Building the future together

The mission of EPFL Energy Center (CEN) is to promote energy research led by EPFL, by challenging state-of-the-art technologies and addressing society’s challenges together to shape tomorrow’s energy system.

Key figures

90

Laboratories

9

Centers

6

Faculties

4

Campuses

Outreach

Energy Center interacts closely with EPFL’s laboratories and startups to address current and future challenges of the energy sector. It serves as an entry point for individuals and companies searching for world-class education and competence in energy research and technology.

Outreach

CEN is EPFL’s interface between its energy research laboratories and the public, companies and investors. Its role is to inform about the latest developements in energy research at EPFL, establish the link with competent laboratories and support the development of collaboration projects.

Energy Sectors

EPFL’s research in energy encompasses the five sectors: efficiency, conversion, storage, systems, and society. Take a tour of the labs!

Efficiency

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), efficiency policies could enable the world to achieve more than 40% of the emissions cuts needed to reach its climate goals without new technology. At EPFL, energy efficiency research covers a vast number of aspects such as power-to-gaz and cogeneration, building design, industrial separation processes, small scale turbomachinery, (…)

Storage

Energy storage is the biggest challenge drawn by the transformation of the energy system. The shift from fissile and fossil fuels to renewable energy carriers imply the development of affordable storage systems at an unprecendented scale. EPFL laboratories address energy storage from fundamental to applied research, including materials theory and simulation, metal organic frameworks, and (…)

Conversion

Conversion technologies allow the transformation of energy forms and therefore the recovery of all energy sources, which include: electromagnetic radiation from the sun, internal heat of the earth, thermonuclear fusion or dams. EPFL is one of the main energy research institutions in the world, tackling significant subjects such as perovskite solar cells, thermo / electro (…)

Systems

Along with decentralization and decarbonization, digitalization is the third “D” describing the current worldwide energy transition. Using the campus as a grid laboratory, EPFL researchers develop breakthrough technologies for the electrical grid control and stabilization. For instance, the digitalization of hydropower generation is investigated in large international and interdisciplinary projects and the continent’s energy system (…)

Society

The energy system is not only a connected collection of physical and chemical devices. Society, e.g. human beings, is at the heart of it. New energy technologies must be acceptable, manageable, and affordable. To make it most effective and complete, energy research at EPFL fully embraces topics such human-environment interactions, urban sociology and economics, and (…)

Discover the energy news of EPFL

New high-performance computing hub aims to harness the sun's energy

News
EPFL

EPFL will soon be home to a European hub for high-performance computing focused on fusion power – a potential source of clean, risk-free energy. As part of this effort, EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center will lead a campus-wide, cross-disciplinary research team.

Mini-fuel cell delivers maximum performance

19.03.21NewsInnovation

EPFL startup INERGIO has just unveiled a prototype for a lightweight, eco-friendly, high-performance fuel cell that can supply energy in situations where there’s no power grid. Its system can be used to run delivery drones, weather stations, environmental sensors, telecommunication antennae and even campsites.

Heat loss control method in fusion reactors

19.02.21NewsResearch

The core of a fusion reactor is incredibly hot. Hydrogen that inevitably escapes from it must be cooled on its way to the wall, as otherwise, the reactor wall would be damaged. Researchers from the Dutch institute DIFFER and EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center have developed a strict measurement and control method for the cooling of very hot particles escaping from fusion plasmas.

All news

Education

EPFL Energy Center contributes to the development of a coherent education program in energy at EPFL, including the traditional bachelor, master and PhD education programs. It also designs and organizes tailored education programs such as summer schools, MOOCs and executive training in energy.