Researchers from three universities including UNSW Sydney will combine their strengths to pursue cheaper energy.
NUW Energy, an Australian-first collaboration of the best researchers from three leading universities, is working on finding solutions to Australia's future energy needs and on ways to lower energy costs for households.
Matt Gijselman, the CEO of NUW Alliance, the research alliance of the University of Newcastle, UNSW Sydney and the University of Wollongong, said he was pleased to formally announce the partnership of NUW Energy.
"NUW Energy is a unique collaboration of our best and brightest researchers seeking innovative ways of lowering energy bills for NSW households and businesses," Mr Gijselman said.
NUW Energy draws upon the research expertise across UNSW Sydney, the University of Newcastle and the University of Wollongong, to explore one of the most significant challenges facing Australia - our energy future.
The NUW Energy project will work closely with government and industry to provide a data- and research-driven approach to policy-setting and decision-making, along with driving regional economic growth and job opportunities in the sector.
"NUW Energy is focused on the delivery of safe, secure, reliable and affordable energy to power New South Wales now and into the future," Mr Gijselman said.
The formation of the NUW Alliance has been given the green light by Matt Kean, Minister for Energy and Environment.
"There has never been a more important time for this Alliance to come together. And there have never been bigger challenges facing our state," Mr Kean said.
"These extraordinary times lend new urgency to the purpose of NUW Energy, to explore the challenges of climate, energy and the environment and to find new solutions that sustain our economic prosperity and ensure the health of the environment."
About NUW Energy and NUW Alliance
NUW Energy represents the largest and most compelling Australian research cohort to be addressing current energy issues. Representing a global network of leading industry partners and allied research agencies, NUW Energy enables simple, streamlined and direct access to world-class research expertise, removing the traditional barriers that inhibiting collaboration between academic, industry and government.
NUW Energy represents more than 200 discrete areas of world-class energy research capability and unprecedented access to 30 distinct, world-leading research facilities, centres and institutes of research and innovation in NSW.
Over-arching objectives of the NUW Energy collaboration include the development of:
- Integrated network technology to address future energy demands
- Close cooperation between researchers and industry to ensure NSW is at the forefront of the development of advanced energy solutions
- Opportunity to undertake high quality research underpinned by the needs of the energy sector that drives global best practice and offers enhanced educational opportunities for industry and students.
The NUW Alliance comprises three of Australia's leading research-intensive universities - the University of Newcastle, UNSW Sydney and the University of Wollongong.
The mission of the NUW Alliance is to seek out the big collaborations that make a difference, collaborations that unlock new value, impact and benefit for our communities across NSW.
The University of Newcastle, UNSW Sydney and the University of Wollongong, acting together as the NUW Alliance, continue to build on their local and global reputations as leaders in research and student experience. The universities have a proud history of achievement that has led to strong outcomes in international university rankings.
Professor Valerie Linton, Executive Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong said the collaboration was unlike anything previously seen in Australian higher education.
"There is nothing you could throw at us that we couldn't grapple with because of our depth and breadth of experience," Prof. Linton said. "Collaborations and alliances like this are the way of the future. Building capabilities and multi-faceted approach to solving the really big challenges that face society."
Professor Alan Broadfoot is the Executive Director of the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources.
"As individual institutions, we are centres of excellence. When we act together, we can deliver competitive advantage in advanced energy integration," Prof. Broadfoot said.
"It's important that industry, government and academia work together because there is not a solution in just one sector."
Justine Jarvinen, CEO UNSW Energy Institute, added that each university brought highly impressive skill sets to the project.
"NUW Energy allows us to take the unique capabilities of UNSW Sydney, the University of Newcastle and University of Wollongong and combine them in ways that can amplify our impact," Ms Jarvinen said.
"We see hydrogen as part of a whole energy ecosystem, where we can bring our expertise and add it to the expertise of our colleagues in Newcastle and Wollongong and ask, 'how do we create a hydrogen economy for NSW and Australia?' "
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