Co-operation between ECN and Chinese Academy of Sciences

Joint research in the field of energy. During a trade mission to China in Beijing and Dalian, the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) signed two co-operation contracts with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The agreements were signed on 9 and 10 July by ECN Director Kees van der Klein in the presence of the Dutch Minister of Trade Frank Heemskerk.

 

The first contract deals with investigating the feasibility of building a Sino-Dutch Wind Energy Research Centre in the Chinese city of Baoding, south of Beijing. This research centre will perform research for Chinese wind turbine manufacturers and will include a large test facility for wind turbine blades as well as a test field for testing wind turbine prototypes. In the Netherlands, ECN has its own expansive research facilities for wind energy, including a wind turbine test field in the Wieringermeer. Many parties in Baoding are active in the field of sustainable energy, including the largest Chinese wind turbine blade manufacturer and the China Academy of Sciences. The project will be financed in part by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the context of the PESP programme. The agreement is a consequence of the Memorandum of Understanding that had been signed during a previous trade mission by the chairman of the ECN board of review, Ruud Lubbers, and the Chinese city of Baoding.

In the second contract, ECN and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP, an institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) agreed to a closer co-operation in the field of energy research in the Chinese metropolis of Dalian. At the moment, ECN and DICP are currently performing research in materials for fuel cells and hydrogen separation technology. Dalian is the largest petroleum harbour in Northeast China, and had been declared a ‘Special Economic Zone’ by the Chinese government. This autumn, an ECN delegation will travel to Dalian to explore the possibilities for other co-operative projects.

End press release

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For more information, please contact Theo de Lange, manager of the Wind unit, telephone +31 (0)224 - 56 41 34 or e-mail t.delange@remove-this-part-ecn.nl.Or contact Harold IJskes, press spokesman, telephone +31 (0)224 - 56 40 50, mobile +31 (0)6 - 127 98 123 or e-mail ijskes@remove-this-part-ecn.nl.

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