BIRMINGHAM, England — Burns & McDonnell, the engineering-construction firm has, together with partners from the Cheshire Energy Hub, secured funding from Innovate UK to develop a concept and design for a local, smart energy system for businesses and consumers centred around Ellesmere Port. This is one of the first awards under the ‘prospering from the energy revolution’, part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, helping to put the UK at the centre of the energy revolution.

The £200k bid, which is part match funded by Cheshire Energy Hub members, will see Burns & McDonnell work with their other partners to develop a whole system energy solution across the ‘Energy Innovation District’ encompassing enablement technology including sensors, data collection and analytics, to deliver clean, low-cost energy to consumers and industry.

Jonathan Chapman, Burns & McDonnell’s UK Managing Director, said:

“This funding from Innovate UK will help to bring smart energy solutions to some of countries largest energy users. The area currently consumes around 5% of the UK's energy and the bid will allow us to assess what emerging technology could be used to drive down the cost of clean energy - not just for local industry but for all consumers in the area. The Northwest of England is leading the way in energy innovation and the Cheshire Energy Hub is ideally placed to demonstrate how a low carbon, low cost smart energy future can be enabled to deliver the ambitions of the government’s Industrial Strategy. “

The global firm opened its first UK offices in Birmingham last year has built a reputation for delivering market-leading technical support and delivery services in the energy market. Burns & McDonnell was recently selected by Keele University as the Lead Technical Advisor for Europe’s first Smart Energy Network Demonstrator, a £15 million investment that will support more than 240 jobs in the West Midlands. They have also secured a place on Ofgem’s Technical Consultancy Services Framework.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a private, employee-owned engineering, design and construction firm with more than 6,000 professionals located in offices throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employees. We are ranked by Engineering News-Record as No.1 in Power and Electrical Transmission & Distribution.

We develop solutions through creating passionate partnerships, placing client service front and centre, understanding clients’ needs and striving to make them successful. Our employee-ownership culture means that our success is closely aligned to our clients’ success. We are bold in how we develop solutions and challenge the norm, drawing from the whole company to find answers to some of the toughest questions. We work on some of the world’s most crucial infrastructure projects, delivering a completely integrated service from concept to completion.

In 2017 Burns & McDonnell opened its first UK office in Birmingham. With 120 years of experience designing and building infrastructure throughout the world, Burns & McDonnell is now taking forward a long term investment plan in the UK.

With the UK energy market undergoing a transformation, our focus is on providing a differentiated service across technical consultancy, engineering services and project delivery as the UK adapts to a low carbon future underpinned by smart technologies.

More information on the work of the Cheshire Energy Hub can be found at: https://energyinnovationdistrict.com/