The nation’s premier federal laboratory for renewable energy technologies will soon be under new contract management.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected the Alliance for
Sustainable Energy, LLC as the next management contractor of the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.
However the change is not likely to be a radical one, as the two equal members of the Alliance, Kansas City-based Midwest Research Institute (MRI) and Battelle, already manage NREL and other laboratories separately.
Midwest Research Institute (MRI) is a Kansas City-based not-for-profit scientific research
organization that performs contract
research and laboratory consulting services for clients in government,
industry and academia. MRI has 1,800 employees and has managed the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo. since 1977.
Battelle is the
world’s largest non-profit independent research and development
organization, with 20,000 employees worldwide, including six national laboratories Battelle manages or
co-manages for the DOE.
By combining management, the DOE hopes to extend the collaborative reach of research projects at the lab. There will be a 60-day transition period, after which the Alliance will
take over full management and operations responsibilities.
"We have already begun our trajectory to transform NREL from a great
laboratory to our concept of the world’s premiere laboratory for
renewable energy and energy efficiency," said Dr. James Spigarelli, MRI
President and CEO. "Our history at NREL provides us with a solid
foundation, and we will build on that foundation with new programs,
relationships, and corporate investments that position the laboratory
as the premier center for renewable energy and energy efficiency
research, with a much stronger focus on technology commercialization
and deployment."
The Alliance said its vision for the future of NREL includes building a renewable energy "Campus
of the Future" to showcase renewable energy technologies on the NREL site and in nearby partnering facilities.
In addition, the Alliance said it will focus on strengthening NREL’s
scientific, technical and analytical foundation, particularly in
biofuel systems and renewable power systems engineering, and will implement new business strategies
and partnerships to accelerate commercialization of renewable energy technologies.
The management plan includes working with other national laboratories
and leading institutions in the investment community.
The
Alliance said it will collaborate with five of the nation’s leading research
universities (Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University,
University of Colorado-Boulder, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
and Stanford University).
The
Alliance will be governed by a 15-member Alliance Board of Directors
composed of five executives each from MRI and Battelle, as well as
senior-level officials from the five key collaborating universities.
Alliance President and Laboratory Director, Dr. Dan Arvizu. "The Alliance hopes that a fortunate byproduct of this mission will be the creation of a renewable energy ‘Silicon Valley,’ emanating from the laboratory, the State of Colorado, and the Front Range, while reaching out to national and international connections for wider impact on clean energy."
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