Project consortium

Country: Greece

The Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS) of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) was founded in 1992. The mission of ICCS is to support the deployment, the realisation, and the growth of the research priorities of ECE mainly through seeking, pursuing, and acquiring research funding via the competitive calls for research proposals that the European Commission had instigated.

The Decision Support Systems Lab / Energy Policy Unit (EPU-NTUA) operates within ICCS/NTUA and is a multidisciplinary scientific unit which provides academic training, carries out research and development projects, and offers management and decision support services across a wide range of complex business, socio-technical, and energy & climate policy/planning problems.

The E3MLab of ICCS/NTUA specializes in the construction and use of large-scale mathematical models covering the areas of energy, the economy, and the environment. Such models are used to make projections and analyse complex issues requiring system-wide consideration. Special emphasis is given to policy analysis and support.

Country: Belgium 

CEPS, founded in Brussels in 1983, is a leading think tank and forum for debate on EU affairs, ranking among the top think tanks in Europe. With an exceptionally strong in-house research capacity and an extensive network of partner institutes throughout the world, CEPS has amply demonstrated its ability to anticipate trends and to analyse policy questions well before they become topics of general discussion. 

The Energy, Resources and Climate Change (ERCC) unit specialises in tackling complex policy and regulatory challenges related to the net-zero and green transition. The team provides cutting-edge research and informed policy recommendations in the domains of energy transition and renewables, circularity, and sustainability policies, climate policy, and industrial decarbonisation and critical raw materials.

Country: Greece

E3-Modelling is a société anonyme (S.A.) company, established as a knowledge-intensive consulting company spin-off. The company inherits staff, knowledge, and software-modelling innovation of the laboratory E3MLab at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The company specialises in the delivery of consulting services based on large-scale empirical modelling of the nexus economy-energy-environment. The experience of its staff dates back to 1990 and includes internationally renowned milestones, such as the design, implementation and continuous operation of the PRIMES and GEM-E3 models. Since 1990, the consultants of E3-Modelling prepare and publish every 2-3 years a European energy and transport outlook in close cooperation with the European Commission and have supported its major impact assessment studies via the construction of detailed policy scenarios.

The team’s modelling and consulting experience is also serving numerous studies for European governments, professional associations, and large-scale companies in the energy domain. Their consultation expertise focuses on the design and impact analysis of transition in the energy market and systems, both in the demand and supply of energy, and in the transport sector, towards green and climate-friendly structures and technologies. E3M assesses the transitions from economic, policy, and implementation perspectives with emphasis on the functioning of system and markets and the impact of policy instruments on behaviours and market outcomes.

Country: Germany

Fraunhofer ISI analyses the origins and impacts of innovations. The Institute is researching the short and long term developments of innovation processes and the impacts of new technologies and services on society. On this basis, we provide our clients from industry, politics, and science with recommendations for action and perspectives for key decisions. Our expertise is founded on our scientific competence as well as an interdisciplinary and systemic research approach in the field of energy concentrates on energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, energy economics analyses, energy and climate policy as well as electricity market design. Fraunhofer ISI offers extensive experience in energy system modelling in particular with respect to long-term energy demand, the impact of variable renewable energies, and flexibility options in the power system. Fraunhofer ISI regularly assesses environmental, economic, and social impacts of low-carbon technologies.

Country: Greece

HOLISTIC is a dynamic consultancy firm offering a wide range of services in the fields of energy and environmental policy and planning, digital services, project organization, and management support. HOLISTIC designs and implements integrated solutions, provides specialised administration services, and designs, develops, and monitors the implementation progress of innovative IT systems. HOLISTIC team consists of executives who have long and extensive experience in the development of projects in these fields, they have the necessary know-how to undertake and execute complex projects of public, municipal, and private organisations in the EU, while they have a considerable research and academic background in cutting-edge methodologies, systems, and technologies, which allows detailed and well-documented studies to be carried out in the areas of expertise of the company.

Country: Germany

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), a member of the Leibniz Association was founded in 1992 and is a non-profit organization and a leader in its field. It has the twofold mission of advancing the scientific frontier on inter-disciplinary climate impact research for global sustainability and contributing knowledge and solutions for a safe and just climate future. The institute in a unique way combines research across disciplines and scales with solution orientation, emphasizing that societal relevance is based on scientific excellence.

With its roughly 400 staff from all over the world, PIK contributes knowledge to the global scientific community by way of publications in high-ranking peer-reviewed international journals and engagement in numerous partnerships and networks. Its main methods are integrated and complex systems analysis and data integration; numerical simulations are run on our own super computer. The institute also actively provides insights to decision-makers in policy, business, and society as a whole.

Country: Poland

Euro-Centrum Science and Technology Park focuses on the development of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies for buildings. It is concentrated on renewable technologies development and energy conservation in buildings and supports development of innovative technologies by conducting a series of experimental, advisory, instructional, and educational operations.

To achieve the best results in this branch, it collaborates with experienced representatives of regional industry, including technical universities and companies accumulated in the framework of the Euro-Centre Cluster of Energy Saving Technology. 

