ALLIANCE EUROPEENNE DE RECHERCHE DANS LE DOMAINE DE L'ENERGIE

Their core work

EERA (European Energy Research Alliance) is a membership association that aligns and coordinates national energy research programs across Europe. It acts as the research pillar of the EU's Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan), bridging national laboratories, universities, and policymakers to accelerate the clean energy transition. Rather than conducting primary research itself, EERA orchestrates joint programming, develops implementation roadmaps, and ensures that fragmented national efforts add up to a coherent European research agenda. It also champions open data practices and research infrastructure sharing across the energy sector.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2016-2018), EERA focused on foundational coordination — running its own secretariat (EERASE3), promoting the SET-Plan and Energy Union agenda, and participating in broad energy system integration studies. From 2019 onward, the focus sharpened toward specific implementation: offshore wind deployment, FAIR data ecosystems, energy storage infrastructure, and translating research into industrial innovation. The shift from general advocacy to concrete implementation tools and sector-specific roadmaps signals a maturing organization moving from agenda-setting to execution support.

EERA is moving from coordinating research agendas on paper toward enabling practical implementation — open data platforms, storage infrastructure ecosystems, and industry transfer mechanisms — making them increasingly relevant for applied collaboration.

How they like to work

EERA primarily joins consortia as a participant (11 of 13 projects) rather than leading them, but when it coordinates, it manages large flagship efforts like SUPEERA (€1.67M). With 135 unique partners across 27 countries, they function as a network hub — connecting diverse national research organizations rather than repeatedly partnering with the same few. This makes them an excellent gateway partner: bringing them into a consortium opens doors to their extensive pan-European membership network.

EERA maintains one of the broadest networks in European energy research, with 135 unique consortium partners spanning 27 countries. Their reach is truly pan-European, reflecting their role as an umbrella alliance for national energy research organizations.

What sets them apart

EERA occupies a unique structural position in the European energy research landscape: it is the official research pillar of the SET-Plan, giving it direct influence on how EU energy research priorities are defined and funded. Unlike individual research institutes that compete for projects, EERA coordinates across them — making it a non-competitive, trusted intermediary. For consortium builders, EERA brings legitimacy, policy-level connections, and access to a network of national labs and universities that would otherwise require dozens of bilateral relationships.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SUPEERA
  EERA's largest coordinated project (€1.67M), directly supporting SET-Plan implementation across all clean energy sectors with a focus on translating research into industrial impact.
• StoRIES
  Their highest-funded participant role (€978K), building a pan-European energy storage research infrastructure ecosystem — a shift toward tangible shared resources.
• EERAdata
  Represents EERA's push into FAIR and open data for energy research, positioning them at the intersection of data governance and clean energy.