Research and development
As a centre of technical excellence, EDF UK research and development is delivering research and innovation to help Britain achieve Net Zero.
Established in 2012, the EDF UK R&D centre provides support to all business lines and subsidiaries of EDF in the UK in line with the EDF Group’s Cap 2030 project and prepares the future for new business. A wholly owned subsidiary of EDF Energy, the R&D Centre is also an integral part of the EDF Group R&D international network, bringing the UK perspective to international collaborations.
Researchers of EDF UK R&D are driven by two goals: improving performance in all EDF UK current activities, and preparing for the energy future by exploring breakthrough technologies or business opportunities. As of today, our diverse and international team is engaged in R&D projects across all energy aspects including Nuclear, Climate Change, Offshore Wind, Energy Systems, Flexibility & Storage, Zero Emissions Mobility, Low Carbon Hydrogen and Smart Digital Technologies.
Our vision is ”Driving research and innovation to go beyond Net Zero”.
“By coupling the advances in science and engineering with the emergence of new digital innovations and leveraging the UK ecosystem of Research and Innovation through strong and strategic partnerships, EDF UK R&D is delivering research and ground breaking innovations to our internal business units, policymakers, partners and customers in order to help Britain achieve Net Zero”
Patrick Dupeyrat, EDF UK R&D Director
Delivering Research and Innovation to help Britain achieve Net Zero
The latest R&D projects at EDF
Hydrogen stored in Depleted Uranium and used for decarbonising steel
Electrolytic hydrogen production from nuclear and renewable generation has a key role in decarbonising more challenging applications for industry, transport and heating. EDF in the UK is developing relationships with stakeholders for the production, distribution and consumption of hydrogen and the R&D UK Centre is leading on key projects with the newly formed Zero Carbon Hubs team in Smart Customers. The Zero Carbon Hubs team’s role is to couple low carbon generation with existing and new technology to decarbonise demand. The Zero Carbon Hubs team has just completed a feasibility study for a project on hydrogen storage with depleted uranium and is starting a project to switch some natural gas supply to hydrogen for a British Steel “reheat” furnace in Teesside.
24h Climate Fresk event at R&D UK Centre
The R&D UK Centre was very happy to be part of the 2nd edition of the 24 hours of the Climate Fresk that took place the 9th of June from 7:00am (UK Time zone) to the 10th of June 7:00am. During these 24 hours, more than 700 colleagues from EDF Group participated day and night to one of the numerous climate fresks organised across the world!
This event aimed to raise awareness on the causes and the consequences of the climate risks on Earth, people and society was led by EDF but goes beyond! In fact more than 1,000 people across different organisations and businesses created a Fresk that day, discussed and connected to understand how individually and as a society we can mitigate climate change.
ROMEO helps reduce LCOE thanks to reliable O&M support tools
ROMEO (Reliable OM decision tools and strategies for high LCoE reduction on offshore wind) is a European collaborative project that gathered 12 partners from 6 countries. From 2017 to 2022, they investigated on innovations and technologies allowing to drive down the costs of operation and maintenance (O&M) of offshore windfarms.
EDF deploys unique underwater drone to carry out first ever autonomous robotic inspection of wind farm foundations
Partnership between EDF and the ORCA Hub sees ROV assess turbine foundations and create 3D reconstruction.
EDF has deployed a uniquely customised a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to carry out what is believed to be the first autonomous wind farm foundation inspection at its Blyth Offshore Wind Farm. The ROV, equipped and operated by researchers from the ORCA Hub, a strategic project within the National Robotarium, was modified to include cutting-edge robotic technologies for autonomous inspection capabilities and carried out visual inspections of the gravity-based foundations of three offshore turbines over the course of four days.
Computer vision at the service of business units
Over the past three years, the Digital Innovation team at EDF's R&D centre in the UK has developed in-depth expertise in the field of computer vision ("Machine Vision"). It now works with different business units, such as EDF Renewables and EDF UK Customers
StrataStore: An innovative Compressed Air Energy Storage solution
BEIS has awarded almost £7 million to UK projects that are developing innovative energy storage technologies, in first round of government-backed competition. These projects will benefit from this funding to develop new energy storage technologies that can utilise stored energy as heat, electricity or as a low-carbon energy carrier like hydrogen. Ranging from the development of thermal batteries to converting energy to hydrogen, they have been selected because of their potential to improve technology performance and reduce the cost of meeting net zero
Crew transfers for offshore wind farms could be improved thanks to new research
EDF, The University of Strathclyde, and Miros are working together to research and test the ORACLES (Offshore Renewable ACess Loss Estimation & Safety) forecasting methodology at Teesside offshore wind farm.
ORACLES+ will use a diverse set of operational data to better forecast key access conditions for crew transfer operations. The forecasts will be tested at every stage of the decision-making process, from site supervisor to marine co-ordinator to vessel master and turbine technician, to ensure better vessel dispatch and crew transfer decisions. On a large offshore wind farm site improved operational decision-making could deliver financial benefits in excess of £1m a year.
Helping rural communities benefit from electric vehicles
We want to make sure rural communities also benefit from the electrification of transport. So we’re delighted that our R&D UK Centre’s Rural Electric Mobility Enabler (REME) project has won funding from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) and Innovate UK to help do just that!
