IREC has secured funding for two projects under the call for Knowledge Generation Projects and Associated Pre-doctoral Research Training Actions, within the framework of the State Programme for Research and Experimental Development of the Spanish State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2024-2027.

These projects, VAIANA and ChirUP, strengthen IREC’s commitment to scientific excellence and the training of young research talent in the energy field, contributing to the transition towards a more sustainable, secure, and efficient energy system.

VAIANA: integrating offshore wind and hydrogen

The VAIANA project focuses on the large-scale integration challenges of offshore wind energy into the power grid, exploring its synergies with hydrogen production. By adopting a multi-energy perspective, it aims to advance the optimal design, planning, and operation of Offshore Energy Hubs, turning them into key flexibility sources for the energy system. These hubs will not only reduce renewable energy curtailment but also accelerate decarbonization efforts, ensuring the secure and resilient operation of interconnected power grids.

The project also includes the training of a PhD student within the Electrical Engineering Doctoral Programme at UPC, providing a strong combination of cutting-edge research and skills development in both scientific and transversal areas.

The project has a total budget of ~150k€ and will run for 3 years. It is led by José Luis Domínguez and Antonio Pepiciello from the Power Systems department at IREC.

ChirUP: chiral nanomaterials for next-generation zinc-air batteries

The ChirUP project tackles the development of innovative catalysts for rechargeable zinc-air batteries, a highly promising technology due to its high energy density, cost-effectiveness, intrinsic safety, and environmentally friendly profile. The project will explore the synthesis of chiral inorganic nanoparticles derived from metal-organic precursors, aiming to optimize critical catalytic processes such as oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER and ORR).
ChirUP is expected to generate a transformative impact in the still underexplored field of chiral nanomaterials, expanding the fundamental understanding of structure–activity relationships in catalysis.

The project has a total budget of ~140k€ and will run for 3 years. It is led by Malik Khan from the Functional Nanomaterials department at IREC.

Acknowledgements (in Spanish): VAIANA (PID2024-163090OB-I00) y ChirUP (PID2024-162971OA-I00) están financiados por MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ FEDER, UE.