In response to the increasing need for energy innovation in Europe and beyond, The European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) is launching its new Joint Research Programmes to help strengthen, expand and optimise EU energy research.
The first Joint Programmes of research on Wind, Photovoltaic, Smart Grids and Geothermal will be officially launched during the SET-Plan conference, taking place on 3-4 June 2010 in Madrid.
Proposed by the European Commission, The Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan aims to accelerate the development and deployment of cost-effective low carbon technologies, comprising measures relating to planning, implementation, resources and international cooperation.
EERA'S innovative programmes will identify and bring together national centres of excellence in the energy research sector, proactively engaging involved organisations in the identification of common needs and areas of research for the 2013-2020 programming period.
Following the SET-Plan indications, the Joint Programmes respond to the need for better coordination among Member States, maximising synergies and identifying priorities for future funding. The programmes constitute strategic permanent collaborations between major research organisations and institutes forming a virtual centre of excellence.
The numbers of current Joint Programmes are already impressive, the participating organisations having committed the following total person-months per year (pm/Y) Photovoltaic has committed 1.000 pm/y, Wind 1.500 pm/y, Geothermal Energy 3.000 pm/y and Smart Grids 650 pm/y. These figures demonstrate real commitment, considering that all the Joint Programmes are at an initial stage and that further Joint Programmes are currently under preparation, namely: Materials for Nuclear, Concentrated Solar Power, Carbon Capture and Storage, Bio Energy, Fuel Cells and Smart Cities.
The Madrid conference will report the progress of the SET-Plan since the 2009 conference and in addition to the EERA Joint Programmes, will also formally launch the first European Industry Initiatives.
High representatives from leading European Institutions are expected to attend the launch, including the European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy of the European Parliament and the Spanish Presidency. Main stakeholders currently involved in the EERA Joint Programmes and European Industrial Initiatives will participate in the conference.
The EERA Executive is currently governed by 15 of the top Research Organisations dealing with energy in Europe, namely: the "Austrian Institute of Technology", AIT (AT), the "Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives", CEA (FR), the "Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas2, CIEMAT (ES), the "Centre for Renewable Resources", CRES (GR), the "Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands", ECN (NL), the "Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development", ENEA ( IT), the "Helmholz Association", HZ, (GE), the "Institute of Power Engineering", IEN (PL), the "Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia", LNEG (PT), the "Paul Scherrer Institute", PSI (CH), the "National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy", RISø-DTU (DK), the "Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research", SINTEF (NO), the "UK Energy Research Centre", UKERC (UK) and the "Technical Research Centre of Finland", VTT (FI). The EERA Executive includes two European organisations as observers - the European University Association (EUA) and the European Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCs).
Bron : EERA