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In ELICAN, a strong team of complementary European companies with worldwide leading presence in the Wind Energy industry join forces to provide the market with a disruptive high-capacity and cost-reducing integrated substructure system for deep offshore wind energy. The technology is exceptionally fitted to meet the technical and logistical challenges of the sector as it moves into deeper locations with larger turbines, while allowing for drastic cost reduction. This project will design, build, certify and fully demonstrate in operative environment a deep water substructure prototype supporting Adwen’s 5MW offshore wind turbine, the be installed in the Southeast coast of Las Palmas (Canary Islands). It will become the first bottom-fixed offshore wind turbine in all of Southern Europe and the first one worldwide to be installed with no need of heavy-lift vessels. The revolutionary substructure consists in an integrated self-installing precast concrete telescopic tower and foundation that will allow for crane-free offshore installation of the complete substructure and wind turbine, thus overcoming the constraints imposed by the dependence on heavy-lift vessels. It will allow for a full inshore preassembly of the complete system, which is key to generate a highly industrialized low-cost manufacturing process with fast production rates and optimized risk control. The main benefits to be provided by this ground-breaking technology are: • Significant cost reduction (>35%) compared with current solutions. • Direct scalability in terms of turbine size, water depth, infrastructure and installation means. • Complete independence of heavy-lift vessels • Excellently suited for fast industrialized construction. • Robust and durable concrete substructure for reduced OPEX costs and improved asset integrity. • Suitable for most soil conditions, including rocky seabeds. • Enhanced environmental friendliness regarding both impact on sea life and carbon footprint.

The Integrated Roof Wind Energy System (IRWES) is the breakthrough solution overcoming all shortcomings of existing renewable energy solutions. IRWES is a roof-mounted, elegant structure with an internal – nonvisible – turbine making smart use of aerodynamics. It is more efficient than any existing urban windmill, and more efficient per area than PV panels when mounted on roofs higher than 20m. This novel system has highest efficiency based on IP protected and tested technology (TRL6). It reduces the payback time by effectively producing electric power in both high and low wind speeds resulting in both more efficiency and operational hours. The Netherlands counts 35.000 buildings suitable for application with attractive ROI, while greatest impact is achieved in Europe where 1/6 of the population lives in high-rise buildings. Customers have already committed to 25 units after demonstration. IRWES is a business opportunity ready for large growth, to serve the – until now – unreachable segment of local renewable energy supply to high buildings, while seamlessly aligning with the Horizon 2020 Work Programme objectives. Moreover, IRWES addresses European and global challenges such as reducing the risk of carbon “lock-in”, offering sustainable and affordable alternatives to rising electricity prices as well as closing the gap between R&D, innovation and entrepreneurship. Its market excellence is defined by meeting the important customer demands differentiating in aesthetical integration and customization; creating more value as an outstanding, attractive solution. Our business objectives have been outlined in 8 Work Packages to prepare the IRWES mass-market launch, positioning it as a game changing solution on the European market. Based on rigorous studies and feasibility assessments, already performed, we present a solid business plan that incorporates a commercialization strategy and a financing plan to underpin the foreseen market launch and growth strategy of IRWES.

The project focuses on the Concentrated Solar Power sector (CSP). A HTF (High Temperature Fluid) is a liquid used to heat transport and transfer it in a solar thermal plant. Nowadays, most of the plants (both parabolic or tower technology) use synthetic oil as the HTF, which reaches working temperatures up to 400ºC. However, high temperature cycles accelerate oil degradation and then impurities appear. The appearance of impurities is a problem that affects the operation and the integrity of the current CSP power plants. Oil regeneration is a common operation in many industrial processes, however, there is no specific solution for CSP power plants that meet their efficiency and costs related needs without risking their profitability. By now, CSP power plant operators treat the oil periodically in external far regeneration plants that provide a standard fluid distillation with low efficiency and big fluid loses that represent great costs. Due to sector’s current constraints to increase power plant’s capital investment and operation & maintenance costs new more efficient, and with more flexible management models, HTF regeneration solutions are required. TRANSREGEN is a new high efficiency oil regeneration system that implements a compact & transportable design in order to extend fluid generation and waste management possibilities. Having successfully designed & validated TRANSREGEN technology in a relevant environment, the overall objective of this project is the demonstration of the final solution in solar thermal plants in real operating conditions.

