The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been selected as a new member of the nonprofit Association of European Distributed Energy Resources Laboratories (DERlab).

DERlab is an international association of leading laboratories and research institutions in the field of distributed energy resources equipment and systems.

NREL was selected by DERlab in recognition of its work researching the integration of emerging energy technologies into new and existing electricity infrastructure. NREL is preparing to open its flagship research laboratory, the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF), which will house research for overcoming barriers to adding renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced grid technologies to an existing energy infrastructure.

NREL joins a strong collaboration of 21 other labs around Europe and the U.S. that provide a platform for common research and knowledge transfer.

"DERlab is the preeminent organization for research and development of distributed energy and smart grid projects in the world,” NREL Director for Energy Systems Integration Ben Kroposki said. “NREL is now able to access the wealth of information and conduct joint research with the other DERlab members. As the Energy Systems Integration Facility comes on line at NREL, this facility offers a unique opportunity to learn from large-scale deployments of renewable and distributed energy in Europe and apply this knowledge to research in ESIF."

DERlab develops joint requirements and quality criteria for the connection and operation of distributed energy resources and supports the consistent development of these technologies. DERlab offers testing, research, training and consulting services for distributed generation to support the transition toward more decentralized power systems. DERlab also supports the development of international standards by providing technical information and input to the standardization bodies.

NREL is the only federal laboratory in the U.S. dedicated to the research, development, commercialization and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Upon completion, ESIF will become the first facility in the U.S. that can conduct integrated megawatt-scale research and development of the components and strategies needed to safely move clean energy technologies onto the electrical grid “in-flight” at the speed and scale required to meet national goals.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.