ESFRI publishes Report on Energy and Supply Challenges of RIs
ESFRI adopted a Report on Energy and Supply Challenges that Research Infrastructures (RIs) are facing, during the 84th Forum meeting (Lund, 20-22 June 2023). ESFRI has established a dedicated drafting group to look into the energy and supply challenges RIs face, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath & Russian aggression on Ukraine, leading to high inflation, increased energy costs, and shortages of critical resources in the EU, also responding to a call by the Competitiveness Council to do so.
Almost two-thirds of RIs responding to the ESFRI questionnaire developed with ARIE, ERF AISBL and ERIC Forum and circulated earlier this year are significantly impacted by the energy crisis. Energy-intensive RIs like synchrotrons, computing centers, particle sources, neutron facilities and lasers face the most severe challenges. This report highlights the multiple ramifications the energy crisis has had on RIs (increased energy costs, shortages of critical resources, delivery delays), while providing recommendations for National Policymakers, ESFRI, the European Commission, and RIs to enhance resilience.
The recommendations provided include:
- Additional fund allocation
- Εnergy price capping
- Implementations of response plans to green the operations of RIs, and more
The full report is available via Zenodo:
