Industrial processes and equipment for innovative, reliable and scalable tandem technologies (EUPI-PV Partnership)

This Destination includes activities targeting a sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply. In line with the scope of cluster 5, this includes activities in the areas of renewable energy; energy system, grids and storage; as well as Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS).

This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations ‘Green transition’, ‘Digital transition’ and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’.

In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the ‘Ensuring more sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply through solutions for smart energy systems based on renewable energy solutions’.

This destination contributes to the activities of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) and its implementation working groups.

The main impacts to be generated by topics under this Destination are:

Renewable energy

1. Energy producers have access to efficient and competitive European renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies with a solid knowledge base and are able to deploy them to enhance the EU’s energy security and reach its climate neutrality objectives, in a sustainable way in environmental (e.g., biodiversity, multiple uses of land and water, natural resources, pollution) and socioeconomic terms, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
2. Technology providers have access to European, competitive, resilient, reliable, sustainable, and affordable value chains of renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies including emerging ones, and with strong export potential to supply both the EU internal and global markets. They benefit also from circular renewable energy technologies that are safe and sustainable by design with reduced and diversified external dependence on critical raw materials^[1].
3. Economic sectors benefit from better integration of renewable energy and renewable fuel-based solutions that are, among others, competitive, cost-effective, efficient, flexible, reliable, and sustainable. Such integration is facilitated through digitalisation and integration of artificial intelligence of renewable energy technologies that provide network stability and reliability.
4. European industries benefit from a reinforced export potential of renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies, also through international partnerships, and become more competitive in innovative renewable energy technologies in Europe and globally.
5. European researchers benefit from a stronger community and from a reinforced scientific basis on renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies including emerging ones, also through international collaborations.
6. European citizens have access to an energy market that is fair and equitable, more resilient, uses all different types of local renewable energy resources, and is less dependent on fossil fuels imports. Citizens experience less fuel and energy poverty, and also benefit from new employment and upskilling opportunities. Local communities benefit from a more decentralized, affordable, and secure energy system and from multiple uses of land and water.

Energy systems, grids and storage

1. R&I actions will support the just digital and green transformation of the energy system through advanced solutions for accelerating the energy systems integration and decarbonisation. The developed clean, sustainable solutions will contribute to making the energy system work better for actors and supply more reliable, resilient and secure energy – even under increasingly more frequent extreme climate events.
2. The solutions developed will contribute to increase flexibility and grid hosting capacity for renewables through optimizing cross sector integration and grid scale storage as well as cover off-grid situations. They will improve the preparedness of the electricity system to support the EU's binding target for 2030 of minimum of 42.5% renewables in the gross final energy consumption (with the aspiration to reach 45%), and full decarbonisation by 2050. They will enable further electrification of demand and will enhance the competitiveness of the European value chain, reduce pressure on resources (also by making technologies ‘circular by design’) and decrease dependencies. Such solutions would also enable a better EU resilience to climate risks.
3. The solutions will improve consumer awareness and engagement in the energy transition, via innovative offers and services (e.g. demand response, energy communities) and will target different types of consumers, including “hard to reach” population groups (such as energy poor or low-income households). This will result in increased trust in, and uptake of the new products and services entering the energy system.

Carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR)

1. Accelerated deployment of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) as a CO2 emission mitigation option in electricity generation and/or in industry applications, as well as carbon dioxide removal for negative emissions.

Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes.

[1] For an example of a methodology for the assessment of sustainability, circularity and contribution to EU resilience and technological autonomy of clean energy technology in the R&I pipeline, please see Study on circular approaches for a sustainable and affordable clean energy transition

Expected Outcome:

The REPowerEU plan and the EU Solar Energy Strategy introduced targets for the deployment of solar PV amounting to 600 GWac by 2030. Complying with these targets will be crucial for the European Union to reach its climate targets and free itself from import dependency on fossil fuels and the costs this imposes on Europe’s competitiveness in terms of high energy prices. The Solar Strategy also introduces a target, which has been enshrined into the Net-Zero Industry Act, to re-consolidate the European solar manufacturing sector and scale up European manufacturing capacity across the entire value chain to at least 40% of the EU’s annual deployment needs, or 30 GW of annual capacity by 2030. Innovation is particularly important in the solar PV sector, which is characterised by a short technology cycle, where new technologies become mainstream in only a few years. Novel tandem technologies offer therefore the opportunity for innovative spin-offs or start-ups and scale-ups to manufacture and put on the market competitive and efficient PV products, strengthening the resilience of the EU PV value chain and thus reducing excessive dependencies and increasing security.

Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

1. Increase the potential for commercialisation of tandem PV technologies creating a competitive technological know-how for the European PV industrial base;
2. Contribute to the objectives of the EU Solar PV Industry Alliance;
3. Support the execution of the solar energy joint research and innovation agenda.

Scope:

Proposals are expected to:

• Demonstrate tandem technologies with similar lifetimes to Si and higher efficiencies (beyond the Si limits);
• Demonstrate interface and thin-film large scale engineering;
• Demonstrate production processes and equipment ready for large scale deployment.

Whenever the expected exploitation of project results entails developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, or in creating and providing a service, the plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results must include a strategy for such exploitation. Proposals will present a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results which should include a strong business case and sound exploitation strategy. The exploitation plan should include preliminary plans for scalability, commercialisation, and deployment (feasibility study, business plan) indicating the possible funding sources to be potentially used (in particular the Innovation Fund).

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership for Innovation in Photovoltaics (EUPI-PV). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on the results to the European Partnership for Innovation in Photovoltaics (EUPI-PV) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.

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