Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CSP ERANET (Joint programming actions to foster innovative CSP solutions)
Période du rapport: 2019-06-01 au 2020-08-31
The problem or issue addressed by CSP ERANET is the need to bridge the gap between research and commercial deployment in the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology so it can play a key role in the European renewable electricity generation. The main countries and regions that can have a key role in this deployment have committed their economic resources resulting in CSP ERANET. This will allow the creation of synergies to finance strategic CSP research. Due to the limited resources, the collaboration between CSP ERANET and the SET Plan temporary working group (TWG) on CSP, has been necessary to define the CSP R&I topics that should be prioritized for funding
There are three main aspects of CSP technology that are relevant for society: its capacity of storage and therefore, generate dispatchable renewable energy, ensuring a secure and efficient energy system; its potential to promote competitiveness that will ensure affordable prices, guaranteeing sustainability and reducing dependence on fossil fuels; and its important contribution to growth and job creation, especially needed in those (rural) areas where CSP plants are often deployed.
The overall objectives that will be achieved through CSP ERANET are aligned with the CSP SET Plan objectives: (i) to pool 15 million euro of public funds from Member States, Associated Countries and regions, allowing the creation of big-scale funding synergies to bridge the gap in CSP technology; (ii) to coordinate the R&I activity by blending financial resources from the countries, the European Commission and the private sector, and mainstreaming them to the priorities defined by the SET Plan TWG on CSP; and (iii) to establish a long-lasting joint programme to finance strategic R&I projects in CSP, contributing to the objectives of the European Research Area (ERA).
In summary, by pooling public and private funds, CSP ERANET will achieve to finance large-scale projects, implementing medium/high TRL research and accelerating the time to commercial deployment of affordable, cost-effective and resource-efficient CSP technology solutions.
There are three main aspects of CSP technology that are relevant for society: its capacity of storage and therefore, generate dispatchable renewable energy, ensuring a secure and efficient energy system; its potential to promote competitiveness that will ensure affordable prices, guaranteeing sustainability and reducing dependence on fossil fuels; and its important contribution to growth and job creation, especially needed in those (rural) areas where CSP plants are often deployed.
The overall objectives that will be achieved through CSP ERANET are aligned with the CSP SET Plan objectives: (i) to pool 15 million euro of public funds from Member States, Associated Countries and regions, allowing the creation of big-scale funding synergies to bridge the gap in CSP technology; (ii) to coordinate the R&I activity by blending financial resources from the countries, the European Commission and the private sector, and mainstreaming them to the priorities defined by the SET Plan TWG on CSP; and (iii) to establish a long-lasting joint programme to finance strategic R&I projects in CSP, contributing to the objectives of the European Research Area (ERA).
In summary, by pooling public and private funds, CSP ERANET will achieve to finance large-scale projects, implementing medium/high TRL research and accelerating the time to commercial deployment of affordable, cost-effective and resource-efficient CSP technology solutions.
Since the beginning of the project in June 2019, the activities that have been carried out can be summarized in the following:
- Preparation of all relevant documents for a proper project implementation: project management plan, data management plan and communication and dissemination plan. The most challenges were encountered when developing the Consortium Agreement. This agreement must include relevant information for the consortium and, more importantly, for the joint and additional calls.
- Launch of the call: CSP ERANET started in June 2019 and the consortium agreed to be launch the first joint call on the 7th of October, 2019. For this purpose, both the project website (https://csp-eranet.eu/) and the electronic submission system (ESS) were developed and in place. There were also two relevant documents prepared: the Call Text and Guidance Notes, and the Application and Evaluation Forms.
The week after the official launch of the call, on the 15th of October 2019, there was a seminar regarding the CSP ERANET Co-fund Joint Call. It counted with approximately 70 attendees from the CSP sector. The contact in formation of those that allowed it was shared for networking purposes, and a matchmaking section was also created on the project website.
On the 19th of December 2019, CSP ERANET was presented during the CSP Today event held in Madrid (Spain). Representatives from the consortium were available at the exhibitor hall to offer information on the call. All the activities related to the call and to the ERANET in general were disseminated through the website and the social media profiles.
The first stage of the Joint Call closed on the 10th of January 2020 and the second stage of the Joint Call closed on the 19th of June 2020.
- Evaluation Process: The entire evaluation process has been overseen by the Independent Observer appointed for this purpose, who is an expert in ERANET management. He was present during the Expert Panel Meeting and submitted his report as part of a mandatory deliverable for the EC.
The external experts that have participated in the evaluation of pre and full proposals were selected from a pool of experts. The assignment of experts to proposals was done considering their level of expertise in the topic of the proposal, the countries involved in the consortium and, as much as possible, gender balance. Confidentiality agreements and declaration of non-conflict of interest were signed by all experts. Each proposal in both phases was evaluated by three independent experts.
The current Covid-19 situation impacted the second stage of the evaluation process, causing some delays in the procedure, which should have finished in September 2020 and finally ended in October 2020.
- Meetings: All Parties of CSP ERANET have been involved in several meetings during this first reporting period, but the most relevant for the project implementation have been the following.
The Kick-Off meeting was held in Brussels on the 25th of June 2019.
The Steering Committee meeting after the Pre-proposal Stage was held online on the 19th of March 2020. The aim of this meeting was for the Funding Agencies to discuss and decide those pre-proposals that would be invited to the next phase.
