Capabilities
UNSW has world-class research facilities and hundreds of energy experts with a strong reputation for excellence, rigour and relevance.
We ask and answer “big questions”, and seek to achieve tangible, long term impact. The Institute provides credible advocacy in the public domain, supported by modelling and research.
The Institute is informed by a strong legacy of deep research capabilities across the entire energy value chain
- Science and technology: traditional and renewable energy, energy storage, energy systems and integration, power-to-gas and gas-to-power, digital grids, energy efficiency and productivity, energy-smart precincts and buildings, energy access and affordability.
- Public policy, economics and market design, laws, standards and regulation, social acceptance and energy equity.
Operating across faculty and school boundaries, the Energy Institute magnifies and accelerates UNSW’s impact so that the “whole is greater than the sum of the parts”. We collaborate with renowned UNSW centres and institutes in energy-adjacent domains:
- Energy-transport nexus: UNSW Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation.
- Energy-water nexus: UNSW Global Water Institute.
- Energy-climate nexus: UNSW Climate Change Research Centre.
Core capabilities
Renewable Generation at UNSW
Striving towards 30% solar PV cell efficiencies and 30c per watt capital costs at scale.
Storage Technologies at UNSW
Striving towards 1,000GWh of beneficial storage in Australia by 2050.
Clean Fuels at UNSW
Striving to drive down the production cost of renewable hydrogen to below $2/kg.
Grid Transformation at UNSW
Striving to deliver a power system that can support 100% renewable generation by 2050.
Energy Markets at UNSW
Striving towards least-cost and least-regret integration of renewables into energy markets.
Empowering Consumers at UNSW
Striving towards a consumer-led energy future.