Teaching by example – that’s the approach taken at Keele University, UK. Their goals are: to divest from fossil fuels, become carbon-neutral as a campus of 350 buildings and 12,000 students and staff by 2030 and, in this way, become a model for the whole of Europe. The way to get there: energy management with SEND – the Smart Energy Network Demonstrator.
Reference: SEND project for Keele University
Location: Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, UK
Project focus: Microgrid, renewable energy, smart energy management
Energy Efficient Partnership of the Year’ at the Energy Awards
Keele Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND) project wins Energy Efficient Partnership of the Year’ at the Energy Awards for its innovative partnership with Siemens, showcasing a best in class example of developing business and academic collaboration to transform other Universities and the wider built environment to decarbonise.

Project benefits
Savings on CO2 emissions each year
Key research projects ignited
Students and staff served
We want to shape what drives our whole world: energy.Zoe Robinson | Professor of Sustainability | Keele University
Making the world CO2-neutral takes good ideas and people who can get the job done. Theory and practice combine on the Keele University campus and show the way to the future – in a laboratory the size of a small town.
The making of a living laboratory
It all started with the idea to become Europe’s first at-scale laboratory for research, development and demonstration of new energy technologies. The partnership with Siemens turned the whole campus of Keele University into a next-level energy-intelligent environment.SEND demonstrates the advantages of looking at different energy systems in a smart and integrated way.Sir Jonathan Porritt | CBE Chancellor | Keele University
Keele University is a demonstration of what is possible today. In terms of applying smart technologies connecting up all the assets – substations, controllers, meters.Ralf Kortner | UK Head of Distributed Energy Systems | Siemens
The Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND) (ref. 32R16P00706) is funded by Keele University, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the England 2014 to 2020 European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) Growth Programme.