Festive Wishes from FLEXIS

FLEXIS’ consortium of strategic partners – Cardiff University, Swansea University, The University of South Wales, Neath Port Talbot Borough Council and Tata Steel UK, has worked together to successfully develop and create an energy systems research capability in Wales.

FLEXIS has generated over £25M in research income, recruited 95 new researchers into Welsh universities and invested over £2.4M into research equipment and technology to aid current and future research. We have also delivered 13 scholarships as part of Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships 2 (KESS II).

Covid-19 may have put an end to face to face events but the team has continued to move forward, using all available technology, to share FLEXIS’ impact through many digital conferences including Net Zero Live, Welsh Government’s Wales Climate Week and several webinars for The UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC).

Despite lockdown, our people have also continued to develop and succeed. We welcomed new starters and promotions; twelve colleagues became certified as Carbon Literate and one even brought home the prestigious Hinshelwood Prize award for his research. Well done Dan Pugh! This year we have also seen some departures of top talent, but this is another success as we strive to embed our excellent researchers within research led companies in Wales and we wish every single colleague the best success in the future.

Talking of the future, FLEXISApp will now take forward FLEXIS research and drive net zero solutions and economic growth.
We also look forward to seeing and supporting the growth and development of projects and initiatives that benefitted from FLEXIS’ technical expertise and support in their infancy, including the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC), Reducing Industrial Carbon Emissions (RICE) and The Caerau Mine-water Heat Project and West Wales Zero Carbon Demonstrator Area.