ANZIC launched to accelerate UK’s ‘net zero’ transition

The University of Strathclyde has officially launched the Advanced Net Zero Innovation Centre (ANZIC), a new national facility supporting the UK’s transition to a ‘net zero’ economy through innovation, collaboration, and advanced manufacturing.

Located at the Rolls-Royce facility in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, ANZIC provides open-access, industrial-scale research, testing and development capabilities for clean energy, transport, and digital technologies. The new centre combines Strathclyde’s world-class research with expertise in derisking and accelerating solutions from the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) and the The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS).

ANZIC is supported by partners including Innovate UK, through the Driving the Electric Revolution Industrialisation Centres (DER-IC), part of their Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge, and Scotland’s innovation ecosystem. It is also strategically aligned with the UK Government's Net Zero Strategy and the Scottish government’s Climate Change Plan.

Professor Sir Jim McDonald, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said:
“ANZIC represents a bold step forward in our commitment to tackling the climate emergency through innovation. By bringing together world-class capabilities and strategic partnerships, we are creating a platform for transformative change in how we power our world, manufacture our technologies, and train our future workforce.”

Existential threat
Dr Will Drury, ANZIC senior responsible officer and CEO of PNDC, said: “Climate change presents us with an existential threat. ANZIC is a unique opportunity to bring together the best of industry, academia, and government to accelerate the ‘net zero’ transition. It is about making a real difference – through innovation, collaboration, and action.”

Jane Martin, managing director of innovation and investment at Scottish Enterprise, which supported the centre, said: “This facility brings together some exciting world-leading capabilities and is a brilliant example of collaboration between industry, academia, and the public sector to create an innovation asset that will foster sustainable growth in the Scottish economy. By leveraging unique strengths and resources we can both drive innovation around transformative ‘net zero’ technologies and create the right environment for companies to expand and create jobs.”

A key feature at ANZIC is the MW-scale testing environment delivered by PNDC. This includes high-capacity power supplies, dynamometers and an outdoor test area, allowing validation of large-scale energy systems and electric propulsion technologies under real-world conditions. The centre is also home to the National Advanced Semiconductor Packaging and Integration Centre (NASPIC), supported by UK Government Glasgow City Region Investment Zone funding, which is advancing the UK’s ambitions in semiconductor innovation. Led by NMIS, NASPIC provides advanced packaging and integration capabilities to help industry develop and scale next-generation semiconductor technologies.

ANZIC is now open to partners from industry, academia, and the public sector seeking to collaborate and accelerate the development and deployment of transformative ‘net zero’ technologies.