Periodic Reporting for period 2 - OCEANERA-NET COFUND (Ocean Energy ERA-NET Cofund)
Reporting period: 2018-01-01 to 2022-06-30
The objective of the OCEANERA-NET COFUND is to facilitate cooperation and collaboration within the European ocean energy sector. This includes alignment of national and regional research funding programmes to support collaborative projects which capitalise on Europe’s research and industrial strengths in ocean energy.
Ocean energy includes capturing energy from waves, tidal streams, tidal range, and the differences between cold and warm water and different salinity levels. It is one of the next generation of renewable energy technologies, with the potential to be a new European industrial sector, with a significant global export market. By 2050 it is predicted that 100 gigawatts of ocean energy can be installed, meeting 10% of Europe’s electricity demand and creating 400,000 jobs across the supply chain.
The objectives are as follows:
Support the demonstration and associated research required to address a number of current challenges for the sector, providing solutions which can be applicable to a range of needs across the ocean energy technologies.
Assist some of the most promising current technologies to progress to the next stage of development, whether this requires testing of cost effective, reliable components, scaling-up to full-scale prototype or demonstration of multiple devices in array configurations.
Involve a wide range of technology developers and industrial partners in transnational demonstration projects, including strong and medium enterprise (SME) representation but also aiming to bring larger industrial players into the sector and facilitate knowledge and technology transfer from other sectors.
Build on existing national and regional test centres and current / planned demonstration projects, by encouraging access to these sites for demonstration purposes and facilitating knowledge sharing between projects.
Coordinate, national and regional research budgets of €11.27m and EC co-funding of €5.5m to implement one Cofunded Joint Call for collaborative research and demonstration projects.
Support, during 2017 to 2021, 4 to 8 collaborative research and demonstration projects, involving 8-24 companies from across Europe.
Leverage, during 2017 to 2021, private sector funding and resources of at least €18m alongside the public sector and EU contributions.
Launch an additional, complementary joint call in 2018/19 for transnational research and innovation projects.
Encourage and support collaboration between the supported transnational projects and across the sector to ensure widespread benefits from the work, maximise the exploitation of results, and build strong relationships for future collaboration in pursuit of sector and SET Plan objectives.
Support measurable improvements in component, device, or array performance by the end of the funded projects.
Ocean energy includes capturing energy from waves, tidal streams, tidal range, and the differences between cold and warm water and different salinity levels. It is one of the next generation of renewable energy technologies, with the potential to be a new European industrial sector, with a significant global export market. By 2050 it is predicted that 100 gigawatts of ocean energy can be installed, meeting 10% of Europe’s electricity demand and creating 400,000 jobs across the supply chain.
The objectives are as follows:
Support the demonstration and associated research required to address a number of current challenges for the sector, providing solutions which can be applicable to a range of needs across the ocean energy technologies.
Assist some of the most promising current technologies to progress to the next stage of development, whether this requires testing of cost effective, reliable components, scaling-up to full-scale prototype or demonstration of multiple devices in array configurations.
Involve a wide range of technology developers and industrial partners in transnational demonstration projects, including strong and medium enterprise (SME) representation but also aiming to bring larger industrial players into the sector and facilitate knowledge and technology transfer from other sectors.
Build on existing national and regional test centres and current / planned demonstration projects, by encouraging access to these sites for demonstration purposes and facilitating knowledge sharing between projects.
Coordinate, national and regional research budgets of €11.27m and EC co-funding of €5.5m to implement one Cofunded Joint Call for collaborative research and demonstration projects.
Support, during 2017 to 2021, 4 to 8 collaborative research and demonstration projects, involving 8-24 companies from across Europe.
Leverage, during 2017 to 2021, private sector funding and resources of at least €18m alongside the public sector and EU contributions.
Launch an additional, complementary joint call in 2018/19 for transnational research and innovation projects.
Encourage and support collaboration between the supported transnational projects and across the sector to ensure widespread benefits from the work, maximise the exploitation of results, and build strong relationships for future collaboration in pursuit of sector and SET Plan objectives.
Support measurable improvements in component, device, or array performance by the end of the funded projects.
The Cofunded Joint Call 2017 was launched with a budget of €16.94m representing €11.27m committed from national and regional research budgets and €5.5m of co-funding from the EC. Funding was available to companies and research organisations across the partner countries and regions – Brittany, Basque Country, Ireland, Pays de la Loire, Scotland, Spain and Sweden – to implement research and demonstration projects. The scope of the call was needs-driven research and demonstration addressing an ocean energy technology area. The participation of at least 1 industrial partner was mandatory and projects involving SMEs were encouraged. There was a focus on demonstration and validation of technologies and approaches to improve performance and reduce costs of ocean energy. Nine collaborative projects were funded under the call, with total funding awarded of €7,747,016. The project partners include 22 companies, of which 19 are SMEs and 3 are large companies. All the projects have been completed.
