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Solar energy, attractive source of energy being it free and endless, can be converted into electricity by means of a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant. However, the biggest limit of such technology is the intermittency and the diurnal nature of the solar light. For their future development, CSP plants need to be coupled with storage system. Among the existing thermal storage systems, the ThermoChemical Storage (TCS) is one of the most promising technology and it is based on the exploitation of the reaction heat of a reversible chemical reaction. Just recently, perovskite systems have drawn increasing interest as promising candidates for TCS systems. Perovskites are generally indicated as ABO3, with A and B the two cations of the structure and with O the oxygen. They exhibit a continuous, quasi-linear oxygen release/uptake within a very wide temperature range. Their reduction being endothermic consists in the heat storage step, while the exothermic oxidation releases heat when it is required. The overall objective of the proposal is to study more earth abundant compositions (Ca-, Fe-, Mn- or Co-based) of perovskites for identifying one or more promising candidate storage medium for the design and the realization of a prototype of a multilevel-cascaded TCS system. It aims at solving the no-easy solution problem of the wide temperature range to be covered by a TCS system for CSP plant by using perovskites with different operating temperatures cascaded from the lowest operating temperature to the maximum one. As main result it could bring the TCS systems to a level closer to the market scale. The research project will be developed in collaboration with the IMDEA Energy Institute and the Materials Science and Engineering Department of Northwestern University. This project idea is totally in line with the current strict global energy and environmental politics and also with the Horizon 2020 objectives.

HotMaps will develop, demonstrate and disseminate a toolbox to support public authorities, energy agencies and planners in strategic heating and cooling planning on local, regional and national levels, and in-line with EU policies. The toolbox will facilitate the following tasks on a spatially disaggregated level: (1) Mapping heating and cooling energy situation including renewable and waste heat potentials in GIS layers; (2) Model the energy system, considering hourly matching of supply and demand, demand response etc.; (3) Supporting the comprehensive assessment of efficient heating and cooling according to the Energy Efficiency Directive; (4) Comparative assessment of supply and demand options and of given scenarios until 2050 regarding e. g. CO2-emissions, costs, share of renewables. An open data set for EU-28 will be created to perform those tasks in virtually any EU region up to a 250x250m level, which will reduce barriers for authorities to heating and cooling planning. HotMaps will allow for updating

Wind Power has become the most promising technology as source of renewable energy in the World. In 2016, Wind Power installed more than any other form of power generation in Europe (51% of total power capacity installations), overtaking coal as the 2nd largest form of power generation capacity. Since cost reduction of each kW/h generated by Wind Power industry is one of its strategic targets, the market displays a strong tendency towards bigger wind turbines with longer blades. However, bigger rotor diameters have raised a dramatic problem regarding the durability of the blades which concerns the whole value chain of the wind power industry. Increasing blade lengths means faster linear velocity of the tip of the blade and consequently higher erosion rate of the leading edge of the blade caused by rain, hail or suspended particles. Although the lifespan of a wind turbine is calculated in 25 years, traditional medium sized wind turbines provided with current protection systems of the leading edges, required complete maintenance tasks due to deterioration of the blades at around year 10. However, recently installed turbines with +100 m diameter rotors showed problems regarding the erosion of the blades at year 2. In order to solve the erosion problem, Aerox Advanced Polymers SL, a SME specialised in developing solutions for the wind power industry, has developed an innovative leading edge protection (LEP) polymeric coating with particular mechanical and chemical properties which is able to avoid the erosion problem during the whole lifetime of the wind blade. The LEP4BLADES project aims to accelerate the commercialisation of the coating solution through the scaling-up the manufacturing and application processes, which will also require the improvement of the polymer technology and the product formulation.

Regarding NdFeB PM technology for WT, it is still necessary to break through 3 important barriers: Strong dependence on China for supply and high price of REE present in PM, high difficulty of substitution of REE in PM, and technical and economic barriers that avoid establishing commercially viable, large-scale REE recycling framework. In this context, NEOHIRE main objective is to reduce the use of REE, and Co and Ga, in WTG. This objective is mainly achieved through the development of: a) New concept of bonded NdFeB magnets able to substitute the present state-of-the-art sintered magnets for WT, and b) New recycling techniques for these CRM from the future and current PM wastes. In this way, the EU external demand of REE and CRM for PM in WTG will be reduced in a 50%. The specific objectives are: i) To develop a new NdFeB material solution that reduces the use REE and CRM amount in PM for WTG (100% of HRE, 30% of LRE Nd/Pr, and 100% of CRM Co and Ga), ii) To increase the deliverable electric power in wind power electric generators from current 2.74 MW to 3.56 MW per 1Tn of REE owing to novel electric machine designs, iii) To research and develop two recycling processes to highly increase the CRM recycling rates in NdFeB PM wastes for sintered PM from current WT (increase from 0 to 70% the recovered Nd, separate 100% of Dy and recover 90% of Co) and novel Bonded NEOHIRE PM (recycling almost 95% of Nd), iv) To achieve an economic and technically feasible large-scale framework for NdFeB PM commercial recycling, and v) To ensure the economic and technical sustainability of NdFeB resin-bonded PM developed technologies. NEOHIRE will count on PM material RTD experts (CEIT, UOB), material recycling experts (UOB, KU LEUVEN), material characterisation RTD experts (CEIT, UPV, LBF), JP Powder manufacturer (AICHI), PM manufacturer (KOLEKTOR), LCA experts (UNIFI) and WT manufacturer (INDAR). AICHI (Japan) will be involved by providing advice and raw materials to the project.