The intermittent character of solar-energy and the need to store it efficiently is undoubtedly the Achille’s heel of current photovoltaic/energy storage systems like silicon solar panels and big batteries characterized by high costs of installation and maintenance and by large sizes and high weight. LIGHT-CAP will launch a long-term technological vision in Europe that combines energy conversion and storage into one single compact unit with low volume and weight, based on environmentally friendly and Earth abundant materials, with the additional cost benefit delivered by solution processing. LIGHT-CAP’s science enabled hybrid technology is based on the exploitation of the cooperative electronic properties of zero-dimensional and two-dimensional nano-materials, which take over the role of both the light energy conversion and storage, together with the unique opportunity to accumulate multiple delocalized charges per nanostructural unit after photo-activation. Thus, LIGHT-CAP merges solar-powered energy storage with multi-charge transfer capability. Superior stability of the active components is given by the delocalization of the stored charges with respect to most conventional organic redox couples, and the further gain of prospectively enhanced light-powered energy density. This disruptive technology will be demonstrated in devices designs analogous to cell batteries and hybrid electrolytic-like/super-capacitors with the added value of being powered by the quasi infinite availability of the sun. To this aim LIGHT-CAP encompasses an interdisciplinary community that will stimulate the genesis of a novel Europe-based innovation eco-system around the new technological paradigm with a direct impact on portable and mobile electronics, simultaneously setting the basis for its future exploitation in large area systems too. The achievement of the LIGHT-CAP’s ambitious objectives will contribute to a future sustainable and zero-emission energy landscape in Europe.

The aim of the EK200-AWESOME project is to bring the EK200 to market - an integrated 100 kW container based airborne wind energy (AWE) converter and storage solution catering to off-grid applications and mobile end-uses. The EK200 can be deployed stand-alone or in arrays. The EK200 could also shape the future for AWE and provide basis and principles for up-scaled MW units Motivation The EK200 will add to renewables’ part of the energy-mix and support off-grid micro-grids providing distributed and diverse power sources for geographically remote communities or industrial activities Solution The physical height of conventional wind turbines is limited by the enormous stresses on the structure and by mechanical resonance phenomena. The EK200 will replace the most effective part of a conventional wind turbine, the tip of the rotor blade, by a tethered kite - operating economically even at low-wind onshore locations. USPs: * Low Cost of Secure Energy: Ultra high capacity factors, yielding > 5,000 full load hours pa * Portability and minimal interference: Less than 5% of the material resources used in a conventional wind mill with the same yield * Uninterrupted Power Supply: Tapping into stable and abundant high altitude winds * Ease of Maintenance: Least amount of moving airborne parts in the industry * Flexibility in Operation: Portable units. Smart control technology Project Outputs Commercialization of the EK200 is a high risk/high reward action. As a result we are conducting a Feasibility Study, resulting in a complete Business Plan, taking a into account end-user needs, market analysis, cost assessment, IP validation, pilot design and risk assessment - all feeding into our go-to-market strategy Opportunity High power reliability level and the need for an effective demand-response load management present a conducive ecosystem for off-grid to flourish. We seek to capture a share in this attractive market valued at EURbn 2.8 in 2014, growing to EURbn 6.3 in 2019

With this proposal, I aim to achieve the efficient conversion of solar energy to hydrogen. The overall objective is to engineer bio-inspired systems able to convert solar energy into a separation of charges and to construct devices by coupling these systems to catalysts in order to drive sustainable and effective water oxidation and hydrogen production. The global energy crisis requires an urgent solution, we must replace fossil fuels for a renewable energy source: Solar energy. However, the efficient and inexpensive conversion and storage of solar energy into fuel remains a fundamental challenge. Currently, solar-energy conversion devices suffer from energy losses mainly caused by disorder in the materials used. The solution to this problem is to learn from nature. In photosynthesis, the photosystem II reaction centre (PSII RC) is a pigment-protein complex able to overcome disorder and convert solar photons into a separation of charges with near 100% efficiency. Crucially, the generated charges have enough potential to drive water oxidation and hydrogen production. Previously, I have investigated the charge separation process in the PSII RC by a collection of spectroscopic techniques, which allowed me to formulate the design principles of photosynthetic charge separation, where coherence plays a crucial role. Here I will put these knowledge into action to design efficient and robust chromophore-protein assemblies for the collection and conversion of solar energy, employ organic chemistry and synthetic biology tools to construct these well defined and fully controllable assemblies, and apply a complete set of spectroscopic methods to investigate these engineered systems. Following the approach Understand, Engineer, Implement, I will create a new generation of bio-inspired devices based on abundant and biodegradable materials that will drive the transformation of solar energy and water into hydrogen, an energy-rich molecule that can be stored and transported.

We have developed a resource-efficient and affordable bladeless Vortex wind generator. VORTEX Bladeless´ innovative wind turbine represent a true breakthrough in the wind energy market. The Vortex wind generator device represents a new paradigm of harnessing wind, with a new disruptive concept of a wind power generator without blades. VORTEX is able to capture the wind kinetic energy by 'vortex shedding', transforming it into electricity. The technology seeks to improve issues such as maintenance, amortization, noise, environmental impact, logistics and visual aspect, performing a secure, clean and efficient energy product, that is half cheaper than current small wind turbines (SWT). VORTEX make renewable energies, (replacement of PV, wind energy, combination of both) more financially accessible for our end-users: ESCOS, installation companies, businesses, home-owners, vessels, isolated housed, telecom station, etc. Clients will benefit from this new technology, especially in areas where solar energy does not perform well. Vortex has yielded excellent results and lots of industry and commercial interest. We have a 6-meter Vortex Bladeless wind turbine pilot in Spain, which generates up to 40% of energy solely from wind. The technology has been tested for scalability.. Our goal for Phase 2 is to scale-up and test a 2,75–meter version of the Vortex Wind Generator (providing 100W for future commercialization and massive market uptake. We want to achieve the goals of becoming the designer, manufacturer and seller of the first-ever bladeless wind generator for the Small Wind Market (SWM). Combing our patented and market-backed technology with improved properties, we want to reinvigorate the SWM - addressing EU 2020 energy targets - with our Vortex Bladeless wind generators, positioning us as leader of the sector. Our end-users will also see their pay-back returned within 5 years, thanks to its market-changing commercialization price

