Eni and MIT Form Energy Research Partnership

Italian energy major Eni and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have signed an agreement for a major energy research partnership.

The centerpiece of this collaboration will be the Solar Frontiers research program which will focus on the development of advanced solar technologies. Through this agreement, Eni will also become a founding member of the MIT Energy Initiative (Mitei), supporting a portfolio of diverse energy research projects at the institute.

Total funding for the partnership will be $50 million over five years. Of that amount, $25 million will be used to establish the Eni-Mitei Solar Frontiers research program. The remainder will support Eni’s founding membership in Mitei.

As a founding member of Mitei, Eni will also support a range of other research projects at the institute spanning the energy spectrum from traditional oil and gas to methane hydrates to global change to transportation options. This portfolio will include a large research project in multi-scale reservoir science for enhanced oil recovery.

The Eni-Mitei Solar Frontiers research program will focus on nano-structured thin film photovoltaics, luminescent solar concentrators, water splitting, materials for solar energy capture and storage and maximizing the return on investment for solar thermal plants.