Prospective Research

Identifying the most promising technologies of tomorrow

Which technologies are going to impact the energy business in the coming years? What is their true potential in terms of technical, economic, and environmental performance? How can they bring value to our customers? These are some key questions that the multi-partner Prospective Research and Innovation Program – led by Laborelec – is addressing.

Technology watch

Laborelec is at the forefront of technological evolutions across the entire electricity value chain: from energy generation to distribution and consumption. In collaboration with other GDF SUEZ research centres and universities, we follow new developments in areas such as:

• Electricity generation: solar, wind, and marine energies, new types of biomass, carbon capture and storage.
• Residential, tertiary, and industrial energy applications: electricity and heat generation technologies, district heating and cooling, energy-efficient industrial processes, sustainable mobility (including electric vehicles).
• Energy systems and grids: flexibility and sustainability of the energy mix, smart energy management, including energy storage and flexibility aggregation.

Technical and economic studies

What is the potential of these new technologies? Laborelec and its partners carry out technical and economic studies of promising technologies in order to assess their added value:

• What value creating mechanisms does each technology bring forth? Under which conditions can the technology become profitable for our customers?
• How reliable is the technology? Which performance can be expected in real-life applications?
• What are the real environmental benefits of the technology?

These studies help decrease uncertainties regarding innovative technologies and identify opportunities.

Pilot projects and demonstrators

Technical and economic studies can be supported by pilot projects. The goal is to gain hands-on experience with the technology, to better assess its underlying value creating mechanisms, and to discover how to efficiently capitalize on these mechanisms. Both Laborelec and its partners have the necessary in-house expertise to carry out such studies and ensure a comprehensive analysis.

Contact

For more information, contact us.