Electric cars which return unused power to the national grid and technology which can store wind energy under the sea are just two of the projects to be awarded funding from a £48 million research programme from E.ON, one of Europe's leading renewable energy generators.

Storing the energy generated by renewable sources is the focus of the first round of E.ON's 10-year Energy Research Initiative, which has awarded grants to projects at the universities of Nottingham and Strathclyde.

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Researchers are dealing with different methods of energy storage, ranging from highly efficient batteries and new heat storage devices, to the use of electric vehicles as mobile storage units and compressed-air storage systems on the seabed.

"Energy storage is key to the further development of renewables," said Allan Jones, Managing Director of E.ON Engineering.

"It's our duty, more than ever, to reconcile the three goals of reasonable pricing, climate protection and security of supply. If we're to succeed it's essential not only to improve energy efficiency but, above all, to create an energy mix with the lowest possible share of CO2.

"It is necessary to store energy on a large scale if renewables like wind, which only produces electricity under favourable wind conditions, can make their full contribution to power supply."

(CD/JM)