Aim of the project PLASTICERA is to prevent nuclear accidents similar to Fukushima Daiichi from happening in Europe. Primary objective of PLASTICERA is to develop a new accident tolerant fuel (ATF) concept for modern nuclear light water reactors (LWR). Today, nuclear energy is an essential environmental issue as it is one of the key scalable technologies to battle climate change. Promoting the use of nuclear energy is largely based on public opinion and therefore creating safer and more sustainable ways to produce nuclear energy is more important than ever. The concept of PLACTICERA relies on amorphous oxide thin films to protect the primary fuel cladding from catastrophic damage during nuclear accident conditions. The oxide thin film can provide unique combination of a strong oxygen diffusion barrier with the capability to accommodate the plastic strain originating from the fuel bar thermal expansion. This functional coating could significantly delay the onset of uncontrollable degradation of the primary fuel cladding, allowing timely emergency cooling, and preventing the release of radioactive substances. The primary objective will be achieved by training Dr. Erkka J. Frankberg (fellow) with new skills in disruptive material manufacturing technologies capable of producing ceramic materials, especially amorphous oxides, with prerequisites for low temperature plasticity. These materials will then be tested for mechanical and corrosion properties in relevant environment resembling LWR normal operating conditions and conditions occurring during “loss of cooling water” (LOCA) -type accident.

Market trends show clearly that the wind energy sector keeps growing up in Europe and worldwide. However, this industry faces serious investor confidence which hinders many wind projects from taking off. The viability, profitability and trustworthiness of any wind energy project is crucial to make the project bankable and de-risk the investment for our clients, namely utilities, investors, greenfield developers, consultants, wind turbine manufacturers and operators. At MeteoPole Zephy-Science we have developed a disruptive, opensource wind modelling software package called ZephyTOOLS to help our clients in performing critical tasks during wind farm project development. We have recently made a step ahead and launched ZephyCloud, a cloud-based simulation platform that brings unlimited computational power to accelerate ZephyTOOLS calculations and enables users to gain a significant amount of time (hours instead of weeks!) and reduce dramatically the IT costs thanks to our pay-per-use model. On top of it, we aim to build ZephyCloud-2, a major evolution of the current ZephyCloud platform towards an integral solution for wind analysis and optimization along the entire project lifecycle by (1) scaling up ZephyCloud and building a completely new user experience based on web applications, (2) opening our advanced cloud calculation engine to third-party developers thus encouraging open innovation and (3) extending our toolbox ZephyTOOLS with innovative post-construction applications that will help our clients to optimize wind turbine performance and reduce O&M costs. ZephyCloud-2 is the result of our willingness to reduce natural uncertainties and maximize the economic value of wind energy sites. With Phase 2, we will be able to accelerate the development of our next-generation wind power simulation and analysis cloud platform with the aim of boosting the deployment of renewables and contributing to the achievement of EU and global objectives for clean energ

A step change in our noise mitigation strategies is required in order to meet the environmental targets set for a number of sectors of activity affecting people through noise exposure. Besides being a hindrance to our daily life and subject to regulations, noise emission is also a competitive issue in today’s global market. To address these issues, new technologies have been emerging recently, based on radically new concepts for flow and acoustic control, such as micro-electro-mechanical devices (MEMs), meta-materials, porous treatment of airframe surfaces, airfoil leading-edge or trailing-edge serrations, micro-jets, plasma actuation, … Some of these new ideas appear nowadays promising, but it now appears to this consortium that the development and maturation of novel noise reduction technologies is hindered by three main factors. The first factor is an insufficient understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for the alteration of the flow or acoustic fields. In absence of a phenomenological understanding, modelling and optimization can hardly be successful. Secondly, tight constraints (safety, robustness, weight, maintainability, etc.) are imposed to any novel noise mitigation strategy trying to make its way to the full-scale industrial application. Thirdly, there is an insufficient knowledge about the possibilities that are nowadays offered by new materials and new manufacturing processes. With this project, we intend to setup a research and training platform, focused on innovative flow and noise control approaches, addressing the above shortcomings. It has the following objectives: i) fostering a training-through-research network of young researchers, who will investigate promising emerging technologies and will be trained with the inter-disciplinary skills required in an innovation process, and ii) bringing in a coordinated research environment industrial stakeholders from the aeronautical, automotive, wind turbine and cooling/ventilation sectors.