Country: Spain

TECNALIA is the largest center of applied research and technological development in Spain, a benchmark in Europe, and a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance. We collaborate with companies and institutions to improve their competitiveness, people’s quality of life and achieve sustainable growth. We do it thanks to people who are passionate about technology and committed to building a better society. Our mission is to transform technological research into prosperity as well as to be agents of transformation of companies and society for their adaptation to the challenges of a changing future.

We work with an increasingly strategic business relationship model based on trust, collaboration, and a shared technological approach, whereby our main scopes of action are: smart manufacturing, digital transformation, energy transition, sustainable mobility, health and food, urban ecosystem, and circular economy.

Country: Netherlands

Utrecht University, established in 1636, is a wide-range, international research university of high standing. Its research focuses on four strategic themes: Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. In these themes, researchers with different expertise are joining forces with societal partners to ponder research questions and strategies on tackling key societal challenges. 

The Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development is a vibrant international research community that aims to help accelerate the transition to a sustainable society. It occupies a unique position as an interdisciplinary natural/social sciences department that solely focuses on sustainability research and is ranked as the best in the Netherlands. It was formed in 2003 as the Department of Innovation, Environmental, and Energy Sciences (IMEW), bringing together the Environmental Governance, Environmental Sciences, and Innovation Studies groups. In 2012, the Science, Technology and Society group joined from the Faculty of Science, forming what is now known as the Energy & Resources group. The Energy and Resources group offers a unique multi-disciplinary environment to develop knowledge and collaborative science projects in this complex field, with an emphasis on system analytical approaches focused on:

• efficient use of energy and materials
• shifting to unconventional and renewable energy sources
• reducing unsustainable land use change
• redirecting the industrial metabolism

The group has a strong track record in energy efficiency, sustainable bio-based production of energy and materials, future low-carbon power generation (including photovoltaics and carbon capture and storage), and energy modelling. 

Country: Germany

The Wuppertal Institut (WI) is a non-profit limited company owned by the state of North-Rhine Westphalia and was founded in 1992. WI undertakes research and develops models, strategies, and instruments for transitions to sustainable development at local, national, and international level. It focusses on resources, climate, and energy related challenges and their relation to economy and society. 

The Institute employs an inter- and transdisciplinary approach to science and approaches the ecological and social challenges at hand from a systemic perspective. The research staff of the Wuppertal Institute is trained in a wide variety of scientific disciplines: natural and environmental sciences, geography, systems sciences, engineering, planning, law, economics as well as political and social sciences. With its approximately 200 employees – 51.2 % of which are female, the Wuppertal Institute is one of the largest as well as most influential think tanks for applied sustainability science in Europe.

In TRANSIENCE, the Division Future Energy and Industry Systems is involved, which is one of four divisions of WI and focusses on the development and analysis of paths for carbon-neutral energy systems and basic materials industry, in particular:

• Technologies and strategies for carbon-neutral basic materials production
• Low-carbon infrastructures and energy systems
• Transformation processes, strategies, and scenarios for regions, industries, and companies
• Local and national transformation strategies for developing and emerging nations
• Transformative industrial policy

Country: Switzerland

The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI was founded in 1988 and is the largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences in Switzerland, conducting cutting-edge research in four main fields: future technologies, energy and climate, health innovation, and fundamentals of nature. PSI designs, develops, constructs, and operates large-scale and complex world-class research facilities and places them at the disposal of the Swiss and international research community. 

As part of PSI, the Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis (LEA) is an interdivisional laboratory of the Nuclear Energy and Safety Research Division (NES) and the General Energy Research Division (ENE). It unites specific analytical research concerning diverse energy technologies and systems, including nuclear, fossil, and (modern) renewables. The Laboratory aims to contribute to effective decision-making on medium to long-term technology strategies in energy supply and demand, ensuring integration of major environmental, economic, and social factors. LEA has a mandate to analyse and communicate to decision-makers and stakeholders' strengths and weaknesses of energy technologies and broad implications of alternative energy supply strategies.

As part of LEA, the Technology Assessment group evaluates a broad range of key components needed for the decarbonization of our economy – clean mobility and industrial processes, energy storage, low-carbon fuels, carbon dioxide removal methods, clean energy supply, etc. Evaluations include costs, risks, and environmental aspects. One of the core research areas is environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – the Technology Assessment group develops open-source models for prospective LCA by linking energy system models or integrated assessment models and conventional LCA.

Country: UK

Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 13,000 staff and 42,000 students from 150 different countries. UCL's strategy is based on the following principal themes: academic leadership grounded in intellectual excellence; a global leader in the integration of research and education, underpinning an inspirational student experience; addressing global challenges through disciplinary excellence and distinctive cross-disciplinary approach; an accessible, publicly engaged organisation that fosters a lifelong community; London’s Global University: in London, of London, and for London; delivering global impact through a network of innovative international activities, collaborations, and partnerships.

The UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, founded in 2011, is one of four Institutes within The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy, and Resources, and focuses on a wide range of sustainability challenges, from transitions to net-zero energy systems, to circular economies, and sustainable, healthy food systems.