New energy hub simulates Australia's grid

Siemens and Swinburne University of Technology have launched a major Energy Transition Hub at the University’s Hawthorn campus in Melbourne.

Featuring some of the most advanced digital energy technology from Siemens along with the technical, R&D and teaching expertise of Swinburne, the $5.2 million Hub is a future energy grid laboratory accessible to students, teaching staff and industry.

“The new Siemens Swinburne Energy Transition Hub will be working on new technologies to improve efficiency, supply, integration, storage, transport and use, as well as how we can improve existing technologies and frameworks,” said Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Professor Karen Hapgood.

“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.”

Visitors to the Hub will be able to leverage digital twins of energy grids, map scenarios, research new findings, develop original hypotheses and test results. The digital twin of Australia’s energy grid will help commercial research teams run simulations of new, innovative solutions and software, focusing on the intermix and influx of various sources of energy into the grid.

Additionally, researchers, students and industry can use the opportunity to work on solutions for greener, more efficient future energy systems using Siemens Xcelerator, a new open digital business platform and marketplace.

Siemens and Swinburne spokespeople with Minister D’Ambrosio. (L-R) Mr Jose Moreira (Siemens), Associate Professor Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian (Swinburne), Professor Karen Hapgood (Swinburne), Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, Mr Peter Halliday (Siemens), Professor Alex Stojcevski (Swinburne).

“Collaboration between industry and academia is critical to driving better outcomes on key topics of national importance such as the energy transition. I’m proud of what the Siemens and Swinburne teams have achieved at the Energy Transition Hub, creating a best-of-its-kind for industry,” said Peter Halliday, CEO, Siemens Australia and New Zealand.

“The race to tackle climate change is real and of utmost importance. Australia’s contribution to global emissions is just over 1%. As industry and as a society, we should be focusing on reducing our emissions beyond the 1%, using digitalisation as the key lever to driving long-term sustainability. The Hub is a great example of how the best minds can collaborate to help shape the future,” he said.

Top image caption: Students using the Energy Transition Hub’s facilities. Images courtesy of Siemens.