrays. In addition, the institute had financed a £5.1 million scheme that detects the causes of component failures in offshore wind turbines and a £3.8 million system to develop the UK’s first national catalogue of geological storage capacity for carbon dioxide. A further £70 million of grants are planned to be given in the first half of 2010.

David Clarke, CEO of ETI, emphasized the need to quickly develop and deploy low carbon technologies to support the UK’s energy targets and consumers. Under the Climate Change Act, the UK is required to lessen its 2050 emissions by 80 per cent from its 1990 levels. ETI aims to spend at least £1 billion in over 10 years in science, technology and engineering projects to support the country’s low carbon emission targets, to supply affordable power capacity for consumers, and to enhance energy supplies.