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NETWORK / 18 / MARCH 2018 T he FLEXIS vision is to achieve a resil- ient, sustainable, a ordable, secure energy system across Wales with potential for global application. FLEXIS aims to support the transition to the 2050 emission reduction targets by de-risking, and therefore accelerating the deployment of - exible inte- grated energy systems over the next decade. The energy trilemma posits developments in sustainabil- ity against a ordability and security of supply. Whilst de- carbonisation o‚ en dominates the energy debate, it is worth recognising that the stakes are extremely high for all compo- nents of the trilemma – exempli- „ ed by 'dieselgate' and regional blackouts in other parts of the developed world - emphasising the need to maintain a balanced approach without prejudice. In practice, FLEXIS is a pan-Wales, university-industry partnership pioneering energy systems research within Wales. Funded to the tune of £24.5m, with just over £15m from the European Regional Develop- ment Fund (ERDF) via the Welsh Government, the „ ve-year pro- ject is tackling diverse and inter- dependent energy challenges from innovative technologies to storage and fuel poverty. The main thrust of the pro- ject is to increase the research capacity of the Welsh partner universities (Cardi , Swansea and the University of South SMART INFRASTRUCTURE & CONNECTED ASSETS S W A W A W N SE A B A Y A Y A Y A Proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon SWANSEA DEMONSTRATION AREA PORT TALBOT NEATH Demonstration area boundary • Swansea University Bay Campus • Water treatment works • Hydrogen Centre • Council offices • Paper mill • Energy Park A B • Gas Turbine Research Centre (Cardiff University) • Biomass power station • Gas & electricity networks • Industrial gas & equipment supplier • Tata Steel Port Talbot • Cement works • Water treatment plant with electrical generator C D • Gas fired power station • Schools / Hospital • Solar technology provider • SPECIFIC Buildings as Power Stations M4 A483 A4067 M4 M4 A B C D Shaping the FLEXIS vision FLEXIS (Flexible Integrated Energy Systems) is a £24.5 million research operation designed to develop an energy systems research capability in Wales which will build on the world class capability that already exists in Welsh universities. FLEXIS principal investigator Phil Bowen looks at who is involved and what progress is being made. Wales), to attain a target of over £20m of additional competitive research income by 2020. Whilst the ERDF funding source demands growing the academic base in Wales, the consortium is devoting 25 per cent of its project resource to the application of its research for the bene„ t of Wales, through the development of a FLEXIS demonstration area. This is consistent with the attention that Welsh HEIs have a orded the impact of their research over the past couple of decades, as recognised in UK Research Excellence Framework of 2014. Unique in nature FLEXIS is unique in terms of its approach to whole energy sys- tems research and aims to dem- onstrate this at a regional scale in Neath Port Talbot - one of the UK's most industrialised areas. Home to FLEXIS' industrial part- ner, Tata Steel Port Talbot (the UK's largest steel-making plant), the project is fully supported by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. The development of energy systems research in Wales stretches back over a decade. In 2007, Welsh researchers won the Research Council UK (RCUK) Science and Innovation com- petition (£3.8m) for renewable energy adopting the then novel approach to target the integra- tion of energy systems - the nerve centre of the engineering system - rather than any siloed renewable technology. RCUK funded the Centre for Integrated Renewable Energy Generation and Supply (CIREGS), led by FLEXIS principal investigator, Professor Nick Jenkins. For over 10 years, this FLEXIS demonstration area