National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec)
| Not for profit company | |
| Industry |
Renewable energy Energy efficiency |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Founder | One North East |
| Headquarters | Blyth, Northumberland, England |
|
Key people
|
Andrew Jamieson (CEO) |
| Services | Testing Certification Demonstration |
| Website | https://ore.catapult.org.uk/home |
Narec, since 2014 known as the National Renewable Energy Centre, is a part of the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, an English technology innovation and research centre for offshore wind power, wave energy, tidal energy and low carbon technologies. The centre operates multi-purpose offshore renewable energy test and demonstration facilities. It is very similar to other centres, such as NREL in the US and National Centre for Renewable Energies (CENER) in Spain. The National Renewable Energy Centre is based in Blyth, Northumberland.
Originally known as NaREC (New and Renewable Energy Centre), the centre was created in 2002 by One NorthEast, the North East regional development agency, as part of the Strategy for Success programme. In 2010 the organisation changed its name to Narec (National Renewable Energy Centre). In April 2014, the organisation merged with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult to focus on the development and cost reduction of offshore wind, wave and tidal energy across the UK.
The organisation was originally involved in a wide range of technologies, including:
In 2010, due to UK government cutbacks Narec closed, sold off or separated different parts of the business. Now, Narec itself concentrates on testing blades and drive trains for marine renewables. Spin off companies include:
Narec Distributed Energy - An organisation which deals with microrenewables, energy efficiency, low carbon transport and city wide energy planning. Narec Distributed Energy is 100% owned by Narec.
Narec Solar - 8% owned by Narec, and 92% owned by the Swedish firm Absolicon. This organisation is focused on silicon photovoltaic cells
Narec Capital - A financial organisation run by Narec and Ashberg Limited.
Narec Capital Risk Solutions - Beyond its existence, there is very little information on what this organisation does.
Following its merger with ORE Catapult, the National Renewable Energy Centre now focuses on helping to de-risk and accelerate the development and commercialisation of the offshore renewable energy industry in the UK.
The National Renewable Energy Centre is involved in:
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