Led by EDF, the project is breaking down technological and commercial barriers to the roll-out of EV infrastructure in remote rural areas.
Working closely with Field Dynamics, DG Cities, Bonnet, and Devon County Council we’re creating innovative solutions to build the EV infrastructure of the future, wherever it’s needed.
R&D mobilised to meet the challenges of floating offshore wind energy
Connections, maintenance and environmental impact are all key issues to which R&D is fully committed. Marie Berthelot, Head of R&D Renewables and Offshore Wind R&D project leader at the R&D UK Centre, focusses on the area of maintenance.
Maintaining and repairing moving infrastructures on the high seas is an extraordinary technical and logistical challenge. The aim is to ensure the safety of operators and reduce maintenance costs.
Through a variety of projects, this team is committed to the overall objective of helping Britain achieve Net Zero.
R&D UK Centre wins exciting Hydrogen competition bid
We are proud to announce that the R&D UK Centre have successfully won a Zero Emission Road Transport competition bid thanks to support from Midlands Engine, the Energy Research Accelerator and Cenex.
The funding competition is run by Innovate UK on behalf of the Department of Transport and will invest up to £10 million into Hydrogen truck innovation projects across the UK.
Welcome to our CommUNITY!
A pilot project designed to test the new infrastructure to support a local energy market based on Peer-To-Peer (P2P) energy trading. The proposed market is trialled on a “live site” comprising of a multi-tenant building in Brixton, London. Residents are able to source energy from a solar PV system on the roof and trade energy with one another using a blockchain platform and a smart phone app. Participants not only can use local, green energy but decide what to do with it whilst reducing their electricity bill.
Protection from outer space hazards
Here at the R&D UK Centre, we help to keep energy infrastructure safe from natural hazards such as coastal flooding, climate change, and space weather. Space weather occurs when solar flares fire charged plasma towards Earth, which can damage electrical transformers when not adequately prepared for.
We collaborated with geomagnetism experts from the British Geological Survey, to use computer simulations to characterise the effects of space weather. Using data from the most severe space weather events in history, we can predict which areas of the electricity network are most vulnerable.
This year we are updating our simulations to prepare the next generation of UK nuclear power stations for space weather risks.
Meet the EDF R&D team in the UK
4 teams
60 full-time researchers, 24 PhD students and over 15 different nationalities
Based across 4 locations
Digital Innovation team
The Digital Innovation team is leading the company’s research into cutting-edge digital technologies. Their aim is to explore how digital can improve the operational safety and efficiency of EDF's fleet of power stations and transform the way customers use energy. A constant focus is the use of technology to enable the sustainable use of energy. Current priorities include artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain.
Nuclear team
The Nuclear team manages and delivers a portfolio of programmes supporting the safety, performance and life extension operation of the existing nuclear fleet in the UK; the preparation of its decommissioning plan; and the development of new build projects, including Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. The team acts as an internal centre of expertise in Modelling & Simulation and Natural Hazards & Environment.
Renewables team
The Renewables team is a multi-disciplinary team, provides support to EDF at a Group level in Offshore Wind, Onshore Wind and Marine Energy. Their aim is now to apply and expand skills to help EDF succeed in its Renewable projects across the world and reach its 2030 targets. The key priority is to help reduce costs of Renewables.
Smart Customers team
The Smart Customers team covers the key research areas of Global and Local Energy Systems; People, Processes & Buildings and Data Acquisition. They undertake research and develop demonstration projects in the fields of new market and system design, such as peer to peer trading and smart grids; system flexibility and energy storage; smart cities; electric and autonomous vehicles; low carbon heat and smart homes and businesses.
Events, Collaborations and publications
Visit of UKAEA facilities by EDF: when fission met fusion
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) that aims to develop fusion power as a commercially viable, environmentally responsible energy source for the future.
In June, the R&D UK Centre organised the visit of a high level EDF delegation (EDF (UK) and EDF R&D) at UK Atomic Energy Authority facilities in Culham.
Celebrating 10 years of Research & Development
A small event was held in London on the 12th of July 2022 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of EDF UK R&D, attended by members of the team, the two former R&D Directors, Simone Rossi (EDF UK CEO) and a number of senior leaders and members of the Board from EDF UK and EDF Group.
Visit of UKAEA facilities by EDF : when fission met fusion
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) that aims to develop fusion power as a commercially viable, environmentally responsible energy source for the future.
In June, the R&D UK Centre organised a visit of a high level EDF delegation (EDF (UK) and EDF R&D) at UK Atomic Energy Authority facilities in Culham.
Find out more
Celebrating early careers development in the R&D UK Centre!
Did you know that nearly a quarter of employees within the R&D UK Centre have come through the early careers pipelines and development schemes?
Celebrating International Women's Day (IWD) 2022 - Meet Angeliki
As part of IWD 2022, we interviewed our Senior Research Engineer Angeliki Loukatou who is in the Smart Customers team.
Our research publications
The Research staff in our teams Smart Customers, Renewables, Nuclear and Digital Innovation, have had numerous academic papers published on a variety of interesting technical topics.
Find out more
Ideas and innovation blog
Read our latest energy guides, advice, innovation and news as we work to help Britain achieve Net Zero.
Our education programmes
Inspiring young people is at the heart of our educational strategy, and it is through a number of educational programmes we help children understand that low carbon, secure and affordable energy supply is vital for the future.
