Ocean REFuel workshop attracts key stakeholders

Ocean REFuel workshop update

On Wednesday 29 March 2023 the University of Nottingham Energy Institute hosted a stakeholder workshop for the Ocean Renewable Energy Fuel (Ocean REFuel) project. This project is being led by the University of Strathclyde.

Ocean REFuel is a £10M research project which aims to investigate the possibly of harnessing offshore wind and marine renewable energy in order to meet the objective of producing zero carbon hydrogen and ammonia fuels. There are multiple stakeholders involved in the project, including the universities of Nottingham, Cardiff, Newcastle, and Imperial College London, along with over 20 industrial partners. 

This multi-disciplinary project will explore methods to identify ways for converting ocean energy into fuels for heating, energy storage and transport applications. All areas which prove challenging to decarbonise. 

The workshop attracted attendees from all of the partner organisations and was led by outstanding speaker Feargal Brennan, the Principal Investigator from the University of Strathclyde. The agenda featured updates on the various work streams that form part of the project.

• Work Stream 1 Update - Offshore structures, logistics and power generation
• Work Stream 2 Update - Power to Carbon Free Fuel
• Work Stream 3 Update - Carbon Free Fuel Transportation & Storage
• Work Stream 4 Update - Networks, Capability and Demand
• Work Stream 5 Update - Policy framework/Economic modelling

There was plenty of discussion and lively question and answer sessions in between the presentations of each work stream. This workshop was a great success and generated a lot of positive feedback. 

The investigators from the University of Nottingham are Gavin Walker, Robin Irons, David Grant and Jon McKechnie, who have received funding of almost £2M to investigate the prospective of harnessing marine renewable energy and offshore wind for conversion to both zero carbon fuels and hydrogen, as reported in this press release. 

Please visit the Ocean REFuel project website to learn more.