Pyrolectric materials could harvest energy from naturally occurring temperature changes such as changes in ambient temperature, and artificial temperature changes due to exhaust gases, convection or solar energy. These materials can operate with a high thermodynamic efficiency and, showing an advantage over thermoelectric materials, they do not require bulky heat sinks to maintain the required heat difference. Hence, “pyroelectric energy harvesting” could be the right methodology to rescue some of the enormous amount of energy wasted as heat by converting the thermal fluctuations into electrical energy (e.g. more than 50% of the energy generated in the U.S. is lost that way each year). Reusing the wasted energy and increasing the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption are important EU targets, expressed in the Europe 2020 Strategy. Enhancing energy efficiency solutions would help citizens both in economic (lower electricity bills) and ecological (clean, green energy) terms. This project examines the development of pyroelectric nanotextured ceramics, for use in future ambient energy harvesting. An original combination of an inexpensive mechano-chemical synthesis for the production of hexagonal ZnS (wurtzite) nanopowder, and the subsequent fabrication of nanotextured ceramics applying a high-pressure-low-temperature sintering, will be used, an approach we have explored previously to suppress grain growth. Neither the fabrication methods, nor the existence of nanotextured pyroelectric ceramics of wurtzite have yet been reported in the literature. In particular the project will explore the potential of the wurtzite nanotextured ceramics as new functional anisotropic bulk materials for pyroelectric energy harvesting. We expect the pyroelectric properties to improve with the introduction of nanostructures and texturing within the anisotropic material like wurtzite, which should ultimately lead to more efficient pyroelectric devices for energy harvesting.

The CyI Solar Thermal Energy Chair for the Eastern Mediterranean (CySTEM – Chair) proposal aims in consolidating and upgrading the already substantial activity at the Cyprus Institute (CyI) in Solar Energy, principally solar-thermal and related activities. This will be accomplished by attracting and installing a cluster of outstanding researchers, led by a professor of international stature to maximally utilize and upgrade the existing facilities, and pursue a program of excellence in Cyprus with local and regional focus in the region of Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME). The principal focus will be on Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technologies for electricity production, desalination, air conditioning and heating, either in isolation or in multi-generation modes. The Chair shall be embedded in CyI’s Energy Environment and Water Research Centre (EEWRC), a Centre with intense activity in climate change (and adaptation strategies), water management, and sustainability. CyI, being a technologically orientated research and educational institution, will provide the CySTEM Chair the opportunity to contribute to other related important activities of techno-economic nature, such as the definition of a road map for Renewable Energy Sources (and Solar in particular) development in the area in light of the recent discoveries of substantial Natural Gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean. Following the template provided by the Commission, the proposal first presents the main objectives of the chair. This is arranged in subsections to describe what is proposed (research activities), who will carry it out (human capital), what infrastructure and tools will be employed to enable the realization of the proposed program and how the various tools and policies available to the program, including CyI’s educational programs, will be integrated and used to maximize its impact.

The benefits of high efficiency concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) are well known: environmental protection, economic growth, job creation, energy security. Those technologies can only be applied properly in regions with annual mean radiation values higher than 1750 kWh/m2 per year. CSP has advantages in front of PV: possible 24h continuous electricity production, electricity and heat generation, heat for distributed in cogeneration plants. Within CSP, four technologies have been currently developed: parabolic trough collector (PTC), tower solar power, Stirling/ dish collector and linear Fresnel collector with its advance type named compact linear Fresnel collector. In 2015, there is global 4GWe production (96% PTC), almost 3GWe are under construction. However for huge deployment, a reduction of Levelized Cost of Electricty (LCOE) is imperative for industry consolidation, when nowadays is around 0.16 – 0.22 €/KWh depending on the size plant, Direct Normal Irradiance and the legal framework of site installation. CSP main components: solar field for solar to thermal conversion, power block for thermal to electrical conversion, and thermal storage system are the key to reduce LCOE. IN-POWER project will develop High efficiency solar harvesting CSP architectures based on holistic materials and innovative manufacturing process to allow a Innovation effort mainly focus in advanced materials such as High Reflectance Tailored Shape light Free glass mirror, High working temperature absorber in Vacuum Free receiver, optimized Reduced Mass support structure allow upgrading current solar field. IN-POWER reduce environmental impact also by reducing THREE times standard thermal storage systems by novel thermal storage materials; and a amazing reduction FOUR TIMES the required land extension in comparison of current mature PTC power generation with the same thermal power output. IN-POWER solution will bring LCOE below 0.10 €/KWh beyond 2020.