Organisation name

Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN)

Department(s)/Unit(s)

Solar Energy

Wind Energy

Biomass

Efficiency & Infrastructure

Policy Studies

Location

Westerduinweg 3

1755 LE  Petten

The Netherlands

Total number of employees

600

Mission

ECN develops high-level knowledge and technology for a sustainable energy system and transfers them to the market.

Objectives

Research activities at ECN are directed towards efficient use of energy and infrastructure, deployment of renewable energy sources, clean conversion of fossil fuels and development of energy analyses and policies. While targets for the near and medium term have been set in Europe, substantial further acceleration of new technologies is required to meet the long term goals.
ECN aims to carry out groundbreaking research that will have a major influence on energy transition and brings technologies to every stage of development.

Laboratories/Facilities

Engineering & Services is the technical support and development group of ECN. This group of about 100 employees designs, engineers and realizes experimental installations, prototypes and high-tech components, conducts materials research, takes care of data acquisition, data processing and visualization and realizes scientific and technical software. Besides ECN, this group supports innovative institutes and companies. E&S is the problem solver for technological challenges.

Technology expertise

ECN is highly motivated to develop applications of, for example, solar energy, wind energy, biomass, hydrogen, CO₂ capture and energy efficiency. We also evaluate energy and climate policies. The six research units work closely with universities.

Main research topics

Solar Energy

Wind Energy

Biomass

Efficiency & Infrastructure

Policy Studies