Greece's national energy centre specializing in EU energy directive implementation, building energy performance, and renewable energy policy across Europe.
CRES is Greece's national centre for renewable energy and energy efficiency, serving as the country's primary technical body for EU energy policy implementation. They specialize in transposing EU energy directives (EPBD, EED, Renewable Energy Directive) into national policy, developing energy performance monitoring frameworks, and supporting public authorities with energy planning. Beyond policy, they conduct applied research in bioenergy, geothermal energy, solar heat for industry, and building energy performance — bridging the gap between EU-level energy targets and real-world deployment across Southern and Eastern Europe.
Dominant participant in Concerted Actions (CAIV_EPBD, CA-RES3, CA-EED 2) and policy support projects (ODYSSEE-MURE, PUBLENEF, multEE, QualitEE) spanning all major EU energy directives.
Deep involvement across the building energy value chain — from EPBD concerted actions and energy performance contracting (EPC_PLUS as coordinator, EnPC-INTRANS) to thermal storage (TESSe2b), BIM training (BIMEET), and renovation financing (ENERFUND).
Coordinated both MAGIC (marginal lands for industrial crops) and PANACEA (non-food agricultural crops), plus participated in BECOOL (lignocellulosic biofuels) and Bioenergy4Business.
Consistent work on energy consumption tracking and policy evaluation tools including ODYSSEE-MURE, EU-MERCI, STEAM-UP (industrial steam benchmarking), and PRODESA.
Participation in GEMex (geothermal), Cheap-GSHPs (ground source heat pumps), INSHIP (solar heat for industry), and EU HEROES (solar PV in local networks).
Participation in ERIGrid (smart grid research infrastructure) and projects involving virtual power systems and energy management systems in recent keywords.
In the early period (2015–2018), CRES focused broadly on energy management fundamentals — steam audits, SEAPs under the Covenant of Mayors, big data integration, and EPBD concerted actions. Their work was largely about establishing monitoring baselines and building capacity for local authorities. In the later period (2019–2022), their focus sharpened significantly toward building renovation strategies, NZEB standards, EPBD recast implementation, energy performance certificates, and renewable energy directive transposition — reflecting the EU's escalating ambition on building decarbonization and the Clean Energy Package rollout.
CRES is moving deeper into building renovation policy and NZEB implementation, positioning itself as a go-to partner for projects addressing the EU Renovation Wave and updated EPBD requirements.
CRES operates overwhelmingly as a participant (56 of 62 projects), serving as a reliable national technical partner rather than a consortium leader. With 600 unique partners across 50 countries, they function as a highly connected hub in European energy policy networks — the kind of organization that appears on every shortlist when a consortium needs a Greek energy partner. Their heavy involvement in Coordination and Support Actions (43 of 62 projects) confirms their role as a policy implementation and knowledge-sharing body rather than a deep R&D lab.
CRES has built one of the widest networks in European energy research, collaborating with 600 unique partners across 50 countries. Their network is especially dense within EU member state energy agencies and national bodies, reflecting their role in pan-European concerted actions and policy coordination projects.
CRES is Greece's designated national energy centre, giving them an institutional mandate that most research organizations lack — they don't just study energy policy, they implement it nationally. Their combination of directive transposition experience (EPBD, EED, RED) with applied technical work in buildings, bioenergy, and renewables makes them a dual-capability partner who can bridge policy frameworks and technical deployment. For consortium builders, CRES brings guaranteed Greek national representation, deep EU regulatory knowledge, and a 600-partner network built over 62 projects.
