Introduction

Coventry: ‘Regional Energy System Operator’ (RESO) 

The ‘Regional Energy System Operator’ (RESO) Project looks to explore the advantages of a new kind of energy system operating at city scale. The system will include local low carbon energy generation, storage and management and will integrate future mobility assets such as electric vehicles into its overall envelope. The proposal is to prove the concept in Coventry and then to roll this out to other parts of the West Midlands. Such a roll out presents a significant investment attraction for suppliers to this industry.

Tyseley Energy Park (TEP) (part of Birmingham Energy Innovation Zone)

TEP, is a private / public partnership, developed by Webster and Horsfall’s 300 year old manufacturing business, and is set to shape the way the City of Birmingham develops infrastructure for renewable heat and power, energy storage, clean transport fuels in combination with advanced waste processing.

Key partnership is with the University of Birmingham who are building an innovation hub (the Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre) that will provide businesses with the chance to develop their technology and training in collaboration with university staff at the energy park. Investment opportunities include a biomass power plant; low & zero carbon refuelling station; and waste reprocessing facility.

Repowering the Black Country 

This initiative, supported by UKRI and the local partnerships, will move the region’s industrial areas towards zero carbon by creating local energy hubs. These will showcase Black Country manufacturing technology and use local resources, including commercial waste and renewable energy, to deliver zero carbon power. Investment opportunities lie in the design, planning, construction and operation of the energy hubs. This is proposed as a flexible, multi site programme and therefore presents a different proposition to the larger scale, fully integrated systems found elsewhere. 

Zero Carbon Rugeley

Zero Carbon Rugeley is a project to produce an innovative design for a town-wide Smart Local Energy System (SLES) including the former Rugeley Power Station site. This will demonstrate how carbon emissions and energy costs can be reduced whilst also providing a boost for local regeneration.

Private / public sector partners are led by Engie and include Opus One, Keele University, Conigital, and Cadent alongside the local councils and community groups.

The project offers an opportunity to work closely with the lead private sector partners to ascertain the true opportunity that will lie in the design, planning, construction and operation of this site.

UK Central

The UK Central Hub is an economic area which includes the significant infrastructure of Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre, Jaguar Land Rover, Birmingham International Station and Birmingham Business Park. From 2026 it will also include the High Speed 2 rail station and the enormous mixed use Arden Cross development. Each of the stakeholders has ambitious growth plans that will dramatically increase the level of employment and housing in the Hub area, and support the wider West Midlands economy. In order to support this opportunity Solihull Council formed the Urban Growth Company (UGC) to concentrate public sector investment on removing infrastructure constraints. As an EIZ, the wider significance of UK Central Hub is that it epitomises the energy challenges of a modern multi-modal transport hub.