CENCE Project Partners & Associated Clusters

UK CEED is the UK partner in the 2-year European Commission-backed CENCE project assessing renewable energy support activities across Europe. Its purpose is to identify critical success factors, encourage cooperation between support agencies and influence the development of enhanced support programmes. For more information please contact Simon Chiva.

Aims

The overall objective of CENCE is to activate cooperation between European energy clusters by establishing a cooperative learning platform that facilitates the promotion of entrepreneurial innovation by exploiting synergies, exchanging knowledge, and transferring best practices.

To achieve this objective, the CENCE partners are working according to a three-stage method: learning - networking - cooperation; specifically, the CENCE work plan involves the following eight goals:

1. To foster cooperation among participating energy clusters to contribute to the creation of an EU Innovation Area.
2. To develop a new, cooperative learning platform to utilize synergies, exchange experience and knowledge, and build learning communities.
3. To support networking and transfer of knowledge between participating energy clusters, enterprises, intermediate and cluster organisations - achieving an "outward looking" approach.
4. To identify regional competences by mapping energy clusters.
5. To identify and analyse success factors and barriers to innovation in the EU energy clusters.
6. To raise awareness for networking energy clusters and to lay the foundations for a mega-cluster.
7. To establish joint collaborative projects and innovative strategies between participant clusters.
8. To provide policy recommendations to foster the development of energy clusters through the EU and to propose policy actions for the new Member States' partners.

Background and Funding

Launched under the “Europe Innova” initiative of the European Commission, Enterprise & Industry DG (FP6-Innov-6), and aimed at identifying the leverages and barriers to innovation within specific sectors, CENCE supports the creation of a collaborative framework where the most developed energy clusters in Europe can interact to share best practices and new clusters can learn how to become successful in their regional innovation systems. CENCE is a joint effort of the most representative energy clusters with the assistance of regional development agencies, technology transfer and research institutions across Europe, funded by the European Commission.

Cluster(s)	Partner(s)
Austria
ECO WORLD STYRIA	LandesEnergieVerein Steiermark Styrian Energy Agency (LEV)
Netzwerk Öko-Energie Steiermark (NOEST) Styrian Eco-Energy Network
Oekoenergie Cluster (OEC) Eco Energy Cluster	O.Oe. Energiesparverband Upper Austria Energy Agency (ESV)
Finland
Teknologiakeskus Oy Merinova Ab (MERINOVA) Energy Cluster, Vaasa, Ostrobothnia	Teknologiakeskus Oy Merinova Ab (MERINOVA)
Germany
Bayerisches Energie-Forum Bavarian Energy Forum	Bayern Innovativ GmbH
Klima-Umwelt-Energie Climate-Environment-Energy, Lower Frankonian Cluster Project	Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern)
Hungary
Bioenergetikai Innovációs Klaszter Centrum Bio-Energy cluster is under development	Regional Development Agency of Northern Hungary (NORDA)
Italy
No associated cluster at present.	Consorzio Politecnico Innovazione (CPI)
Slovenia
Inštitut Za Daljinsko Energetiko Institute for District Energy	Slovensko društvo za daljinsko energetiko District Energy Institute of Slovenia
Spain
Cluster de la Energía del País Vasco Basque Country Energy Cluster	Cluster de la Energía del País Vasco
	LABEIN Tecnalia (LABEIN)
United Kingdom
East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) Energy Industry Association or Cluster	UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UK CEED)
Encluster Greater Peterborough Environmental Goods and Services Cluster