Decarbonising the energy supply at Antarctic research stationsCopy Link

Background

UKRI 2040 net zero carbon target 

BAS delivers and enables world-leading interdisciplinary research in the Polar Regions. Its skilled science and support staff based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic, work together to deliver research that uses the Polar Regions to advance our understanding of Earth as a sustainable planet. Through its extensive logistical capability and know how BAS facilitates access for the British and international science community to the UK polar research operation. 

As climate change poses the threat of a potential global 1.5°C temperature increase, sustainability is a key driver in the modernisation of all BAS facilities, with a target set for all buildings to be designed and operating at net-zero carbon by 2040 (UKRI Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2020).

Locations 

BAS operates a range of platforms to support scientific research including three research stations in the Antarctic and two on sub-Antarctic South Georgia. This challenge will focus on two of the research stations, details have been provided below.

Bird Island Research Station, South Georgia:

Bird Island lies off the north-west tip of South Georgia in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. It is separated by a 500-metre channel, Bird Sound, from the South Georgia mainland. It is approximately 1000km south-east of the Falkland Islands and is accessible only by ship.

The station operates all year and has capacity for up to 10 personnel with two extra bunks for short-stay visitors. The number of staff on station varies between 4 people in the winter (March – October) and 10 in the austral summer (November - February). 

Outside temperatures vary from -10°C to 10°C, hovering around 0°C in winter and 4°C in summer. Damp, misty, low cloud conditions prevail during summer, and gale-force winds can occur all year. There is complete cloud cover for 90% of the year.

There is no permanent snow or ice on the island, though it is typically snow covered from July to October. Icebergs are often visible from the station throughout the year. Brash ice collects in the bays and occasionally freezes in during winter months. There is very limited solar capacity and the use of conventional wind turbines is very challenging or even prohibitive due to the rich wildlife, especially birds. Bird Island is one of the world’s richest wildlife sites, with a large, diverse population of seabirds and fur seals, and is home to 50,000 breeding pairs of penguins and 65,000 pairs of fur seals. 

Signy Research Station:

Signy Research Station is Britain’s sole summer-only island station, and its smallest. Signy Island is one of the remote South Orkney Islands, which lie more than 1300 km from the Falkland Islands, 900 km from South Georgia and 600 km from the Antarctic Peninsula.

The station operates in the summer months only (November - March) and has capacity for up to 4 personnel. In the winter, pack ice from the Weddell Sea surrounds Signy Island and connects it to the Antarctic continent which means the weather assumes a continental feel, with low temperatures and relatively clear skies. 

As pack ice retreats during the summer, Signy assumes a typical maritime climate. Temperatures vary from -15°C to 5°C. Cloud cover is over 80% in summer however, Signy is on the edge of the ‘ozone-hole’, and increased levels of UV light can be experienced from October to December. Signy is also extremely windy. The prevailing wind is westerly. Gales are recorded on about 60 days each year. An extreme gust of 115 knots has been recorded. There is very limited solar capacity and the use of conventional wind turbines is very challenging. Around half of the island is covered by a permanent ice-cap though east and west coasts are generally ice-free during summer. 

Marine life is plentiful around Signy Island which acts as a breeding site for seals, penguins and other species of bird.

Current energy supply and demand:

Both stations currently rely on fossil fuels to meet the power, space heating and hot water demands of their operations. Annual statistics listed below

	Bird Island (12mth)	Signy (5mth)
Total Oil Usage (litres)	39,000	16,000
Oil for power generation (litres)	27,000	12,000
Oil for heating (litres)	12,000	4,000
Electricity Demand kWh (generated from oil)	61,300	31,800
Footprint of main building m2	411	250
Footprint of workshops m2	262	113
Outside temperatures	-10C to 10C	-15C to 5C
Wind speed ms-1	0 - 15	0-20

The research stations use diesel generators to provide power for lighting and kitchen utilities and diesel fired boilers for the central heating system and hot water. The research areas do not have any large energy demands.

Types of activities that are undertaken at stations:

Both research stations are used as a base for wildlife monitoring and research.

Challenges

Introduction

BAS is looking for solutions which decarbonise their energy demand for heating, hot water and power at two of their island research stations in Antarctica; Bird Island and Signy. Specifically, the solution should generate and deliver low carbon energy at each site to help them to meet their net zero carbon target and have the least impact on the environment.

BAS is open to any solution whether it is adapting the existing energy system or completely replacing it with an alternative energy system. BAS would look more favourably on solutions which are net zero carbon.

Given the weather conditions, the stations are viewed as life support by BAS so the solution must be reliable, robust and easily maintainable by non-energy specialists. 

The solution should fit within the current footprint of the station and surrounding site. Areas given above.

Out of Scope

• Nuclear
• Energy efficiency technologies that do not deliver at least a 50% energy saving
• Technologies that can’t operate in the climate as described above.
• Energy generated elsewhere and transported to the site.

Rewards & Benefits

Successful applicants will be given the opportunity to pitch their idea online to BAS in December.

Deployment Timescales

• Launch of the Competition: 14^th September 2020
• Deadline for applications: 23^rd October 2020
• Selection and notification of finalists: 13^th November 2020
• Pitch workshops: week commencing 7^th December 2020

Solutions should be:

• Fully deployable for prototype testing within 1 year of competition win.
• Fully deployable commercially within 2 years 

Market Opportunity

BAS is looking for a solution to purchase. Due to the location of the research stations, BAS technical staff would prefer to carry out the installation and maintenance of the system. 

Eligibility & Scoring Criteria

Entrants to this competition must be:

• Established businesses, startups, SMEs or individual entrepreneurs
• UK based or have the intention to set up a UK base

Applications will be assessed on:

• Relevance to the challenge
• Innovative nature of the solution
• Maturity of solution
• Ease of installation and maintenance
• Price/quality ratio

IP and Potential Commercial Route  

• Existing background IP associated with a potential solution will remain with Solution Provider(s). Where any new IP generation is envisaged, it will be subject to the mutual IP agreement of the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger.
• Any commercial deployment of transferred solution or newly developed solution, through licensing, joint venture, partnership or direct investment, will be subject to the commercial agreement between the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger.
• Where necessary, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) may be signed to uphold confidentiality in the engagement between the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger.
• Innovate UK and KTN do not take any share of IP ownership or enter into commercial venture through the IX programme.

If you have any questions about the content of this challenge or are looking for a collaboration partner, we would be happy to help. Do not hesitate to contact Jenni McDonnell at the KTN for a detailed discussion: jenni.mcdonnell@ktn-uk.org