Eaton, US DOE to Enhance Collaboration on Innovative Energy Solutions at NREL

To expedite research and commercialization of new energy-related technologies, power management company Eaton and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have entered into a cooperative agreement to co-locate approximately 15 members of Eaton’s Corporate Research and Technology team at NREL’s Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) in Golden, Colorado. NREL is the DOE's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.

“This first-of-its-kind agreement for Eaton and NREL is an exciting next step in our long relationship,” said Ramanath Ramakrishnan, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Eaton. “By having Eaton engineers on-site every day, we will be able to substantially accelerate the innovation process by more closely leveraging NREL’s energy integration infrastructure. This infrastructure, combined with Eaton’s ability to mitigate the risks associated with early-stage technologies, will help us more efficiently translate ideas into next generation solutions.”

For more than a decade, Eaton and NREL have collaborated on a comprehensive portfolio of joint programs that includes optimizing energy systems for microgrids, buildings and communities, and developing a predictive battery management system for hybrid electric vehicles. This new agreement augments this relationship by enabling both organizations to collaborate closely on the evolving state of energy solutions such as microgrids, energy storage systems and grid intelligence.

“NREL’s industry partnerships are integral to the advanced energy research revolutionizing the global energy landscape,” said Dr. Martin Keller, NREL’s director. “This on-site, direct collaboration allows our fully-integrated teams to expand knowledge related to grid integration and power management."