Ireland’s largest green technology research, development and training facility opened this week with a view to enabling SMEs to compete in the multi-billion euro renewable energies and sustainable technologies sector. The €2 million Centre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CREST), located in County Fermanagh, is to be staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of sustainability and innovation professionals and will offer expertise and facilities to SMEs. The facilities, specialist education, training and R&D support will be available to businesses within Northern Ireland, the border counties of Ireland and Western Scotland who have ideas for new products or process developments but who do not have the physical and or technical capacity to develop, test and commercialise them. CREST’s dedicated research and development spaces and specialist equipment, including the flagship CREST Passive Pavilion building and Europe’s first robot-managed solar array, ranks it highly among the UK and Ireland’s top ‘clean and green’ training facilities. CREST was established through a collaboration which pools expertise, resources and know-how from four colleges that have led on sustainability training and innovation in Ireland and the UK. the colleges involved are South West College, Cavan Innovation and Technology Centre, Institute of Technology Sligo and Dumfries & Galloway College in Scotland. Speaking at the launch, CREST programme manager Tim Crest said the facility would “help support job opportunities in the sector and power a new period of growth in the border region”. “CREST is helping to stimulate innovation and to improve competitiveness of the small business sector in the region. This in turn is safeguarding and creating jobs whilst contributing towards better stewardship of our natural environment,” he said. The cross-border facility is supported by the EU INTERREG IVA programme managed by the Special European Union Programmes Body (SEUPB) with match funding from the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment Northern Ireland and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in Ireland.