With an emphasis on the Sustainable Development Goals, the Excellence and Innovation Awards 2024 finalists were selected for demonstrating ingenuity, alongside consolidated processes and proven capabilities and social and environmental impact.
The University’s lead-acid battery-electrolyser for low cost, sustainable green hydrogen production is nominated for the Net Zero and Climate Action Award.
Working with the Consortium for Battery Innovation (CBI) and 18 other global industry and academic partners, the industry-first technology is being rapidly scaled up for a range of markets from rural Africa to curtailed wind farms. The innovative solution has made outstanding progress since its inception in 2021, attracting £13M grant investment. Designed for sustainable mass manufacture, the lead-acid battery-electrolyser does not use rare earth metals, provides a dual income stream, operates at low load factor and will make an impact on a global stage.
By the end of 2026, 4 battery-electrolyser units each sized at 16kWh will be installed in off-grid communities in Africa and the University campus, as part of The Hydrogen Works innovation facility to provide flexible facilities for research and scale-up activities of transformative hydrogen technology.
Aftrak, winner of the $1M Milken-Motsepe Green Energy Prize, is nominated for the Power and Energy Award.
Invented and manufactured at the University in partnership with the CBI and Tiyeni, Aftrak’s innovative microgrid solution integrates energy access with electric agriculture and deep bed farming to boost crop yield, income and ensure sustainable electricity for millions of African smallholder farmers and their communities. Accelerating from initial idea to successful trial in less than 18 months, Aftrak has electrified a remote community and provided a walk-behind micro-tractor in Malawi for field testing.
A limited company is now being established develop the technology and is currently raising investment to deploy the solution across Malawi where 89% of the population is without electricity access.
Professor Dan Parsons, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Loughborough University, said: “With the impact of climate change being keenly felt, the world cannot afford to wait for new innovations to come to market slowly. The lead-acid battery-electrolyser and Aftrak have both achieved outstanding traction, attracting global partners and investment to advance research breakthroughs into game-changing, scalable solutions.
I am delighted that these flagship projects have been recognised by the international IET Innovation and Excellence Awards and I wish the teams the best of luck for the finals and continued success as they accelerate towards global impact."
Both Loughborough finalists are from the University’s Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering Net Zero research and innovation portfolio. The teams behind these innovations are led by Dr Jonathan Wilson and Professor Dani Strickland with significant Aftrak agricultural expertise coming from Dr Toby Williams.
The winners of the IET Innovation and Excellence Awards will be announced on 4 December at The Library of Birmingham. The finalists are published on the IET website.