Two new research centres — for sustainable electrical and thermal energy technologies — have been set up by WMG.

Funded by the Energy Research Accelerator (ERA), they will enable the Government, industry and higher education to work together to shape the future of the UK’s energy landscape.

WMG’s Energy Innovation Centre (www.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg) is a world-class facility for battery research, ranging from materials and electro-chemistry to application integration and recycling/re-use.

A £20 million ERA investment has provided new equipment and facilities, which include laboratories, a dry room for cell assembly, characterisation at cell, module and pack levels, innovative charging infrastructure and second-life evaluation facilities.

It will drive the development and the scale-up of new battery chemistries from concept through to proven traction batteries.

The School of Engineering’s Sustainable Thermal Energy Technologies Group develops low-carbon heating and cooling technologies.

A £2 million ERA investment has given the Thermal Properties Lab five test cells to accommodate additional equipment for analysing the thermal properties of materials, along with new test equipment and control/data logging facilities.

Pam Thomas, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, said: “The University of Warwick continues to produce innovative research in battery development and thermal energy, and the ERA funding means we can help research ways to tackle global challenges in areas such as energy and sustainability.”