Solar Energy is the most abundant renewable energy source available for our Planet. Light energy conversion into chemical energy by photosynthetic organisms is indeed the main conversion energy step, which originated high energy containing fossil deposits, now being depleted. By the way, plant or algae biomass may still be used to produce biofuels, as bio-ethanol, bio-diesel and bio-hydrogen. Microalgae exploitation for biofuels production have the considerable advantages of being sustainable and not in competition with food production, since not-arable lands, waste water and industrial gasses can be used for algae cultivation. Considering that only 45% of the sunlight covers the range of wavelengths that can be absorbed and used for photosynthesis, the maximum photosynthetic efficiency achievable in microalgae is 10%. On these bases, a photobioreactor carrying 600 l/m-2 would produce 294 Tons/ha/year of biomass of which 30% to 80%, depending on strain and growth conditions, being oil. However this potential has not been exploited yet, since biomass and biofuels yield on industrial scale obtained up to now were relatively low and with high costs of production. The main limitation encountered for sustained biomass production in microalgae by sunlight conversion is low light use efficiency, reduced from the theoretical value of 10% to 1-3%. This low light use efficiency is mainly due to a combined effect of reduced light penetration to deeper layers in highly pigmented cultures, where light available is almost completely absorbed by the outer layers, and an extremely high (up to 80%) thermal dissipation of the light absorbed. This project aims to investigate the molecular basis for efficient light energy conversion into chemical energy, in order to significantly increase the biomass production in microalgae combining a solid investigation of the principles of light energy conversion with biotechnological engineering of algal strains.

In order to meet the climate change mitigation objectives of the European Union as well as the objectives of the Paris Agreement, it is inevitable that the European Union phases out fossil fuel consumption in the power sector and decarbonizes fossil-fuel dependent industries. These industries are not spread evenly across the EU but concentrated in a number of carbon-intensive regions. Decarbonization will lead to deep structural changes with implications for regional economies, labour markets, as well as for the regions’ social, political, cultural and demographic composition. If not managed well, these structural changes may cause serious economic impacts, societal upheaval, aggravated social inequalities and hardship. To minimize such consequences it is necessary to better understand the patterns and dynamics of structural change in response to decarbonization at the regional level, to understand which parameters determine the pace of transformation as well as the capacity of regional actors to adapt and pro-actively create alternative structures. This project aims to enable these activities through highly integrated, inter- and transdisciplinary research working in close collaboration with regional stakeholders. It combines quantitative model-based research with qualitative in-depth analysis. The qualitative research will focus on four highly fossil-fuel dependent regions: Western Macedonia (Greece), Silesia (Poland), Ida-Virumaa (Estonia) and the Rhenish mining area (Germany). The regions were selected to cover a diverse set of different fuels, state of economic development, diversification of the regional economy, political economy, and spatial composition. This diversity will enable the project to derive generalizable insights about the patterns and dynamics of decarbonization and the corresponding structural adjustments that hold relevance for all carbon-intensive regions in the EU and its neighbouring countries.

Small onshore wind turbines have become increasingly accepted as an alternative to powering many homes, farms and businesses offering on-site electricity generation and increased security of energy supply. However, a number of barriers are preventing wide spread uptake: high cost; performance predictability issues; small wind currently fails to compete with low usage high retail electricity pricing without subsidisation from feed-in tariffs (FiT) or without a very high retail price of electricity. Governments are under immense political pressure to significantly reduce/cut subsidies for renewable technologies, creating a market for small wind which is increasingly unsustainable. To address the need for innovations that overcome principal barriers to small wind, this project seeks to advance Gaia- Wind’s innovative small wind turbine from a prototype demonstrated in a relevant environment (TRL6) to complete and qualified commercial prototype (TRL8). Gaia-Wind’s ‘FortyForty’ is the first low cost, highly efficient small wind turbine that can compete with the retail price of electricity globally and deliver an excellent ROI for customers, independent of financial subsidy. End-users include farms, rural land owners, investors, communities and rural businesses. Gaia-Wind has an existing and extensive customer base in these markets to ensure rapid roll out. Also targeted towards: residential, commercial and industrial, fish farms, hybrid systems, remote villages, pumping, water desalination and purification, remote monitoring, research and education, telecom base stations hospitals, College/Universities. Study Objectives: Technology and manufacturing process optimisation, market analysis, economic and business assessment, operational capacity analysis. Activities will be delivered within a 6 month period and result in a comprehensive feasibility report detailing the next steps towards development and commercialisation, forming the basis of the SMEI Phase 2 Business Plan.