Periodic Reporting for period 1 - H2IF (Horizon 2020 to Innovation Fund: up-scaling H2020 projects in the Energy Storage and Hydrogen sectors to the Innovation Fund)
Période du rapport: 2024-01-01 au 2025-08-31
To accelerate the green and digital transitions of economy, industry and society, and reach climate neutrality by 2050, the commercialisation and industrialisation of innovative technologies stemming from R&I EU funded projects need to be supported. To steer EU's future competitiveness of its existing and emerging industries addressing the European internal and global markets, European R&I actions need to succeed in developing, upscaling, implementing and commercialising innovative solutions. Therefore, the creation of bridges between different funding schemes and the promotion of technology transfer (from lab to operational deployment) are essential.
H2IF enables the continuous support to European innovation brought forward through the Horizon 2020 programme by extending the innovation pipeline and further elevating the outcomes of these projects in their readiness path from technological concepts to market-mature solutions. In this sense, the synergy between the H2020 and Innovation Fund programme is clear: H2020 programme’s RIAs have an excellent track record of fostering very low TRL innovation to TRL levels ranging from 3-6 and provides critical results for the future deployment of each innovative solution, whereas the IF has provided large support for projects spearheaded by innovative and decarbonising technological solutions that are in the TRL range of 7-8 and aim reaching full commercial operationality. The added value of connecting both programmes is thus critical for European innovation, growth, competitiveness, value and supply chains as the energy transition ensues and consequently disrupts today’s societies and economies.
The overall objective of H2IF is to define a methodology to accompany R&I results up to industrial readiness and demonstrate how such connection could be effective to scale up promising Horizon funded R&I results to Innovation Fund projects fostering innovative hydrogen and energy storage solutions deployment. This proof of concept will be made thanks to the submission of three projects to the Innovation Fund instrument, selected due to their high ‘climate neutrality’ potential, their innovation degree, while already being supported by Horizon 2020.
H2IF enables the continuous support to European innovation brought forward through the Horizon 2020 programme by extending the innovation pipeline and further elevating the outcomes of these projects in their readiness path from technological concepts to market-mature solutions. In this sense, the synergy between the H2020 and Innovation Fund programme is clear: H2020 programme’s RIAs have an excellent track record of fostering very low TRL innovation to TRL levels ranging from 3-6 and provides critical results for the future deployment of each innovative solution, whereas the IF has provided large support for projects spearheaded by innovative and decarbonising technological solutions that are in the TRL range of 7-8 and aim reaching full commercial operationality. The added value of connecting both programmes is thus critical for European innovation, growth, competitiveness, value and supply chains as the energy transition ensues and consequently disrupts today’s societies and economies.
The overall objective of H2IF is to define a methodology to accompany R&I results up to industrial readiness and demonstrate how such connection could be effective to scale up promising Horizon funded R&I results to Innovation Fund projects fostering innovative hydrogen and energy storage solutions deployment. This proof of concept will be made thanks to the submission of three projects to the Innovation Fund instrument, selected due to their high ‘climate neutrality’ potential, their innovation degree, while already being supported by Horizon 2020.
H2IF action is focused on defining a methodology to accompany promising R&I results to industrial readiness. In the first reporting period, this was done through different streams of activities:
- Preliminary assessment and roadmaps: the consortium focused on the evaluations of R&I projects’ and industrial partners’ maturity required for the next steps of the process. This was included: i) dedicated in-person and online meetings with each technology owner to get hold of the status of their technology, ii) detailed analysis of the information collected from each partner, vis-à-vis the Innovation Fund evaluation criteria, and related preliminary assessment, and iii) drafting of a dedicated roadmap for each prospective applicant, planning in detail the steps required to reach IF readiness, based on their current status. Subsequent activities included updates to said roadmaps (with intermediate checkpoints and follow-ups) and drafting of supportive guidance documents (see below)
- Support in the preparation of IF applications: H2IF partners started a close cooperation with the technology developers previously selected and assessed as explained above, in order to prepare them to apply to the IF. These activities aim not only to help them to increase the maturity of their technology and successfully apply to the IF, but to allow all consortium partners to learn what are the main struggles and best practices in this process. This stream of activities is closely linked to the roadmaps drafted and updated in the previous step, as well as to the collection of main takeaways described below;
- Kick-off of the activities aimed at the capitalisation of lessons learnt and at the definition of an innovation pipeline: consortium partners started collecting key insights of this process, to discuss them, share them with sister projects and analyse them. The final results will define the innovation pipeline and will be published and made available to all concerned stakeholders. As of the first reporting period, H2IF consortium already: i) defined and applied a detailed selection methodology to identify promising Horizon-funded projects, ii) drafted related guidance documents including step-by-step guidance on the IF application, tailored considerations for the ES and H2 sectors, a dedicated self-evaluation tool for stakeholders and annotated templates for Business Plan and Feasibility Study, and iii) conducted preliminary analyses of the main learnings collected so far, identifying the main challenges in selecting successful R&I projects, their main hurdles to access the IF and, more in general, to find a pathway to deployment and market access;
- Collaboration with stakeholders: H2IF has established and maintains strong links with i) industry stakeholders, both internal and external to the consortium, through participation to events and extensive network of partners, with the aim of mobilising them to apply to the right funding to upscale their results, ii) institutional stakeholders, through events, regular meetings, consultations and informal interactions with referent contact points, and iii) sister projects, through regular joint activities and sharing of lessons learnt, to find synergies and collaboration opportunities.
