Joint Call for Energy Storage Solutions
20.09.2019The European Joint Programming Platform ERA-Net Smart Energy Systems in collaboration with the global Mission Innovation Initiative is announcing a Joint Call 2019 (“MICall19”) for transnational Research, Development and Innovation projects on integrated energy storage solutions. The total available budget is above € 22 Mio. The Joint Call 2019 has been launched on 18 September 2019.
SCOPE
Transforming the global landscape will need technologies that can be replicated and scaled. Our ability to store and control energy is being driven by increased renewable energy generation spawning a growing demand for storage, technological innovation, smarter networks and the growth of the digital economy. The shift to renewable generation in areas with little or no spare grid capacity has led to innovation in business and network management and private/public partnerships at local and national levels. The challenge of renewable intermittency is however a significant barrier. Global investment in renewable energy generation is growing and making renewables increasingly cost competitive. However, as more renewable are deployed, the issue of intermittency is becoming ever more critical. As such, the market for energy storage technologies is significant and global. The energy future will need to be more flexible, with more options for domestic and business users. New and smarter ways to generate and store renewable energy will lead to fresh opportunities for consumers – allowing them to reduce both their carbon footprint and their energy bills. Increased use of energy storage reduces curtailment and constraints and the need to import energy. By better integrating variable renewable energy sources, we can reduce costs and reduce fuel poverty.
The Joint Call 2019 focuses on the development of integrated storage systems and will support solutions answering to identified challenges within this area. This call will support R&D as well as P&D projects that contribute to the development of sustainable, integrated storage solutions for both short- and long-term storage. The call will focus on challenge areas where different types of partners from different parts of society should collaborate (e.g. SMEs can collaborate with organisations and communities) to offer solutions to existing energy systems.
The projects have to be transnational by nature, involving at least two independent, actively participating, partners from two different countries participating in the joint call. The following countries/regions are participating: Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Wallonia.
RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT (R&D)
The Research Program Grids is looking for about 2 to 4 application oriented research projects (TRL 2–5). They should explore industrially relevant ideas with a high potential for significant scientific and technical impacts in the medium and long term. A significant step beyond the state-of-the-art is a pre-requisite. The research questions treated by Swiss applicants have to be of technical nature and directly related to the system integration of storage (the “system” has to include the electrical grid at least). Research focussing on socioeconomic or regulatory aspects is out of scope of the Research Program Grids and in particular this call. Research related to specific conversion or storage technologies can only be funded in exceptional cases.
The call is addressed to universities (including ETH-domain), universities of applied science, further research organizations and the private sector in Switzerland. The participation of young scientists in the research teams is encouraged. Researchers in the public and private sector can apply for personnel costs and expenses according to the SFOE rates. Wherever possible and reasonable, the participation of commercial and industrial partners – especially utilities (DSO, TSO, ESP) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) – is strongly recommended to ensure the relevance of the research to technological development and to the needs of society. An adequate share of own and third-party contributions (in-kind and/or cash) is expected.
Supported projects typically receive public funding of the order of 100–300 kCHF and have a duration between 24 and 36 months. The total budget for R&D is limited to CHF 600’000.
PILOT AND DEMONSTRATION (P&D)
Whereas the focus of R&D projects is limited to the system integration of storage, potential P&D projects (TRL 5-7) may cover any energy relevant aspects of integrated storage systems. Eligible applicants are private and public sector entities (e.g., companies, research institutes, municipalities, or communities consisting of several of the former). Funding of Swiss participants is limited to 40% of the eligible project costs. Eligible projects costs (hardware, labour) are defined as the additional (compared to the costs of implementing an equivalent, conventional technology or solution ) project costs that cannot be amortized over the expected lifetime of the developed installation or solution. The total budget for P&D is not limited in this call.
Further information about the P&D program can be found at https://www.bfe.admin.ch/bfe/en/home/research-and-cleantech/pilot-demonstration-and-flagship-projects-programme.html
PROCEDURE
The has been launched today, 18 September 2019. Most recent information about the ERA-Net SES and the call is available at https://www.eranet-smartenergysystems.eu/Calls/SG_Plus_Calls/SG_Joint_Call_2019
The virtual matchmaking room is open as of now.
Swiss project partners (even if not in the role of the project co-ordinator) are requested to contact the SFOE program manager (see contact below), preferably before 12 November 2019. The deadline for full proposals is on 22 January 2020, 14:00 CET. Swiss project partners must submit a national proposal as well by the same date for both, R&D and P&D projects, respectively.
The launch of the call will be an important topic T the ERA-Net SES Conference 2019 (7-10 October 2019, Namur, Belgium) as well. The participation is free of charge.
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