Renewable energy sources and their whole value chain including materials development and recycling of components

In 2022 the global investments in renewable energy and fuels overtook the investment in fossil fuels. To transform the European Union (EU) into a resource-efficient economy while preserving Europe’s natural environment and tackling climate change it is crucial to develop renewable energy-based systems. Renewable energy sources (RES), such as solar thermal and photovoltaic, wind, hydro, geothermal, heat pumps, bio and renewable fuels, and their whole value/supply chain from raw materials mining to components manufacturing and further recycling, are at the centre of the energy-based systems to reach energy transition and the EU green deal goals.

For Europe to drive such renewable energy transition, it is necessary to invest more in the development of RES and minimize both their environmental impact and levelized cost of energy (LCOE).

Currently EU is importing from third countries part of the “enabling” components of the RES, such as critical raw materials (CRM). To make the EU reach the strategic net-zero manufacturing capacity and at least 40% of annual deployment energy needs by 2030 it is necessary to scale up the manufacturing, and the whole supply chain of clean technologies, such as RES, in the EU.

Specific objectives:

This challenge aims at scaling-up different RES and their supply chain to limit the EU’s significant dependency on imports of components including CRM to ultimately increase the EU’s energy strategic autonomy in the energy sector. This challenge contributes to the objectives of both Net-zero industry and Critical raw materials acts and to the EU’s open strategic autonomy.

This challenge focuses on RES and its proposals can target one or more of the following objectives:

• scale-up the manufacturing of RES that produce heat and electricity from renewable sources at different scales (e.g. power plants or at small scale level), location (on or offshore) and uses (from stationary to mobility).
• Scale up of technologies for exploring, mining and or processing, synthesizing materials, excluding CRM, that are part of RES.
• Scale-up of technologies for recycling or re-use of RES components, including materials, into usable materials and/or components.

The abovementioned technologies (including materials) have to be developed without using CRM or ensuring the maximization of their recycle/reuse so ensuring a circular economy approach. As well they need to minimize the environmental footprint measured through a life-cycle analysis (including cost and social impact evaluation).

Expected outcomes and impacts:

• Strengthen the European value chain producing RES.
• Limit the EU’s significant dependency on imports CRM and components necessary for the renewable energy transition.
• Enable a more diversified and risk-aware configuration of the European value chain of the RES.