Catalan Institute for Energy Research (IREC)
- Promotion of strategic sectors - Energy
- 2009
- 2010
- Developing
- Operating
- Stand-by
The Catalan Institute for Energy Research (IREC) is a centre dedicated to technological research in energy that contributes to creating an energetically more sustainable future without sacrificing economic competitiveness, providing society with maximum energy safety.
Antoni Martínez, Director of the Catalan Institute for Energy Research.
As well as R+D+i, the centre specialises in tasks related to energy saving and efficiency, specifically micro-networks, electric vehicles, energy storage and efficiency in construction. The centre also has an electrical networks and electricity area, an area devoted to investigation in research, design and characterisation of materials for energy use, and an area working on socio-technical research in energy.
During its first year the IREC set the foundations for becoming a centre of excellence and reference, and positioning itself as such in 2010. The Institute’s team presently includes over thirty specialists, and this number is expected to increase to a total of eighty by the end of 2010. In 2010 the IREC will increase its research area to 2,700 m2 between its two centres (Barcelona and Tarragona).