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Making distributed Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generation with zero pollution convenient

Project description

Alternative methods for combined heat and power without combustion

Particulate matter (PM) are microscopic matter produced by fuel combustion in residential buildings or in the city water heating systems that are responsible for air pollution. Alternative methods that avoid combustion such as the micro-combined heat and power (m-CHP) solution is required. Based on solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), it uses natural gas to produce electrical energy. However, the method is costly and complex as it is difficult to predict the capacity utilisation factor. The EU-funded EGG1 project is a design that pairs SOFC with an electric driver heat pump (HP) and an advanced monitoring system to make the application of SOFC in residential areas and small public structures cost-effective and reliable.

Objective

NEED: To reduce the impact of Particulate Matter (PM) pollution caused by fuel combustion for residential space and water heating in cities, an emerging solution is the use of micro-Combined Heat and Power (m-CHP) based on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), which use natural gas already available from the gas network to produce electricity and heat, but without any combustion. However, currently the installation of SOFC is difficult to design and run in an economically convenient way, due to the difficulty in predicting and optimizing the capacity utilization factor, i.e. the number of hours the m-CHP is operating, which depends on the fluctuating and seasonal heating demand of the application.
SOLUTION: EGG1 is a patented configuration which combines SOFC with electric driven Heat Pump (HP) and an innovative control system able to optimize and make profitable the application of SOFC for residential and small commercial applications, by decoupling the heat and electricity production from the user demands, so making it able to respond to the electricity price signals or demand/response in smart grid configurations. EGG1 supplies power and heating demands using natural gas without any combustion, thus without any harmful smog and PM emission into the atmosphere, maximizing the capacity utilization factor and making SOFC and HP become economically profitable even in very cold climates, thanks to reduction of the energy bill of >50%. Egg integrates and sells the EGG1 micro-CHP as a black box for up to 10 apartments block, integrating BlueGEN 1.5 kW SOFC under partnership agreement with SOLIDpower, the world’s most advanced producer of SOFC m-CHP. The system will integrate commercial components with a proprietary integration and control system programmed with the advanced self-learning algorithms. The EGG1 will be installed by a network of certified installers and sold to private users (B2C) or to ESCOs (B2B).

Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

EGG TECHNOLOGY SRL
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 50 000,00
Address
VIA DEL BASTIONE 16
62032 CAMERINO
Italy

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Centro (IT) Marche Macerata
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 71 429,00
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