Tenerrdis is a French competitiveness cluster which supports energy technology companies across France’s Rhône-Alpes region in their efforts to expand their footprint in the global carbon-free energy market.
The cluster has two main objectives: develop the production of renewable energies and their conversion into other energy carriers, such as electricity, heat or hydrogen; and optimize their use in the building and transportation sectors.
Energy technologies covered by Tenerrdis involve proven technologies (e.g. hydropower and solar thermal energy), technologies whose economic viability is not yet assured (e.g. photovoltaics and solar cooling), as well as breakthrough technologies that still require many developments (fuel cells for vehicles, production of biomass-derived biohydrogen...).
Tenerrdis research activities are spread out across Lyon, Chambéry, Valence, Grenoble and Bourgoin-Jallieu. Moreover, the cluster has developed five platforms:
- The National Institute of Solar Energy (Savoie Technolac), for photovoltaic and thermal solar energies (hot water, heating, air conditioning...);
- PREDIS, for energy distribution on the scale of a building or a territory;
- BIOMASSE, for lignocellulosic biomass gasification technologies (combined heat and power generation, production of synthetic fuels, hydrogen production...);
- PACLAB, for the development of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies;
- HYDRO, for studying hydraulic performances and unsteadiness of cavitating flows in turbomachines used for the production of hydroelectric power.