We've partnered with universities, housing associations, local authorities and training organisations across north west Europe to tackle housing emissions, responsible for approximately 300 million tonnes of CO₂/yr.

We're leading on engaging students in a series of pilots across the region who are trialling new ways of providing renewables for housing without gas, and new ways of enabling 'smart' renewables use. 

What will the pilots be doing?

The RED WoLF project will increase renewables' usage and reduce carbon emissions for homes with photovoltaic solar panels that don't have gas. Six pilots will fit houses with hybrid storage systems merging batteries and storage heaters. The heaters will provide heat on demand and the batteries will store output from the solar panels as well as low-carbon energy (wind/solar) drawn from the national grid at times of low demand using new 'smart' technology through which the houses hybrid storage systems will be able to communicate with the grid. This will remove the mismatch between generation and usage.

What's the generation usage mismatch?

One one hand, there are times when a proportion of available renewable energy is wasted - it's being generated but no one uses it. On the other hand, there are certain times of day where energy demand is highest -  from approximately 6 to 9AM (when people are getting up and having breakfast) and from 4P to 8PM (when they're home and getting the dinner on). At these times, demand is too high to rely on renewables alone so inefficient, carbon-intensive ”load-following” power plants are turned on to meet the demand. 

What will be achieved?

Across the six pilot sites, there'll be 100 houses which will reduce carbon emissions from their energy use by 215 tonnes/year. By the end of the project, the smart hybrid storage systems will be market-ready and we'll be working with partners to ensure the roll out so that policies and every-day business adopts the new technology. Of course, we'll also ensure that students are getting multiple learning, development and engagement activities through the project and will be monitoring our impact too!

Why RED WoLF?

The project title is an acronym which stands for Rethinking Electricity Distribution Without Load Following. RED WoLF is definitely easier to remember!

For more information on the project, its progress and its partners, click here.