The new Energy Centre at the University of Chester’s Thornton Science Park has opened for business. Funded by the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund, the project to create ‘The Energy Centre at Thornton’ has been completed ahead of schedule.

It will “promote growth and acceleration in the development, demonstration and exploitation of technologies for the energy market”.

This new facility provides a flexible space where industry and academia can come together to innovate, develop and demonstrate new intelligent-energy technologies.

The items that may be tested and developed include: photo-voltaic solar cells; electrical energy storage solutions; low-power motor drives; advanced software to control and manage multiple renewable-energy sources connected to the same power network; and thermal-energy systems based on stored and pumped heat.

Professor Joe Howe, executive director of the Thornton Energy Research Institute (www.thorntonsciencepark.co.uk), said: “The Energy Centre is a flagship innovation project of the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone, of which Thornton is a designated site.

“This project forms part of a wider energy focus for Thornton Science Park, ensuring that the site is ideally placed to anticipate and fulfil the needs of the Government’s recently announced Industrial Strategy.”