Efacec, together with the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto - FEUP), lead the Vasco da Gama CoLab, a collaborative laboratory focused on energy storage technologies, gathering inputs and synergies among the academia, companies and startups, with the purpose of designing solutions for the energy transition challenge.
Besides Efacec and FEUP, the Vasco da Gama CoLab is integrated by Instituto Superior Técnico, INESC-TEC, EDP Innovation, A400, Visblue and C2C-NewCap startups.
The collaborative laboratory was formally established on November 2019, and it has now begun to operate, with highly qualified working groups and first projects kickoff. The laboratory has a 3 M€ funding until 2023, co-financed by the 2014–2020 North Portugal Regional Operational Program and by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, with the implementation oversight by Agência Nacional de Inovação.
Under the theme “Innovation for a better world”, the Vasco da Gama CoLab aims to design and develop technological solutions which serve as innovative and international pioneers on the energy transition sector. With a focus on energy storage, the laboratory will delve into complementary technologies that can help with society challenges, such as renewable energy integration, electric mobility development, sustainable smart cities and clean energy hubs building.
In the next 3 to 5 years the program will also undertake several strategic research and technology development projects, focused on three essential technological development branches: vanadium redox flow batteries, supercapacitors and power electronics and energy management.
