It will open in August, enabled by government funding secured through the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP).
The eventual centre will be known as The Energy Systems Accelerator (TESA). It will champion green innovation and accelerate the decarbonisation of the economy by facilitating the exchange of ideas between engineers, scientists and social scientists, as well as private- and public-sector stakeholders.
The pilot, known as mini-TESA, will transform Holywell House on Osney Mead into a co-working space where different disciplines and organisations can exchange ideas and work together to support clean growth and help achieve international carbon-reduction targets. Key academic departments involved within the University include the Department of Engineering Science, Department of Materials and School of Geography and the Environment.
This is one of the first projects to launch as part of the ambitious long-term University-led project to transform Osney Mead from an underused industrial estate into a vibrant innovation district.
The pilot space will inform the final design and operations of the ‘full TESA’ project. The pilot alone will create 102 new jobs for the local economy.
Once the pilot has proved successful and further funding is secured, the full TESA will involve creating a carbon-negative 10,000m2 facility where up to 800 practitioners, stakeholders and academics can work and interact.
