Second Joint Call 2019

Deadline: Mar 1, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

1. Introduction
1.1 OCEANERA-NET COFUND

Ocean Energy ERA-NET Cofund (OCEANERA-NET COFUND) is a five-year action supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme for Research and Innovation. This project, operating from 2017 to 2021, will build on the work of the Ocean Energy European Research Area Network (OCEANERA-NET) which started in 2013 and ended in February 2018.

ERA-NET Cofund is a new instrument under Horizon 2020, the objective being to support public-public partnerships between Member States, including joint programming initiatives and joint calls. This project is funded under the Horizon 2020 Work programme 2016-17 “Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy” and the topic “Joint Actions towards the demonstration and validation of innovative energy solutions”.

OCEANERA-NET COFUND aims to support transnational, collaborative research and development projects in ocean energy through joint calls and carry out other joint activities which will enhance the coordination of public research and innovation programmes and improve the exploitation of results of the projects funded.

1.2 Joint Call 2019

Funding for this Joint Call is provided by seven Funding Organisations (FOs) from four countries (Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden), three regions (Flanders (Belgium), Pays de la Loire (France) and Scotland (UK)). These FOs have allocated funds of up to 6.82 M€ to this Joint Call. This means the call budget for the OCEANERA-NET COFUND Joint Call 2019 will be at least 6.82 M€ EURO. A breakdown of the call budget by country/region is provided in Section 4 and details of the FOs are provided in Annexes A and B.

The aim of the OCEANERA-NET COFUND Joint Call 2019 is to promote the development and competitiveness of the ocean energy sector by supporting projects involving research, technological development and innovation activities, demonstrating or validating innovative technologies of ocean energies: Wave Energy, Tidal and Ocean Currents, Tidal Range, Salinity Gradient, and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion. However, please note that not all technologies are eligible for funding in all areas – please see Table 1, below, for details.

The focus will be on enabling industry to push technologies from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to 6 through to TRL 4 to 8, facilitating improvements in technology performance, reliability and cost reduction, supporting the Horizon 2020 aims of maintaining and growing Europe’s world leading position in ocean energy and bringing innovative low carbon energy solutions closer to commercial deployment.

1.3 Call Documents

The call documents for the OCEANERA-NET COFUND Joint Call 2019 are as follows:
• Call Announcement and Guidelines for Applicants: call objectives, topics and expected

impact, national/regional funding rules and how to apply for funding.

The follow templates are provided for applicants:

• Expression of Interest template

• Proposal template

  All the documents and templates can be found on the Joint Call page of the project website: https://www.oceancofund.eu/.

2. Background

The context of the project is the European Union 2030 Framework for Climate and Energy and the targets for a more competitive, secure and sustainable energy system. The project will support the ocean energy sector to contribute to ambitious 2030 targets of boosting the share of renewables (to 27% of the EU energy consumption) and cutting greenhouse gas emissions (by 40% compared to 1990 levels).

Ocean energy is recognised as a key low-carbon technology area for Europe, which has the potential to deliver significant economic development and job creation. The sector will also play a key role in the transformation of the EU’s energy system as renewable technologies’ contribution to the energy mix increases and they become part of a balanced and integrated system. However, ocean energy is still at pre-commercial stage and considerable progress is required in the research, development, demonstration and validation of technology, to improve performance and reduce the cost of energy, to allow the sector to realise its potential contribution to energy supply, industrial leadership, jobs, growth and sustainable development. Demonstration and validation of technology are essential at this stage to progress towards commercialisation, but availability of funding is currently a constraint. In order to maximise the impact of public sector funding, there is a need for better coordination of research programmes to create a critical mass of investment.

The European Commission (EC) has recognised the importance of the sector by setting up the European Ocean Energy Forum to develop a Strategic Roadmap and supporting a new Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP Ocean) to bring forward a Strategic Research Agenda.

The Ocean Energy Forum Strategic Roadmap: Building Ocean Energy for Europe was published in November 2016. The Strategic Roadmap states that: “Ocean energy is abundant, geographically diverse and renewable. Developing technology to exploit its potential offers opportunities for Europe to develop a new industrial sector, create jobs and capitalise on its first mover status to cultivate significant export opportunities.

