The accelerating energy transition creates a strong demand from private and public stakeholders for new methods to be developed, tested, and applied. Thanks to broad interest from Swiss communities in jointly building large-scale energy management systems, we are developing multiple “living lab” projects as implementation partners for our research.
On one hand, these communities forge links to the research institutes and build the fertile ground to continue with applied research, collect real-world data, identify new theoretical questions and spin off for-profit entities. On the other hand, they inform Swiss society about the latest advancements in research and lower the barriers to the transfer of knowledge and technology to all stakeholders.
These two Energy Moonshot projects are already well under way:
We also envision leveraging the campuses of the institutions involved in the NCCR Automation as living labs, deploying and demonstrating new technologies to reduce overall energy consumption, make energy use more efficient and tap into new means to supply the energy demand locally.
Zusammen mit dem Nationalen Forschungsschwerpunkt Automation arbeitet eine kleine St. Galler Gemeinde an der Erforschung der Energieunabhängigkeit. Dank seiner natürlichen Umgebung und der vorteilhaften Infrastruktur ist der Ort ideal, um die gesamtschweizerische Energieresilienz zu modellieren.
What happens when an industrial park joins together multiple huge companies and small municipalities? The resulting impact on the region can overwhelm local planning capacity – or, with strategic vision and NCCR Automation research support, it can become a true powerhouse.
