"Petten Energy Research Capital of Europe"
Energy research institutes JRC-IE, NRG and ECN have decided to intensify their strategic cooperation in Petten. Together, the three research partners intend to develop Petten into the energy research capital of Europe.
September 30th 2008, the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), European Commissions Joint Research Centre JRC Institute for Energy (IE), and the Nuclear Research and consultancy Group (NRG) signed an agreement focusing on synchronizing and strengthening their research in the area of energy technologies. Informal cooperations within both research and technology development already exist between the IE, NRG and ECN. Strengthening these cooperations means that the three institutes will be able to accomplish their mission in Europe even more successfully. That mission is to support the (European) governmental policy by means of research and technology development, and to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable energy supply.
Individually, the three research institutes already occupy prominent positions in European energy research, and this role within the European energy policy will be further strengthened through the intended cooperation. In their policy-supporting research, they focus on the three priorities of the European energy policy: 20% energy reduction, 20% sustainable energy resources in the energy supply and 20% decrease in CO2 emissions in 2020. These targets should contribute to an improved security of supply, protection of the environment and climate, and reinforcement of the competitive position within Europe.
European Energy Research Capital
The research partners share the ambition to develop the Petten Site into the European capital of current and future energy technologies. This within the framework of the European Strategic Energy and Technology Plan (SET-Plan). The initiative from Petten is in line with the European Commission’s wish to bring about more structure and synergy between the research institutes in Europe.
In order to realize this, the three institutes will make optimal use of their complementary research and technology development, and their networks within and outside the European Union. The intensified co-operation focuses in the first instance on the following research areas; policy studies, biomass and biofuels, CO2 capture and storage (CCS), nuclear technology, hydrogen- and fuel cells and solar energy (see appendix). In many of these areas, ECN and NRG take the lead in the development of pioneering energy technologies. This is complemented by the IE work which focuses on developing European and international test methodologies, safety, technological evaluations and prognoses in support of energy policies.
More information about this cooperation agreement is to be found in the appendix.
