The University of Birmingham has signed an agreement with the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (IET) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to form a joint centre for mechanical energy storage technologies.

The agreement marks the start of a formal partnership between IET, a top research institute in compressed air energy storage and associated technologies in China, and the University of Birmingham, a leading organisation in thermal and liquid air energy storage research.

Witnessed by Mr Dianwen Cao, Deputy Director-General of Bureau of International Cooperation, CAS, the signing is also the first formal agreement the University has made with Chinese Academy of Sciences, the largest and most prestigious Chinese research organisation.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Schofield, University of Birmingham, said: “The University of Birmingham is delighted that, based on a productive ongoing collaboration between IET Centre for Physical Energy Storage led by Professor Haisheng Chen, and Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage led by Professor Yulong Ding and Dr Jonathan Radcliffe, we are now entering into an agreement that formalises our partnership. This will allow us to better align our complementary strengths, to work more closely on a strategic level to make a greater impact on the development of more efficient, clean and low carbon energy systems in our two countries.”

IET Director Professor Junqiang Zhu commented: “It is very important for IET to develop and maintain our mutually beneficial collaborations with leading international institutions such as the University of Birmingham. We hope that, through the joint centre, we will develop long-term programmes in collaborative research, staff/student exchanges to help further enhance our research capabilities, and to enable us to make greater contributions to the development of new energy technologies.”