- Preliminary assessment and roadmaps: the consortium focused on the evaluations of R&I projects’ and industrial partners’ maturity required for the next steps of the process. This was included: i) dedicated in-person and online meetings with each technology owner to get hold of the status of their technology, ii) detailed analysis of the information collected from each partner, vis-à-vis the Innovation Fund evaluation criteria, and related preliminary assessment, and iii) drafting of a dedicated roadmap for each prospective applicant, planning in detail the steps required to reach IF readiness, based on their current status. Subsequent activities included updates to said roadmaps (with intermediate checkpoints and follow-ups) and drafting of supportive guidance documents (see below)
- Support in the preparation of IF applications: H2IF partners started a close cooperation with the technology developers previously selected and assessed as explained above, in order to prepare them to apply to the IF. These activities aim not only to help them to increase the maturity of their technology and successfully apply to the IF, but to allow all consortium partners to learn what are the main struggles and best practices in this process. This stream of activities is closely linked to the roadmaps drafted and updated in the previous step, as well as to the collection of main takeaways described below;
- Kick-off of the activities aimed at the capitalisation of lessons learnt and at the definition of an innovation pipeline: consortium partners started collecting key insights of this process, to discuss them, share them with sister projects and analyse them. The final results will define the innovation pipeline and will be published and made available to all concerned stakeholders. As of the first reporting period, H2IF consortium already: i) defined and applied a detailed selection methodology to identify promising Horizon-funded projects, ii) drafted related guidance documents including step-by-step guidance on the IF application, tailored considerations for the ES and H2 sectors, a dedicated self-evaluation tool for stakeholders and annotated templates for Business Plan and Feasibility Study, and iii) conducted preliminary analyses of the main learnings collected so far, identifying the main challenges in selecting successful R&I projects, their main hurdles to access the IF and, more in general, to find a pathway to deployment and market access;
- Collaboration with stakeholders: H2IF has established and maintains strong links with i) industry stakeholders, both internal and external to the consortium, through participation to events and extensive network of partners, with the aim of mobilising them to apply to the right funding to upscale their results, ii) institutional stakeholders, through events, regular meetings, consultations and informal interactions with referent contact points, and iii) sister projects, through regular joint activities and sharing of lessons learnt, to find synergies and collaboration opportunities.
The main results achieved so far by H2IF are intermediate outputs that will be further refined and updated before the end of the project. Being H2IF a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), such innovations are to be interpreted as improvements of existing methodologies or definition of new ones, and analyses of key insights collected by project partners. They include:
- a detailed selection methodology to identify promising R&I results with the potential to upscale (public)
- a set of dedicated guidance documents (public) providing: i) a self-assessment tool to potential IF applicants, ii) comprehensive guidance on how to access the IF, its criteria and dedicated tips for the ES and H2 sectors, iii) generalised macro-planning timelines to guide applicants in the process, iv) initial and updated annotated templates for a Business Plan and Feasibility Study, tailored for stakeholders from the ES and H2 sector
- detailed tailored roadmaps (sensitive) to guide the prospective IF applicants in the application process and related activities, drafted based on a rigorous approach to evaluate their maturity and compliance with the IF criteria
- a preliminary set of lessons learnt (ongoing – work in progress) and main hurdles on why R&I projects struggle to upscale and/or access the IF, with dedicated considerations for ES and H2 stakeholders
- a detailed selection methodology to identify promising R&I results with the potential to upscale (public)
- a set of dedicated guidance documents (public) providing: i) a self-assessment tool to potential IF applicants, ii) comprehensive guidance on how to access the IF, its criteria and dedicated tips for the ES and H2 sectors, iii) generalised macro-planning timelines to guide applicants in the process, iv) initial and updated annotated templates for a Business Plan and Feasibility Study, tailored for stakeholders from the ES and H2 sector
- detailed tailored roadmaps (sensitive) to guide the prospective IF applicants in the application process and related activities, drafted based on a rigorous approach to evaluate their maturity and compliance with the IF criteria
- a preliminary set of lessons learnt (ongoing – work in progress) and main hurdles on why R&I projects struggle to upscale and/or access the IF, with dedicated considerations for ES and H2 stakeholders