University signs R&D agreement

and energy group

have signed a framework research and development (R&D) agreement, paving the way for new studies into energy networks and generation.

Under the initial four-year agreement, the university could receive as much as £2m funding from EDF for a variety of scientific and technological research projects.

The signing marks a major strategic partnership for EDF in the UK.

Academics at Manchester University have been working successfully with EDF and its UK company EDF Energy for over 20 years on a range of projects.

New projects will take place across three schools within the university's Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS); The School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE), The School of Materials and The School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE).

Potential studies in EEE include investigations into large wind power penetration, wind farms and lightning, and environmentally-friendly insulating oils for use in transformers.

In one project in the School of Materials, researchers in the Materials Performance Centre (MPC) will work with EDF's R&D section to examine stress corrosion cracking in materials used in the power industry.

There are also proposals for several new EDF-funded PhD and post doctoral projects in the area of power systems and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), taking advantage of the EDF R&D open source simulation system called Saturne.