CIC energiGUNE, the Basque research centre of reference in electrochemical and thermal energy storage, has ended 2019 as one of the three most important research centres in Europe in its sector. With more than 600 publications and 13 patents accumulated up to this year, the Basque centre is involved in flagship initiatives in Europe (BatteRIes Europe and Batteries 2030+), and has consolidated its position as the leading reference in Southern Europe.
“This situation has come about through the combined efforts of a great team, the sustained commitment of institutions, collaboration with other stakeholders and the work done in partnership with benchmark companies that have shown no hesitation in placing their trust in us”, said Nuria Gisbert, Director General of CIC energiGUNE. In her opinion, one of the main strengths of the organisation is its ability to attract talent, thanks to a team of top-level professionals - headed by the prestigious Michel Armand - and to its state-of-the-art facilities, including its battery prototyping facilities and its thermal storage system prototyping laboratory (equipped with air and oil thermal loops, amongst others).
"Batteries Summit 2019", the European summit meeting held last September in the Álava Technology Park, was a milestone in the activity of the centre, which was endorsed shortly afterwards with EU approval of 5 of the 11 projects submitted to the Horizon 2020 programme, under the heading "New Generation of Batteries". In fact, the Basque research centre secured the most funding in the whole of Spain, with a success rate of 46%, well above the Spanish average of 12.1%.
