We are delighted to be working with the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) on its Leading the Charge initiative – highlighting the people and organisations in the electrotechnical sector engaged in driving us towards net zero.

Leading the Charge is a digital series that explores progress in the electrical industry and examines the electrotechnical sector’s pivotal role in realising the UK’s net zero ambitions.

Through a series of videos and articles, it focuses on some of the industry’s trailblazers – the individuals and businesses working in the vanguard of society’s transition to renewable energy and creating a cleaner, greener future.

The initiative covers several areas including renewables, energy storage, retrofitting, automation, electrical safety, policy and training. It provides a platform for the exchange of ideas and best practice, with the goals of raising awareness and helping inspire the next generation.

Formed in 1901, ECA is the UK’s largest trade association representing electrical, electrotechnical and other engineering contractors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland at regional, national and European level. ECA member-companies are rigorously assessed before membership is approved.

As long-standing members of ECA, we were invited to make a film for the Leading the Charge initiative about the cutting-edge project we are currently involved with in partnership with Swansea University and Active Building Centre (ABC).

The project has seen us, here at EFT Consult, working in tandem with our sister-company, RDM Electrical & Mechanical Services, to provide design and installation of a highly innovative project to install a comprehensive raft of integrated energy-saving, sustainable technologies at Swansea University’s Bay Campus.

The project – the first of its kind in the UK – encompasses a commercial rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) scheme, a carport solar PV scheme, a battery energy storage system (BESS) and electric vehicle (EV) chargers.

A bespoke control system (Schneider Microgrid Controller) then controls the distribution of PV generated power between the BESS, EV chargers, and the adjacent School of Management building. Cleverly, the controller uses a cutting-edge web-based user interface that communicates real-time energy use, savings and CO2 emissions data. The system’s algorithms also enable optimisation of the site’s energy demands, managing the flow of energy between its various constituent parts.

The project has been funded by Active Building Centre (ABC) in partnership with Swansea University and the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre. It aims to demonstrate how a large site can control its impact on the grid by storing energy generated from renewable sources, drawing down from the grid only when power is cheapest or least carbon-intensive and releasing energy to power the buildings and the university’s EV fleet during peak grid times.

The scheme’s objective is to enhance the sustainability of the University’s buildings by reducing the site’s dependence on expensive and unsustainable fossil fuel energy sources. It is hoped that the project can be used as a standard-bearer for similar use of renewable technologies across the UK.

To find out more about the scheme, view our latest Leading the Charge video below.