CNET CENTRE FOR NEW ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES SA

Their core work

EDP CNET is the R&D and innovation arm of EDP, one of Europe's major energy utilities, headquartered in Portugal. They develop and test new energy technologies across the full value chain — from offshore wind and ocean energy generation, through grid flexibility and smart energy management, to end-user solutions in buildings and communities. Their work focuses on bridging the gap between laboratory research and real-world deployment in utility-scale energy systems. As a corporate R&D centre backed by a major utility, they bring operational infrastructure, real grid data, and large-scale demonstration sites that most research partners cannot offer.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2016–2018, EDP CNET focused heavily on offshore wind foundations, ocean energy devices, and early smart grid integration — their keyword footprint centres on offshore wind, gravity foundations, cost reduction, and aggregation business models. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward grid flexibility, power-to-X pathways (hydrogen, ammonia), smart buildings, renewable forecasting, and community-scale energy systems. This trajectory mirrors the broader energy transition: moving from generation technology R&D toward system integration, sector coupling, and decarbonization of end-use sectors.

EDP CNET is moving from hardware-focused generation R&D toward system-level flexibility, hydrogen integration, and digital energy management — expect them to seek partners in AI-driven grid optimization and green hydrogen scale-up.

How they like to work

EDP CNET operates predominantly as an active partner (21 of 26 projects), contributing utility-scale infrastructure, real operational data, and demonstration sites rather than leading research direction. They coordinated only two projects (IANOS and SMART2B), both in areas close to their operational core — island decarbonization and smart buildings. With 497 unique partners across 35 countries, they are a well-connected hub organisation that works comfortably in large European consortia, making them an accessible and experienced partner for consortium builders.

With 497 unique consortium partners across 35 countries, EDP CNET has one of the broadest collaboration networks among Portuguese energy organisations. Their partnerships span all of Europe with particular strength in Western and Southern European energy research ecosystems.

What sets them apart

As the innovation centre of a major European utility (EDP), they offer something most research partners cannot: access to real grid infrastructure, operational power plants, and large-scale demonstration environments. This makes them uniquely valuable for projects that need to move beyond simulation and lab-scale testing into real-world validation. Their breadth across offshore wind, grid flexibility, hydrogen, and smart buildings means they can connect dots across the energy value chain in ways that single-topic research groups cannot.

Highlights from their portfolio

• IANOS
  One of only two projects EDP CNET coordinates — a flagship island decarbonization initiative combining virtual power plants, renewables, hydrogen economy, and community engagement (€665K).
• FLEXnCONFU
  Represents their strategic push into power-to-X, exploring hydrogen and ammonia combustion in combined cycle plants — a critical technology for fossil-to-renewable plant conversion.
• DEMOGRAVI3
  Their largest single EC contribution (€951K), demonstrating an innovative gravity-based foundation for offshore wind — their most hardware-intensive project.