Aim of DemoWind:
Summary: The overall aim of the DemoWind ERANET Cofund is to stimulate offshore wind cost reduction through facilitating a joint transnational Call for proposals for offshore wind innovation projects which have the potential to reduce the cost of offshore wind energy in Europe. This Joint Call will result in grants, which will be part-funded by the EU co-funding, to support delivery of multinational innovative transnational projects in offshore wind, focused on demonstrating and validating cost-reducing solutions. The DemoWind Joint Call will help to support the commercialization of innovative, offshore wind cost-reduction technologies that would not be delivered or would not be delivered quickly enough if left to the market alone.
DemoWind is intended to accelerate the demonstration of offshore wind technologies and increasing deployment of these technologies by establishing a credible path to the introduction of affordable and innovative devices and systems to the market. The increased deployment of clean offshore wind technologies is expected to lead to less reliance on fossil burning technologies, therefore contributing to the decarbonisation of the European energy system. The development of the offshore wind sector supported by DemoWind should lead to new job creation and growth opportunities in Europe, including more low carbon cutting edge technologies being exported globally.
DemoWind aims to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind in Europe through targeted investment in demonstrating innovations that have the greatest potential to reduce the overall levelised cost of energy from offshore wind systems in the run up to 2030. A critical priority for offshore wind power is to significantly lower its cost of energy in order for it to become competitive with conventional power generation. Reducing the cost of offshore wind energy would make it a more attractive technology for private investment and increase deployment levels.
DemoWind has launched a single joint transnational co-funded call for proposals which harnesses national and joint European resources effectively to support shared innovation goals.
The key objectives for DemoWind are:
• To reinforce collaboration within the European offshore wind sector by alignment and knowledge transfer of national research and demonstration programmes to maintain and grow Europe’s leading position in offshore wind.
• To target a 10% cost reduction in future offshore wind energy by funding transnational demonstration and validation activities from 2015-20.
• To progress the most promising cost reduction innovative offshore wind technologies towards commercialisation by funding transnational demonstration and validation activities which progress the technologies from TRL5-6 to TRL 6-7.
• To involve a wide range of industrial partners in transnational, innovative projects, including strong SME representation and appropriate larger industrial representation.
• To use European and transnational funding to stimulate significant private sector funding, with a target of securing as much industrial co-funding as possible.
• To increase market confidence in offshore wind technologies so contributing to a doubling of offshore wind project investment in the EU in 2020 compared with 2014.
• To use this project as the starting point for continued offshore wind sector collaboration collaboration in successive Calls, with work already underway to develop a complementary response to the 2015 LCE18 Call and then future Calls under successive Work Programmes, aimed at significantly building momentum for SET Plan implementation.
