Renewable Energy Engineering

Overview of Programme
MSc Renewable Energy Engineering provides you with the opportunity to study a specialist engineering-focused course in the rapidly expanding sector. By studying this programme, you’ll develop critical understanding of the significant changes afoot in the energy system due to the development and integration of wind, marine, biomass, and solar technologies. Upon graduation, you’ll have the necessary knowledge and skills to develop and implement creative solutions to the problems encountered in renewable energy capture, conversion, storage, and management.

You’ll gain the knowledge and skills to assess renewable energy resources, design appropriate renewable energy systems, evaluate the performance of these systems and assess the wider impacts of renewable energy development. You’ll be introduced to fundamental energy science and current energy issues, and complete project-led courses in which you’ll design renewable energy systems in response to such energy issues. By doing so, you’ll be exposed to Renewable Energy resources, how the resources are exploited, and the socio-economic and environmental impacts of Renewable Energy-related activities.

During the programme, you’ll develop detailed knowledge and critical understanding of the core skills, techniques and practices in renewable energy resources, converters and systems and apply this knowledge to complex applications to deliver original and creative solutions to current and emerging problems. On top of practical knowledge and skills, you’ll develop your communication, independent work, and teamwork skills by working effectively with peers, academics, and staff in a variety of tasks.

Our Expertise
96% of Heriot-Watt University’s engineering research was classed as world-leading in the REF 2021 review, which ranked us 1st in Scotland and 3rd in the UK for engineering research through a joint submission with the University of Edinburgh.

Our MSc Renewable Energy Engineering is directly informed by the world class research carried out by Heriot-Watt’s Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering (IMPEE) research institute and our Energy Academy.

You’ll learn from academics engaged in renewable energy research in five principal areas:
- Photovoltaics and solar energy

- Wind and marine energy

- Renewable energy systems

- Minimising CO2 emissions

- Biofuels

Your learning environment
During your studies, you’ll benefit from and have access to our specialist equipment, software and laboratories used by professional mechanical engineering, including machining and manufacturing facilities, an air conditioning unit, wind tunnel for fluid mechanics and aerodynamics, 3D printer, and a uniaxial testing machine. You will have the opportunity to work on real-world problems, and work across disciplines to deliver practical solutions with global impact in our state-of-the-art GRID (Global Research Innovation and Discovery) facility.

Customise your learning
You’ll have the opportunity to focus on the areas of renewable energy engineering that interest you the most. You can customise your degree to match your specific interests or desired career pathway by studying five mandatory courses and choosing three further options from a range of energy, and mechanical engineering specialist courses, including electrical power systems, heat exchangers and heat transfer, climate change, sustainability and adaptation, and demand management and energy storage.

In semester three, you’ll undertake an extensive and specialised investigation into your chosen area of renewable energy engineering through your dissertation. You’ll be required to demonstrate your mastery of the subject area by applying design and evaluation techniques to develop new insights and responses to current issues in energy and mechanical engineering industries.

Accreditation
This programme is accredited by Energy Institute (EI).