NORCE Energy conducts research activities and projects on integrating sustainable energy systems across all energy vectors and sectors.
NORCE is a Norwegian research institute with 800 employees of more than 40 nationalities, present at ten locations in Norway and covering the six research areas of Energy, Health, Climate, Environment, Society and Technology.
NORCE has a strong relationship with academia through cooperation agreements with universities located in various cities (e.g., Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Oslo, and Tromsø) and through adjunct fellowships for several of NORCE’s scientists at these Universities.
Advancing sustainable energy across Norway
NORCE Energy focuses on research and development that contributes to reducing emissions, digitising, and making the energy sector in Norway and globally more sustainable and cost-effective.
The development and integration of renewable forms of energy into existing systems is key to the green shift, and related research activities and projects are conducted in close cooperation with the industry.
The Energy Systems focus area team is an interdisciplinary team within NORCE, focusing on research in energy generation, energy efficiency and energy systems integration, covering and integrating different energy vectors and their implementation (technical and societal).
NORCE is a key player in critical research
It has been involved in the management and execution of various regionally, nationally, and internationally funded projects, ranging from theoretical and modelling studies to lab tests, prototype development, pilot installation, and operation.
Examples of key projects are:
• ELEXIA, which is coordinated by NORCE and will demonstrate digitised energy system integration across sectors, enhancing flexibility and resilience towards an efficient, sustainable, cost-optimised, affordable, secure, and stable energy supply.
• The ROBINSON project, where NORCE acted as a scientific coordinator, aims to demonstrating a concept to decarbonise geographical islands.
• TRINELFEX, targeting the transition in industrial sector, and HarvRESt, which integrates renewable and sustainable energy systems with agriculture.
During recent years, activities have focused on renewable energy generation, optimisation and implementation. Its integration into society, energy systems, and energy efficiency improvement has been continuously growing at NORCE, and it actively participates in the EERA Joint programmes: Energy Systems Integration, Wind, Geothermal, and CSS.
Within EERA, NORCE also joins the transversal Joint Program Digitalisation for Energy and the working group for Resilience and Preparedness.
Furthermore, NORCE is an active member of the European Turbomachinery Network (ETN) and coordinates the working group on Energy Systems.
A wide variety of projects
A growing number of energy systems-related projects are interdisciplinary in character, with most cooperating with social sciences, for example, in terms of stakeholder involvement, rules and regulations, and business models.
Others are connecting to the environmental department, e.g., for biogas and biofuel generation, their usage, and process optimisation. The long history of NORCE in offshore petroleum technology results in a close connection to the maritime and offshore sector (e.g. maritime transport and aquaculture).