The industry association, Ocean Energy Europe, estimates that 100GW of wave and tidal energy capacity can be deployed in Europe by 20501. This industry target is consistent with recent studies2 on the practical3 deployment potential of ocean energy in Europe. The global market for ocean energy could see 337GW4 of installed capacity by 2050, a third of this would be in Europe. Today 45% of wave energy companies and 50% of tidal energy companies are from the EU5. The EU is in need of industrial success stories, and ocean energy can be one. The right support over the coming decade will enable Europe to maintain leadership in a global market, worth a potential €653bn in investments between 2010 and 20506, and an annual market of up to €53bn, hugely benefiting the European economy.” The TP Ocean Strategic Research Agenda was published in December 2016 and has been used to inform the topics for OCEANERA-NET COFUND calls. The SRA prioritises 12 research areas and proposes 54 research and innovation actions to bring ocean energy technologies forward. The topics have been reviewed and updated to reflect priorities at the time of call publication.

3. Scope of Call

The aim of the OCEANERA-NET COFUND Joint Call 2019 is to support transnational, collaborative projects to develop, demonstrate and validate innovative technologies for ocean energy, which contribute to improved performance, reliability and survivability and reduction in the levelised cost of energy (LCOE).

The scope of the call is needs-driven research addressing an ocean energy technology area (Wave Energy, Tidal and Ocean Currents, Tidal Range, Salinity Gradient, or Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion). The scope of the proposed research should be relevant for more than one country, with clear added value from transnational collaboration. The participation of at least one industrial partner in the consortium is mandatory. Projects involving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly encouraged.

3.1 Challenges

Projects should contribute to tackling the following challenges, as set out in the Horizon 2020 Energy Work Programme 2016-17:

• Bringing innovative low carbon energy solutions closer to commercial deployment.

• Encouraging industrial participation to leverage private sector investment.

• • Strengthening the European industrial technology base, thereby creating economic growth and jobs in Europe.
• • Reducing the environmental impact of the energy system.

The specific challenges, drawing on FOs priorities, recommendations from the Ocean Energy Forum Strategic Roadmap7 and TP Ocean Strategic Research Agenda8 are:

• Demonstration and validation in test sites/real sea environment of ocean energy technologies and operations.

• Improving and demonstrating the reliability, survivability and performance of ocean energy devices, systems and components.

• Development of tools for validation, optimisation and improvement of performance.

• Contributing to significant cost reductions.

• Evaluating and optimising the environmental, economic and social impact of ocean energy technologies.

• Resource evaluation and the assessment of its impact on reliability, survivability and performance.

• Stimulating a dedicated installation, operation and maintenance value chain.

• Standardisation of solutions and manufacturing and installation techniques.

3.2 Technology Areas

The ocean energy technologies eligible for support under this call are Wave Energy, Tidal and Ocean Currents, Tidal Range, Salinity Gradient and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC).

3.3 Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

The scope of the call is development, demonstration and validation of technologies. The intention is to progress technologies from TRL 3 to 6 through to TRL 4 to 8. Projects must advance technologies by at least one TRL. Projects may also include some lower TRL research activities, where these are a minor but integral part of the wider project. The TRL definitions are as follows:

TRL 3: experimental proof of concept;
TRL 4: technology validated in lab;
TRL 5: technology validated in relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies);

TRL 6: technology demonstrated in relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies);

TRL 7: system prototype demonstration in operational environment; TRL 8: system complete and qualified.

The call topics to be addressed by proposed projects are as follows:

1. Ocean Energy Devices: Development, demonstration and validation of novel or improved energy conversion device concepts, with a focus on generating learning necessary for commercialisation.

2. Components and Subsystems: Development, demonstration and validation of components and subsystems, including but not limited to power take-off, monitoring and control systems, foundations, moorings, and platforms, with a focus on reducing failures by testing in ocean conditions and design of systems that reduce uncertainty and risk and allow overall lower costs of installation and recovery of devices.

3. Grid Connection and Power Systems: Development, demonstration and validation of electrical architecture and components, power systems, grid connection and grid balancing models, to facilitate the connection of multiple devices, optimised array electrical topology and integration of ocean energy with energy systems.

4. Materials and Structures: Design, test and validation of new or improved materials and/or structures to enable the cost-effective development of ocean energy devices, including but not limited to novel materials or novel application of materials from other industrial sectors, anti-biofouling coatings, materials or techniques and improved manufacturing processes to produce materials with better properties for ocean energy applications.

5. Installation, Operations and Maintenance: Development and testing of technology, equipment and methods for installation, operations and maintenance of ocean energy systems and arrays, to reduce costs and maximise the safety and availably of ocean energy deployments.

6. Resource and Impact Assessment: Development and validation of tools for determining resource and environmental conditions and their impact on the reliability, survivability and performance of ocean energy devices, including effects of marine growth and corrosion, as well as the impact of ocean energy devices on the environment.