Johns Hopkins University is building a renewable energy lab in Baltimore’s Remington Neighborhood that will focus on energy transition innovations, including carbon management, energy storage, wind power, and grid optimization.
The 12,000-square-foot facility, known as R.Labs, will include research laboratories and an advanced materials discovery and manufacturing process center, and is being constructed above the existing R. House food market.
The project is funded through a $1.25 million award from the Maryland Department of Commerce’s Build Our Future Grant Pilot Program to Johns Hopkins’ Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute (ROSEI).
“It’s a win for Baltimore because it will anchor a new energy hub in our city and build on Remington’s reputation for entrepreneurship,” says Ben Link, ROSEI’s deputy director.
“It’s a win for the state of Maryland as well because energy technology will be a major economic driver in the years ahead, making this a direct investment in stimulating the state-level economy.”
The facility will accommodate research on portable electric battery design and the manufacturing of offshore wind projects, the modeling of increasing renewables and distributed energy resources, and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to clean energy challenges.
Local tech companies and startups will also have access to the new space upon completion, which is planned for late 2025.
The project fulfills the aspiration of Ben Schafer, the Willard and Lillian Hackerman Professor of Civil and Systems Engineering and ROSEI’s founding director, who aimed to build the facility in response to faculty who expressed the need for an advanced-capabilities clean energy space. “R.Labs is the first step in meeting these needs,” Schafer says.