Electrical Power Systems in Scotland: Past, Present and Future by Prof Campbell Booth

Summary: Scotland’s electrical power system has evolved from early hydroelectric schemes and coal‑fired stations into one of the world’s most renewables‑rich power systems. This talk will outline the journey - from pioneering early developments to the modern energy system dominated by renewables and the ongoing electrification of transport and heat. An overview of challenges, opportunities and research (with a focus on research at the University of Strathclyde) will be presented, along with an emphasis on the need to ensure that we have the correct workforce in place to enable completion of the transition to a future “green”, reliable and affordable energy system.

Speaker:   Professor Campbell Booth is Associate Principal at the University of Strathclyde and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Engineering at Strathclyde, which comprises almost 1,200 staff across 8 departments, several innovation centres, and more than 6,000 students. Now in the 39th year of his Strathclyde journey - which began when he joined as an undergraduate EEE student in 1987 - his research is focussed on electrical power system protection and monitoring. He is also a director and co-founder of Synaptec, a Strathclyde spinout working in distributed sensing for various electrical system applications.

He is presently overall Principal Investigator (PI) of a major EPSRC “Prosperity Partnership” project, Ensign, with SP Energy Networks, the Universities of Saint Andrew’s, Liverpool and Heriot Watt, plus various other partners. He has led major projects with National Grid, ScottishPower, and recently completed an EPSRC UK-China grant. He has almost 300 publications, holds patents, and is co-founder of Synaptec, a Strathclyde spinout working in distributed sensing for monitoring applications, which recently received significant investment to support growth.