Via EUREC Member, CENER

CENER, the National Renewable Energy Centre of Spain, is celebrating 20 years since it was set up this December. On the occasion of this anniversary, CENER organised Technology Trends Week (TTW), where its technological proposals in the areas of wind, solar thermal and photovoltaic solar energies, biomass, energy efficiency and generation in buildings and urban planning, and energy grid integration were presented.

This was an online communication campaign that took place between 26 October and 3 November, with a new website at its core: https://cenertechnologytrends.com/en/, which is still active, and where you can find videos about its activities, webinars and a photo gallery illustrating its most significant developments in energy technologies. It also shows some projects and good practices that have earned CENER external recognition.

In addition to the technical content, the website includes testimonies in video format (English and Spanish) from more than twenty Spanish and international institutional representatives, who recognise CENER’s work over the last 20 years. Among them, the Director General of the Directorate-General for Energy of the European Commission, Ditte Juul Jørgensen, the Fourth-Vice President of the Spanish Government, Teresa Ribera, the Minister for Science and Innovation, Pedro Duque, or the President of the Government of Navarre, María Chivite, among others. There were also representatives from European energy associations, such as Giles Dickson, CEO of Wind Europe, the Head of the Renewable Energy Division at the International Energy Agency (IEA), Paolo Frankl, or Rainer Janssen, President of EUREC.

The communication campaign was presented at a press conference by Navarre’s Regional Minister for Economic and Business Development of the Government of Navarre and President of the CENER Foundation, Manu Ayerdi and by Pablo Ayesa, General Manager of CENER. During his speech, Regional Minister Ayerdi acknowledged the work of this centre which is “always at the technological forefront of the renewable energy sector”. “CENER has become a driving force for knowledge and the generation of highly qualified employment, thus promoting the development of the industrial sector of renewable energies”, he stated.

CENER’s activity has been very intense and it has always sought the collaboration of other technology and research centres, energy institutions and administrations, which has allowed it to generate knowledge and experience and a high degree specialization, which is aimed at making relevant technological contributions to the development of renewable energies. In this respect, the participation of CENER in European projects is outstanding. During these years it has participated in 105 European projects, of which a total of 12 have been coordinated, covering all the areas in which it works. In addition to the Frame Programs of the European Union, it has participated in other R&D programs, such as Intelligent Energy Europe, LIFE, Interreg Atlantic Area or ERANET, to name just a few. CENER is currently participating in 21 European projects.