For the Second Joint Call 2019, the funding organisations allocated funds of up to €6.82m. Six funding agencies from the OCEANERA-NET COFUND Consortium participated - CDTI, FCT, PDL, SCOTENT, SEAI and SWEA. Flanders Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen (Belgium) also participated. After review, it was agreed that scope should be similar to the first call - needs-driven research addressing an ocean energy technology area. Following the call, 4 collaborative projects were contracted and are currently being implemented. The total grant committed from funding organisations is €2,323,757. Thirteen companies are involved in these projects, 12 SMEs and 1 large company.
The funded projects are primarily industry-led and all involve technology developers and /or industrial and supply chain companies. With 13 projects funded and a total of 33 different companies participating, alongside leading test centres and research organisations, the targets for the two calls were exceeded. The total private sector funding leveraged was €7,076,788, with further contributions in kind. The projects included leading ocean energy technologies – 4 in wave, 3 in tidal and 1 in ocean thermal, as well as a range of components and sub-systems relevant for specific generation technologies or across offshore renewables, including for offshore wind. T
To promote the Joint Calls to companies and stakeholders across the countries and regions, facilitate the creation of partnerships and publicise the work and results of the projects, a Dissemination and Exploitation Plan was implemented. A range of activities were carried out, including the OCEANERA-NET COFUND website, presentations at conferences, events and webinars, business to business match-making websites, media releases, communication materials and a Projects Brochure. The Final Conference was held during the Seanergy conference in Le Havre, France in June 2022, with 8 of the funded projects presenting their results, participating in panel sessions and discussing future collaboration.
A range of other joint activities were delivered, focused on communication with stakeholders, disseminating the work of the collaborative projects, knowledge exchange and collaboration. The development of the new Clean Energy Transition Partnership also became a focus, with activities to pass on learning from OCEANERA-NET COFUND and coordinate input from the ocean energy sector to highlight research needs and the scale of opportunity.
For the Second Joint Call 2019, the funding organisations allocated funds of up to €6.82m. Six funding agencies from the OCEANERA-NET COFUND Consortium participated - CDTI, FCT, PDL, SCOTENT, SEAI and SWEA. Flanders Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen (Belgium) also participated. After review, it was agreed that scope should be similar to the first call - needs-driven research addressing an ocean energy technology area. Following the call, 4 collaborative projects were contracted and are currently being implemented. The total grant committed from funding organisations is €2,323,757. Thirteen companies are involved in these projects, 12 SMEs and 1 large company.
The funded projects are primarily industry-led and all involve technology developers and /or industrial and supply chain companies. With 13 projects funded and a total of 33 different companies participating, alongside leading test centres and research organisations, the targets for the two calls were exceeded. The total private sector funding leveraged was €7,076,788, with further contributions in kind. The projects included leading ocean energy technologies – 4 in wave, 3 in tidal and 1 in ocean thermal, as well as a range of components and sub-systems relevant for specific generation technologies or across offshore renewables, including for offshore wind. T
To promote the Joint Calls to companies and stakeholders across the countries and regions, facilitate the creation of partnerships and publicise the work and results of the projects, a Dissemination and Exploitation Plan was implemented. A range of activities were carried out, including the OCEANERA-NET COFUND website, presentations at conferences, events and webinars, business to business match-making websites, media releases, communication materials and a Projects Brochure. The Final Conference was held during the Seanergy conference in Le Havre, France in June 2022, with 8 of the funded projects presenting their results, participating in panel sessions and discussing future collaboration.
A range of other joint activities were delivered, focused on communication with stakeholders, disseminating the work of the collaborative projects, knowledge exchange and collaboration. The development of the new Clean Energy Transition Partnership also became a focus, with activities to pass on learning from OCEANERA-NET COFUND and coordinate input from the ocean energy sector to highlight research needs and the scale of opportunity.
The projects have progressed beyond the state of the art in technology development, system integration and ocean deployment. Technology has been advanced for wave, tidal and ocean thermal, moorings, anchors, cables and connections. The projects have achieved measurable impact on component and device performance and levelised cost of energy, moving forward to commercialisation of ocean energy and developing supply chains across Europe.
The projects have looked at ocean energy in different geographical settings, including islands and coastal communities, with poor grid and reliance on fossil fuels. The use of ocean energy in such communities will have significant socio-economic impact, providing clean energy, new business opportunities and employment.
Another important impact is the collaboration between the funders, who have worked together on this and other initiatives and built strong relationships. 7 of the 8 partners will take the experience forward to the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, having had a strong influence on shaping the new programme, through joint activities delivered by the action.
The projects have looked at ocean energy in different geographical settings, including islands and coastal communities, with poor grid and reliance on fossil fuels. The use of ocean energy in such communities will have significant socio-economic impact, providing clean energy, new business opportunities and employment.
Another important impact is the collaboration between the funders, who have worked together on this and other initiatives and built strong relationships. 7 of the 8 partners will take the experience forward to the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, having had a strong influence on shaping the new programme, through joint activities delivered by the action.