European cooperation in energy research pays off

By cooperating, energy research organisations in Europe are able to accelerate the development of low-carbon technologies. The organisations have joined forces in the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) and align their activities in Joint Programmes of research. This reduces the duplication of research activities across Europe, working towards reaching Europe’s ambitious climate and energy goals effectively and efficiently. EERA now involves more than 2,000 researchers from over 150 organisations, representing an investment of over 200 million euro.

Storing the heat of the sun
The first plans of EERA are now turned into results. In one of the projects that will soon start, a thermal energy storage system will be developed. This system will store heat generated by concentrating solar power during the day in tanks containing molten salt, so the heat may be used during the day.

Making grids smarter
In another programme, EERA investigates how electricity grids can be improved to handle the intermittent supply from sources such as wind and solar. Research results from across the alliance have been exchanged and compiled into reports, so participants may benefit from work of others instead of duplicating their efforts.

A growing alliance
EERA recently launched six new Joint Programmes, covering Concentrated Solar Power, Marine Energy, Fuel Cells and Hydrogen, Smart Cities, Energy Storage, and Advanced Materials and Processes for Energy Applications. The newly approved programmes complement the seven existing Joint Programmes. The EERA Joint Programmes now cover all thematic areas defined by the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan), the EU’s plan to accelerate energy technology development.

Visions without funds will remain visions forever
The launch of the six new Joint Programmes took place at the SET Plan Conference in Warsaw, last week, where Mr Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, repeated the urgency of energy and climate problems and called for investment in energy research, as “visions without funds will remain visions forever”. Conference participants welcomed results achieved by EERA so far, with Mr Raffaele Liberali, Director of the European Commission’s Directorate-General Research, stating that “EERA (today) is a success story”.

About ECN
ECN is one of the partners in EERA. As a matter of fact the first chairman of EERA was Ton Hoff, the former chairman of the management Board of ECN. The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) is the largest energy research institute in the Netherlands. It has a strong international position in the areas of Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Policy Studies and Biomass & Energy Efficiency. With and for the market, we develop knowledge and technology that enable a transition to a sustainable energy system. ECN focuses its research on sustainable energy generation to develop safe, efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly energy systems. ECN also conducts research on future opportunities and economic backgrounds related to energy.

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Note for the editor
For more information, please contact Florentine de Maar, Press Officer ECN, e-mail: demaar@remove-this-part-ecn.nl, telephone: (+31) (0) 224-56 4050.

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