Offshore wind basic science and balance of plant (RIA) | 3 December 19

The call opened the 3 December 2019 and it is classified as a “ RIA – Research and Innovation Action ” and the focus area is: Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future (LC).

The contribution of offshore wind power to the energy mix is expected to increase significantly by 2030. Better knowledge of basic wind energy science and related areas contributes to the cost reductions required to achieve that goal.

Scope

Proposals are expected to address one or more of the following research areas for offshore, identified in the SET-Plan Implementation Plan:

Atmospheric multi-scale flow modelling (from meso-scale to wind farm flows);
Understanding and modelling key uncertainties and physical phenomena of offshore wind energy design and operation (e.g. fluid-structure, soil-structure and electro-mechanical interaction, large motion prediction, turbulence, wave modelling, mooring line behaviour);
High performance computing and digitalisation (e.g. data processing, machine learning and data analytics methods for implementation in data‑driven design, digital twins and control and monitoring for O&M);
Development and validation of models of structural damage and degradation for offshore wind turbines and/or for their components as functions of loads and environment;
Numerical and test methods for accurate assessment of system and component reliability when introducing new materials and technologies;
Other offshore balance of plant aspects related to the manufacturing, construction, installation and/or decommissioning of large-scale wind turbines.

While offshore wind must be the cornerstone of the proposal addressing any bullet point above, onshore wind may also be covered when synergies may be exploited from including both. This is just a possibility and not a requirement.

The proposals are expected to bring new technologies/models/methods to TRL 4-5 (please see part G of the General Annexes).

Proposals should lower the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE); those addressing any of the first four bullet points above should also aim to increase the market value of wind power.

More information here

Deadline

The deadline is 21 April 2020 17:00:00 Brussels time (single stage).

Project duration

The signature of grant agreement is expected maximum 8 months from the deadline for submission (Evaluation results: maximum 5 months from the deadline for submission). No maximum project duration indicated.

Financial allocation

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 2 to 4 million would allow this challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. The total budget expected for this call is €8million. The funding rate is equal to 100% of eligible costs of eligible costs.

Partnership

The list of eligible countries for funding can be found in Annex A. However, some non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon 2020 projects.

Eligibility conditions for participation in RIA : At least three legal entities. Each of the three must be established in a different EU Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. All three legal entities must be independent of each other.

Sole participants formed by several legal entities (e.g. European Research Infrastructure Consortia, European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation, central purchasing bodies) are eligible if the above-mentioned minimum conditions are satisfied by the legal entities forming together the sole participant.

Further information

Further details on the scope and expected impact of of the call can be found in the “Work Programme 2018-2020 – Secure, clean and efficient energy”pp. 106-107.

Further info on eligibilities could be found in Annex B and Annex C.