Adaptation and Resilience of Coastal Energy Supply

Completed

Nuclear Fission and Fusion(Nuclear Fission, Nuclear supporting technologies)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electric power conversion)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution)
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Civil Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences)

Not Cross-cutting
Systems Analysis related to energy R&D (Other Systems Analysis)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation)

Professor AJ Plater
Oceans and Ecosystems
University of Liverpool

Standard

EPSRC

01 November 2011

30 October 2017

72 months

£1,415,336

Climate & climate change

North West

Energy Multidisciplinary Applications

Professor AJ Plater, Oceans and Ecosystems, University of Liverpool

Dr JM Brown, National Oceanographic Centre, NERC
Professor R Burrows, Centre for Engineering Sustainability, University of Liverpool
Professor D Chen, Centre for Engineering Sustainability, University of Liverpool
Dr D Copplestone, Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling
Dr M Davidson, Sch of Engineering, University of Plymouth
Professor TJ Greenshaw, Physics, University of Liverpool
Professor J Hooke, Earth's Changing Environment, University of Liverpool
Dr KJ Horsburgh, National Oceanographic Centre, NERC
Ms S Kidd, People, Place and Space, University of Liverpool
Dr KS Kingston, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth
Dr M Li, Centre for Engineering Sustainability, University of Liverpool
Professor G Masselink, Sch of Engineering, University of Plymouth
Dr D McCauley, Geography and Geosciences, University of St Andrews
Professor RJ Nicholls, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton
Dr PJ North, People, Place and Space, University of Liverpool
Professor P Russell, Sch of Engineering, University of Plymouth
Dr AJ Souza, National Oceanographic Centre, NERC
Dr JW Spencer, Electrical Engineering and Electronics, University of Liverpool
Dr AN Tyler, Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling
Dr IA Walkington, Centre for Engineering Sustainability, University of Liverpool
Professor RL Wilby, Geography, Loughborough University
Dr J Wolf, National Oceanographic Centre, NERC
Dr MD Wood, Sch of Environment & Life Sciences, University of Salford

Project Contact, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)
Project Contact, National Grid plc
Project Contact, EDF Energy

The project aims to identify the challenges facing the future security of the UK nuclear energy sector and coastal energy supply in the NW region as a result of changing patterns of temperature and rainfall, sea-level rise and storms. In particular, we will determine the threats posed to future energy generation and the distribution network by flooding and erosion, changing patterns of coastal sedimentation, water temperature and the distribution of plants and animals in the coastal zone. As well as having important consequences for the operation of coastal power stations, these climate change impacts also affect the neighbouring coastline as well as the coastal waters. As a result, communities need to be made aware of these future threats, and to be brought into discussions that decide the future of energy supply in the UK. To support this, the project will first build a computer model of the coast that can operate at scales of 25-100 km and that can predict coastal changes for estuaries, gravel beaches, sandy beaches and dunes, and cliffs made up of both hard and soft rock. The coupled outputs from this integrated model will be converted into maps of future flooding, erosion, sedimentation, water quality and habitats that are the result of climate change projections to the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s and, over longer periods of time, our best understanding of long-term coastal change to 2100, 2200 and 2500 AD. These maps can then be consulted and overlain using a computer-based geographic information system as a decision-support tool to assist in drawing-up coastal management plans, looking at the different threats that we face and the options to address their overall impact on coastal energy supply. The aim is to identify how the coastal power stations, substations and distribution grid can adapt to future climate change impacts and thus become more resilient, thus securing our energy needs as we move into a low-carbon future

28/11/11