KAUST’s Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies Advances Energy Innovation

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), through its Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST), has launched initiatives to support innovation in energy fields, in alignment with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to transition toward a knowledge-based economy and build sustainable development.

 These efforts include transforming new ideas into practical solutions, developing prototypes of KAUST inventions and ensuring their reliability, and scaling up these prototypes through collaboration with local and international partners.

 KAUST has leveraged the center’s research to boost energy security, reduce environmental impact, create new job opportunities for youth, and continue advancing education, training, and workforce development. These steps aim to support and localize renewable energy research, enhance academic and industrial collaboration, and position the center as a leading research hub and a preferred destination for students, researchers, and faculty members.

 CREST Chair Professor Husam Alshareef stressed that the center’s research, focused on prototype development and technology scaling, enhances energy efficiency, reliability, storage, and sustainability. Many projects are based on innovative technologies developed at KAUST in cooperation with industrial partners. These include advanced photovoltaic cells and new battery chemistries that reduce cooling requirements and fire risks in harsh conditions, as well as lithium extraction and battery recycling to ensure a stable lithium supply and enhance the Kingdom’s battery sector.

 He also noted that the center conducts research on sustainable cooling technologies aimed at improving the performance of electronic devices such as solar panels and LED lights, thereby extending their lifespan. Additional research includes storing energy in chemical fuels and generating electricity, testing and modeling energy storage technologies, and integrating them across disciplines within the university by merging research strategies involving experts in chemistry, engineering, and software development.