The Steering Committee meeting after the Full-Proposal Stage was held online on the 21st of July 2020. During this meeting, the six full proposals submitted in June 2020 were discussed and, after initial validation at the national/regional eligibility check, they were each sent to three external experts for evaluation (through the ESS).
The Expert Panel meeting was held online on the 19th of October 2020. The aim of this meeting is for the three experts involved in each project proposal to share their individual evaluation and discuss weaknesses and strong points, with the final objective of developing a joint evaluation letter that will be sent to each project coordinator.
The Final CSC meeting was held online on the 26th of October 2020. After analysing the results of the evaluation process, the funding requested by each project and the amount of eligible top-up, it was concluded that all six projects could and will be funded.
- Preparation of all relevant documents for a proper project implementation: project management plan, data management plan and communication and dissemination plan. The most challenges were encountered when developing the Consortium Agreement. This agreement must include relevant information for the consortium and, more importantly, for the joint and additional calls.
- Launch of the call: CSP ERANET started in June 2019 and the consortium agreed to be launch the first joint call on the 7th of October, 2019. For this purpose, both the project website (https://csp-eranet.eu/) and the electronic submission system (ESS) were developed and in place. There were also two relevant documents prepared: the Call Text and Guidance Notes, and the Application and Evaluation Forms.
The week after the official launch of the call, on the 15th of October 2019, there was a seminar regarding the CSP ERANET Co-fund Joint Call. It counted with approximately 70 attendees from the CSP sector. The contact in formation of those that allowed it was shared for networking purposes, and a matchmaking section was also created on the project website.
On the 19th of December 2019, CSP ERANET was presented during the CSP Today event held in Madrid (Spain). Representatives from the consortium were available at the exhibitor hall to offer information on the call. All the activities related to the call and to the ERANET in general were disseminated through the website and the social media profiles.
The first stage of the Joint Call closed on the 10th of January 2020 and the second stage of the Joint Call closed on the 19th of June 2020.
- Evaluation Process: The entire evaluation process has been overseen by the Independent Observer appointed for this purpose, who is an expert in ERANET management. He was present during the Expert Panel Meeting and submitted his report as part of a mandatory deliverable for the EC.
The external experts that have participated in the evaluation of pre and full proposals were selected from a pool of experts. The assignment of experts to proposals was done considering their level of expertise in the topic of the proposal, the countries involved in the consortium and, as much as possible, gender balance. Confidentiality agreements and declaration of non-conflict of interest were signed by all experts. Each proposal in both phases was evaluated by three independent experts.
The current Covid-19 situation impacted the second stage of the evaluation process, causing some delays in the procedure, which should have finished in September 2020 and finally ended in October 2020.
- Meetings: All Parties of CSP ERANET have been involved in several meetings during this first reporting period, but the most relevant for the project implementation have been the following.
The Kick-Off meeting was held in Brussels on the 25th of June 2019.
The Steering Committee meeting after the Pre-proposal Stage was held online on the 19th of March 2020. The aim of this meeting was for the Funding Agencies to discuss and decide those pre-proposals that would be invited to the next phase.
The Steering Committee meeting after the Full-Proposal Stage was held online on the 21st of July 2020. During this meeting, the six full proposals submitted in June 2020 were discussed and, after initial validation at the national/regional eligibility check, they were each sent to three external experts for evaluation (through the ESS).
The Expert Panel meeting was held online on the 19th of October 2020. The aim of this meeting is for the three experts involved in each project proposal to share their individual evaluation and discuss weaknesses and strong points, with the final objective of developing a joint evaluation letter that will be sent to each project coordinator.
The Final CSC meeting was held online on the 26th of October 2020. After analysing the results of the evaluation process, the funding requested by each project and the amount of eligible top-up, it was concluded that all six projects could and will be funded.
The project achievements result so far in the funding of 6 transnational R&I projects in CSP. Among their expected results are: estimated CAPEX 30% lower than actual costs; OPEX reduction of 15% in storage systems; to improve competitiveness of CSP plants (increasing performance and reliability); to advance in heat storage technology; to reinforce EU’s leadership in CSP technology and to create new qualified jobs in Europe. All this will result in a lower LCOE and a reduction of the final carbon footprint of these plants.
CSP ERANET’s progress and development is collected in the deliverables and milestones completed so far. The expected impacts are: to establish long-lasting joint programming research efforts in areas of common interest; to accelerate the time to commercial deployment of affordable, cost-effective and resource-efficient technology solutions; to reduce the environmental impact of the energy system; to contribute to the objectives of the Energy Union, the SET Plan and the European Research Area; and to achieve a funding leverage effect of at least 5:1 (national, regional and private contributions on one hand, and EU contributions on the other).
CSP ERANET’s progress and development is collected in the deliverables and milestones completed so far. The expected impacts are: to establish long-lasting joint programming research efforts in areas of common interest; to accelerate the time to commercial deployment of affordable, cost-effective and resource-efficient technology solutions; to reduce the environmental impact of the energy system; to contribute to the objectives of the Energy Union, the SET Plan and the European Research Area; and to achieve a funding leverage effect of at least 5:1 (national, regional and private contributions on one hand, and EU contributions on the other).