Positive charge for battery research

The University of St Andrews is playing a key role in a Scottish consortium charged with producing smaller, lighter and more powerful batteries for electric cars, mobile phones and laptops.

Aberdeen-based ITI Energy – one of Scotland’s three government funded Intermediary Technology Institutes – has invested £5.2M in its first two research and development projects to develop the next generation of batteries.

The funding, announced by Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, covers two projects.

The first combines research by Professor Peter Bruce and his team and QinetiQ who receive £4M over two years for the development of new high-energy low-cost batteries. The technology will initially be targeted at portable applications such as mobile phones and laptops but could also raise the possibility of electric cars travelling hundreds of miles between charges.

The second project, in a related field, is a £1.2M investment to develop an advanced battery management and power control system which is being led by Dundee-based MPower Solutions and Aberdeen-based Axeon.

Welcoming the funding, Professor Bruce said, “One of the greatest challenges facing Western economies is how to close the gap between academic research and technological products. The Scottish ITI’s are an imaginative approach to this problem. We are delighted to add our academic expertise to the first two projects funded by ITI Energy. We look forward to working together with the other partners in order to build future economic success for Scotland.”

Tony Amor, Chief Executive of ITI Energy said, “We have selected our first R&D investments based on their potential to achieve global market penetration and economic benefit to Scotland. We have carefully constructed both the projects to enable maximum participation by Scottish companies and research institutes in further application development.”

ENDS

Issued by Beattie Media On behalf of the University of St Andrews For more information, please contact Claire Grainger, Press Officer – 01334 462530, 07730 415 015 or [email protected]; Ref: press releases/batteriesweb View the latest University news at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk