Swinburne University unveils $5.2m energy transition hub

Swinburne University has unveiled a $5.2 million energy and sustainability hub at its Hawthorn campus.

The university has partnered with Siemens and will enable users to create digital twins of energy grids, scenario map, research new findings, develop original and creative hypotheses, and test results. 

The hub will be a test bench for researchers and industry to work together on meaningful solutions for greener, more efficient future energy systems. It will be home to a digital twin of Australia’s energy market that commercial research teams can use to run simulations of new solutions.

As a collaborative research facility, the hub will be open to industry and institutional collaborations that can take research ideas from the lab into industry.  

In addition to R&D and commercialisation projects, the hub will deliver short courses for industry professionals.

It will also give back to Swinburne students, with Siemens software and the company’s real-world industry experience integrated into engineering technology courses. The Hub will feature software and hardware products from Siemens’ grid software portfolio.

Professor Alex Stojcevski, dean of Swinburne’s School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies said, “We are thrilled to be using leading technology from Siemens’ Grid Software portfolio to test new, creative solutions through digital simulation, allowing for faster and more efficient commercialisation, where advances in energy tech and renewable energy integrations can do the most good: on the grid and in our homes.” 

Professor Karen Hapgood, deputy vice-chancellor research at Swinburne University said Australia’s ambitious carbon reduction targets need a multipronged approach by industry, research and government.

“The new Siemens Swinburne Energy Transition Hub will be working on new technologies to improve energy efficiency, supply, integration, storage, transport and use, as well as how we can improve existing technologies and frameworks,” she said.

“We need change fast, and the Siemens-Swinburne team will focus on taking ideas to market – where they can make the most impact as quickly as possible.”