Fondazione Bruno Kessler

Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) is a private non-profit research institution specializing in the fields of technology, innovation, the humanities, and social sciences, based in Trento. FBK’s mission is to promote and contribute to the advancement of knowledge with a focus on the fields of science and technology that allow for greater and more immediate economic and social benefits. As such, it keeps the Autonomous Province of Trento within the mainstream of international research. FBK consists of 12 research centres (fbk.eu/en/research-centers/) working on different fields. Among those, the Centre for Sustainable Energy supports the development of devices and methods for generating, storing, and distributing energy with low environmental impact. The vision for the Centre for Sustainable Energy is based on decarbonization, which will demand more flexibility of the energy systems using innovative energy vectors and storage solutions as enablers for the broad penetration of renewables energies.

The Sustainable Energy centre performs R&D in four main areas:

• Research on advanced materials and surface engineeringfor low carbon energy solutions.
• Battery storage technologies(redox flow, LIBs and next generation battery chemistries).
• Hydrogen technologies(fuel cells, electrolysers, storage solutions, end uses in hard-to-abate sectors).
• New tools and integrated solutions supporting the transition to flexible, sustainable, and smart energy territories. 

FBK, through its Center for Sustainable Energy, will serve as the Project Coordinator, leading a key technical work package focused on developing digital tools, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle assessment (WP2). FBK will monitor and report on technical progress, milestones, deliverables, and achieved objectives as the coordinator. Based on its strong know-how on battery technologies and modelling, in WP2, FBK will develop simulation tools for the design and real-time management of aqueous-based and salt-based hybrid energy storage systems (HESSs), including digital models to simulate long-term operation and dynamic behaviour. The tools developed will improve power management strategies to enhance system efficiency, extend HESS lifespan, and define optimal sizing of HESSs across various business cases and regions to create viable revenue schemes. In WP3, FBK will work together with ICT to enhance vanadium recycling processes by designing a scaled-up vanadium recycling stack and will collaborate with SES to design a flexible and modular flow battery system. Furthermore, within WP5, FBK will assess pilot operations and evaluate KPIs by analysing data collected from demo sites to provide comprehensive evaluations and post-analysis KPI calculations.