Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies – Explorer (CEETe)
Ostrava
Czechia
CEETe serves as an innovation hub representing the future of energy and the environment. It aims to move away from fossil fuels and focuses on sustainability. CEETe is a next-generation center that integrates research and development with cross-sector partnerships in sustainable energy. Its mission is to facilitate the transfer of innovative technologies to ensure energy self-sufficiency and resource independence within a European context. Start date: 2021-04-20 End date: 2023-09-27 Total project budget: 12,89 Mio. EUR (322,2 Mio. CZK) ERDF contribution: 9,67 Mio. EUR (241,7 Mio. EUR) Key stakeholders: VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, other universities, research and development institutions, small and medium enterprises, City of Ostrava, other cities in Ostrava Metropolitan Area
Challenges and solutions
The aim of the project is to improve lack of innovation support infrastructure services in the Ostrava Metropolitan Area, which should lead to an increase in the intensity of joint R&D and innovation activities between public and private sectors.
The object goal is to build a centre for the provision of innovation and technology transfer services in the field of sustainable energy in line with the requirements for the transformation and shift away from traditional coal sources. It is a new generation centre integrating research, development and market applicability of the results of cross-sectoral cooperation to help all industries affected by the energy transition to meet the objectives of carbon neutrality and the European Green Deal.
The CEETe - Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies - explorer (‘CEETe’), is part of the integrated solution of REFRESH (Research Centre For Energy and Social Change) within the Article 7 strategy called Integrated Territorial Strategy of Ostrava Metrop. Area 2014-20. The integrated solution of REFRESH is an ambitious multidisciplinary project including basic and oriented research on technologies in the energy sector and research on social processes related to energy transformation. CEETe is designed from the beginning in close cooperation with potential customers of the planned innovation support infrastructure services to be in line with current trends and application needs, especially from traditional industries such as energy, ICT, engineering, metallurgy, transport, waste and water management.
The project includes the following key activities:
1 - Construction of a new CEETe facility (building and hydrogen filling station) that will combine known and newly developed technologies with the support of unique knowledge generated by sharing intellectual and technological capacities within the merged research centres.
2 - Installation of technologies used for research activities and provision of technology transfer services. Among the main technological parts, we can mention in particular the thermochemical materials conversion laboratory, the hydrogen station and the hydrogen technology laboratory, the battery storage, the cogeneration unit, the PV panels, the heat recovery technology, the water management for rainwater utilisation, the hydroponics laboratory and the decentralised control system that will be the central brain of the whole centre.
3 - Establishing the innovation infrastructure services in the field of technology transfer for the optimization and management of modern energy, raw material self-sufficiency in accordance with the principles of the circular economy and sustainable mobility. These services will be focused on the processing of alternative fuels, sorted and single-source alternative fuels in combination with energy inputs from renewable and alternative sources, supported by modern technologies for energy management and storage with a prioritisation of hydrogen economy.
Results and impact
This project is used to address R&D and contract research projects that support sustainable development, energy innovation and green solutions. After one year of operation, 42 companies and 18 research organisations use the services of the innovation infrastructure. The CEETe building received several architectural awards (and won Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Awards 2023 in Czechia) that confirm its innovative approach to design and sustainable operation.
Recommendations for other cities
The potential for transfer of good practice is high in cities where there is a technical university and close cooperation between the city and the university. There is a need for the university to understand the needs of cities and metropolitan areas in the field of energy transition and to try to come from a narrow academic perspective on societal problems. This is the only way to create a highly innovative infrastructure that serves as a testing ground for companies and a place for companies to collaborate with the R&D sector. Moreover - the building is built in a modular way and serves as a model for other possible ‘explorers’ in other locations in the metropolitan area.
About this resource
The European Urban Initiative is an essential tool of the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy for the 2021-2027 programming period. The initiative established by the European Union supports cities of all sizes, to build their capacity and knowledge, to support innovation and develop transferable and scalable innovative solutions to urban challenges of EU relevance.
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