Energy technology company Faraday Grid has secured funding from the Innovate UK as part of a £1m project to support the development of Faraday Exchanger technology.
Image: Offshore wind farm. Photo: Courtesy of John Nyberg/FreeImages.com
Faraday Grid claims that its Faraday Exchanger technology has huge potential which can enable low-carbon energy system and deliver economic growth.
The funding will be used for the development of FERGI (Faraday Exchanger for Renewable Generation Integration) project and a full-scale Faraday Exchanger demonstrator device with power capacity of 2-3 MVA (MW).
Faraday Grid will work with Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and the University of Edinburgh for the project.
Faraday Exchanger is a power-control device developed to solve the technical challenges of voltage, frequency and power-factor control. It is claimed that the exchanger can achieve high levels of net reactive power generation reduction and reduction of losses.
Its deployment at scale is estimated to improve competitiveness of the UK’s offshore wind sector and can provide 1.6% reduction in the levelised cost of energy.
Faraday Grid plans to scale up the device to several MVA by 2020 to meet the renewable generation capacity. As a second phase of the product’s path to commercialisation, the company also intends to deploy the product in a pre-commercial renewable demonstration site.
Faraday Grid UK marketing director Derek Boyd said: “We are very happy that our technology has been recognised as a critical piece of the jigsaw to enable a low carbon future.
“This funding is further endorsement of the Faraday Grid’s capability and we are delighted to be working with the ORE Catapult and the University of Edinburgh as we continue to develop a path to commercialisation.
“Faraday Grid’s technology will transform the grid into a modern and flexible system, taking advantage of the UK’s tremendous renewable generation sources.”