Dr Ahmed F. Zobaa
Reader

Implementing digitalization to improve energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment in Turkish distribution networks
Funder: British Council
Duration: February 2021 - February 2023

The aim of this project is to increase welfare of low-income population in Southeast Turkey by achieving savings in the distribution network that serves them. This will come from digitalizing the energy systems and decreasing power losses. It will allow more renewable energy installations, leading to long term economic benefits.

Researcher Links Workshop
Funder: British Council
Duration: January 2015 -

UK-Egypt enhanced research networks in renewable energy to support economic development'

e-HIGHWAY2050 - Modular Development Plan of the Pan-European Transmission System 2050
Funder: European Commission
Duration: September 2012 - December 2015

CENIT-E OCEAN LIDER
Funder: The Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) and the Spanish government's State Fund for Local Investment (the so-called Plan-E), along with the backing of the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Duration: 2010 - 2012

The CENIT-E OCEAN LÍDER project is an ambitious technology initiative promoted by a consortium of companies with a strong research capability which addresses the challenge of developing the necessary technologies to set up integrated installations that can harness marine renewable energies, such as waves and tidal currents.

Britain's Energy Security in a Multipolar World
Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Duration: 2009 - 2012

Energy policy aims to fulfil a number of inter-linked, but not necessarily complementary, goals related to environmental, social, economic and security concerns. The importance of energy security derives from the critical role that energy plays in all aspects of every day and business life. Fossil fuels, particularly oil and gas, are the energy resources which underpin modern society. These serve both as fuels (to enable transport, light and heat) but also as the basic inputs, along with other resources, for manufacture and distribution of goods and services necessary for economic well-being and development. The economic and social implications of breakdown in, or perceived insecurity of, energy supply chains can be very severe. The energy world is rapidly changing. Climate change worries are constraining energy policies. At the same time, new economic and politcial world actors, such as Russia, India, China and Brazil, has led to a multipolar balance of power within the globe. These powers require more resources, including oil and gas. This has led to increasing prices and concerns over the future availability and price of oil and gas, and has precipitated changes in the delicate balance of strategic alliances.This proposal aims to analyse the inter-relationships between energy policy, international relations and supply chain policy for Britain's energy security. It analyses the extent to which energy secure policies within those disciplines exhibit resilience, stability, durability and robustness (after Stirling, 2008). Energy security is, in one sense, a very practical and urgent issue. The lights have to be kept on; oil has to flow to meet demand. However, the economic and technical demands of keeping the lights on and the international relation and political aspects of keeping the oil flowing are generally dealt with seperately. The hypothesis of this proposal is that Britain's energy security would improve if they were dealt with in a more inter-linked manner. By bringing the different disciplines of energy policy, international relations and supply chain analysis together, this research cluster will analyse the various temporal and dimensional aspects of energy security, a complex area of energy policy. The 'new' or 'distinctive' element of this proposal is to bring together three overlapping disciplinary research areas of expertise to address the problem of energy security: energy policy, international relations and research about supply chains. As discussed above, there has long been a distinction within the energy world's discussions between internal and external sources of energy security or insecurity. This has led to the following logic of British policy towards energy security: (1) short-term energy security questions, primarily economic and technical, have to be dealt with so that the lights stay on: for examples, questions of variable power output; and ensuring appropriate incentives to encouraging investment in operation and maintenance and new infrastructure. At the same time, (2) it atempts to move away from dependence on oil and gas by (a) reducing energy demand and (b) moving over to low carbon technologies, including within the particularly important transport sector. However, the energy policy debate is, as yet, limited in its ability to incorporate new, or alternative, approaches to analysing and explaining evolving international contexts and their implications for domestic energy security. The research cluster will explore how Britain could improve their strategic, flexible relationships with energy supply countries; and also develop greater resilience in the strategic energy supply chains (a) for oil and gas (as it already attempts to) but (b) for the resources and low carbon technologies (and their components) in the short through to long term to enable the move from the fossil to low carbon economy.

Building Research Capacity
Funder: Southwest Regional Development Agency
Duration: 2008 - 2008

The Partnership for Research in Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE)
Funder: The South west Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), now REGEN SW, and the European Union through its Convergence and Competitiveness programmes
Duration: 2007 - 2010

PRIMaRE started in 2009 as the Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy, set up by the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter with funding from the South west Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), now REGEN SW, and the European Union through its Convergence and Competitiveness programmes. Initially conceived as a 3 year project which brought together world-class researchers around Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) to build together the capabilities necessary in the Peninsula to support Wave Hub and have a wider impact in the global MRE sector. In 2013 PRIMaRE rebranded itself as the Partnership for Research in Marine Renewable Energy, a consortium of marine renewable energy experts across higher education, research and industry which have joined together to establish a ‘network of excellence’ centred in the South of the UK. The Universities of Plymouth, Exeter, Southampton, Bristol and Bath, along with the Marine Biological Association of the UK and Plymouth Marine Laboratory, have agreed to work together on research projects across the spectrum of marine renewables. Completing the line-up of the Partnership for Research in Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) is the South West Marine Energy Park (SW MEP) and the Wave Hub facility off the north coast of Cornwall, who will act as conduits between the research community and industry.

Investigation of the Possibilities for Implementation of the Active Power Filters for Increasing the Energy Efficiency of Electrical Power and Improving Power Quality
Funder: National Science Fund, Bulgaria
Duration: 2005 - 2009