PROFILE OF THE TECHNOLOGY CENTRE

The EU-Russia Technology Centre was established as an initiative identified within the framework of the ongoing EU-Russia Energy Dialogue. Officially inaugurated on 5 November 2002 by the sole interlocutors of the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue, Viсtor Khristenko, the Minister of Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation, and Francois Lamoureux, the Director-General for Energy and Transport of the European Commission, the Centre serves as a platform for enhancing industrial co-operation in the energy sector between the Russian Federation and the European Union.

Its objectives are to promote new and advanced energy technologies and facilitate the attraction of investment financing for priority projects in the energy sector in Russia. The Centre also aims to contribute towards the greater policy objectives of the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue which call for the enhancement of energy safety and security, in particular through the harmonisation of technical norms and standards, as well as the reinforcement of maintenance practices in the energy sector.

The Technology Centre focused on technologies in the following energy sectors:

• Oil and Gas
• Electricity
• Coal
• Renewable energy sources
• Energy efficiency

Within the above sectors, the Technology Centre carries out three main types of activities:

• Exchange of know-how and information on new technologies through the organisation of events, development of publications and preparation of studies;
• Project facilitation for projects of common technological interest with a view to attracting investment to these projects through supporting industrial actors in preparing the projects in accordance with international financial standards and promoting them to financial institutions for uptake;
• Co-ordination centre for technology transfer issues for the European Commission and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Energy within the framework of the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue through regular meetings with all key policy and industrial actors.

The Centre is organised in the framework of a project, jointly funded by the European Commission and the Russian Authorities, and in this way, reflects the growing co-operation in the energy sphere between Russia and the EU as strategic energy partners.

The Centre operates under the overall direction of the sole interlocutors of the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue, namely, Viktor Khristenko, Minister of Industry and Transport of the Russian Federation and Francois Lamoureux, Director General for Energy and Transport of the European Commission. The sole interlocutors have each appointed a Co-director of the Centre, namely, Akhsar Pinov, Russian Co-director and Torsten Wöllert, EU Co-director. The Technology Centre has a permanent staff of 12 persons and has at its disposal significant expertise both from the consortium partners implementing the project as well as from the EU and Russian energy industries.

The project is implemented by the consortium of six companies including:

• EIR Development Partners Ltd. (Greece) (Co-ordinator)
• VGB Powertech e.V. (European Association of Electricity Generating Companies) (Germany)
• IFP Training (French Institute of Petroleum) (France)
• Deutsche Montan Technologie GmbH (Germany)
• EREC - European Renewable Energy Council (Belgium)
• Solar Energy Centre "Intersolarcentre" (Russia)

The combined efforts of European and Russian partners on technology co-operation and the exchange of know-how offer substantial opportunities to enhance extraction of energy resources, improve transportation and energy production, improve safety and limit environmental damage. The EU-Russia Technology Centre is the platform created by the Directorate General for Energy and Transport of the European Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation to capitalize on the opportunities that technology co-operation represents for both the EU and Russia.

More information is available at the Technology Centre web-site.

One of the important direction of EU-Russia cooperation is development of renewable energy in Russia. Intersolarcenter is responsible for this direction within the TC project. More information here...