Floating PV, if it is to aid the transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society and contribute towards the EU policy goals, must overcome 3 challenges that are also high-lighted in the Work Programme. FPV must prove its sustainability, by demonstrating low impact on biodiversity and satisfy end-of-life requirements, its longevity and reliability by demonstrating system components that satisfy structural and functional requirements for the entire lifecycle, and its affordability, by reducing the LCOE from FPV power plants. These are the challenges that the objectives of SuRE seek to overcome. Activities are structured into 3 generalizable topics, SUstainability, Reliability, and Efficiency, which gives SuRE FPV its name, and are designed to advance the entire FPV industry. We will further work with concrete technology developments for 3 leading European FPV technologies to improve their design, sustainability, cost-competitiveness and application range. The three FPV technology providers are Ciel et Terre (CTI), who have installed 650 MW globally, Zimmermann PV-Steel Group (ZIM), who is dominating the European FPV market, and Sunlit Sea (Sunlit) who is providing a innovative FPV solution for off-shore deployment. CTI has recently prototyped a new floater design, which will be developed and tested in SuRE, first 50 kW, then on 5 MW scale. ZIM aims to expand their technology to higher sea states, and will build a 5 MW based on the developments in floater-, connection- and anchoring- technology in SuRE. Sunlit are about to scale up their FPV technology and see potential for large reductions in cost and CO2 footprint through the activities planned in SuRE. They will build a smaller, but still commercially relevant, pilot of 100 on the Norwegian cost. Ultimately, SuRE will provide both cost-efficient and sustainable new FPV technologies and generalizable knowledge, thereby expanding the potential application areas without environmental sacrifices.

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) provides both essential aspects of substitution of traditional building materials, hence with potential low electricity costs, and high quality architectural design. It has the potential to contribute significantly to clean electricity generation, in line with EU policies, as well as to contribute to the rebuild of a stronger European industrial sector in the field of solar energy. So far, BIPV has remained mostly limited to emblematic façade and roof demonstration projects with standard modules very often just added on top of an existing finished building. This project will help to break the multiple barriers, which have been holding back the diffusion of BIPV by: - Supporting the industrialisation of new material and process for the manufacturing of multi-functional BIPV elements, with a focus on break-through transformative approaches to realise, in a cost effective way, aesthetical modules. - Working at improved manufacturing process, allowing the call’s targeted cost reductions, To allow a stronger market deployment of the new technologies, the project will: - Develop a business model and exploitation strategy for each key stakeholders of the whole value chain including for the architectural and building sectors and will enable an improved awareness and coordination among the multiple stakeholders involved in a building/renovation process, - Demonstrate the results of the project through real case spectacular demonstrators and through the implementation of an innovative communication plan dedicated to experts such as architects and builders as well to a large public audience. The unique and multi-disciplinary consortium of BE-Smart, representing the full value chain, will demonstrate cost effective new BIPV product concepts from their technological, planning, normative, installation and social aspects in order to accelerate the implementation process.

Geothermal energy has a large potential as a clean renewable energy source. The conventional technology is mainly based on heat extraction from hot permeable aquifers. Such aquifers are hard to find, limit the applications and imply high cost and risks. The proposed project aims to mitigate this challenge. The idea is to use an innovative horizontal closed loop solution for the extraction of heat from deep or shallow formation rocks. The solution is based on new drilling technology and solves the challenges of conventional construction of geothermal wells. The solution will improve the power production due to extended reach horizontal drilling with a large hole size. Further improvement is expected to be achieved by use of alternative circulation fluids to water, such as CO2 based fluids. It is expected that the solution can reduce the LCOE compared to the conventional solution and meet the SET plan targets. The project will develop the tools to enable the proposed geothermal solution and demonstrate the technology in a full-scale test operation to TRL5. The work will cover the development and validation of models for the heat flow and investigate the possibility for improving the electricity production by using alternative fluids to water. The work will also cover the investigation of potential EU pilot sites, environmental assessment, and the social acceptance. It is expected that the solution will enable exploitation of geothermal energy sources in new regions with- or without good hydrothermal reservoirs. The solution is foreseen to be integrated with other renewables to improve the reliability of the power supply and grid stability, and to be applicable to a variety of geological conditions. It is also expected to solve the main issues of geothermal energy related to emissions, seismicity, and environmental aspects. 9 partners from 6 European countries with complementary expertise join forces for this 42 months project.

Geothermal energy has a large potential as a clean, renewable energy source. The proposed project is part of the HOCLOOP project, the idea of which is to use an innovative horizontal closed loop solution for the extraction of heat from deep or shallow formation rocks. The proposed project will expand research on the use of alternative circulation fluids to water, such as CO2-based and IL-based fluids, in line with the research planned in the HOCLOOP project and in full cooperation with the other partners. The work will also cover the investigation of a potential pilot site in Poland, covering environmental assessment and social acceptance. This is particularly important as this area is still dominated by carbon-intensive energy, and the transition to clean, renewable energy sources is a major challenge. An analysis of the Polish case study will be in line with the methodology outlined in the HOCLOOP project, with strong cooperation from other partners. In addition, the project will examine the feasibility of using the presented innovative source of renewable energy within a variety of existing or emerging industrial sectors. It is expected that the solution will enable the exploitation of geothermal energy sources as well as conditions in Poland and Central Europe. In addition, the implementation of the project will enable the establishment of extensive contacts between partners, promoting the transfer of knowledge, experience, and good practices to the widening country and supporting the career development of young researchers.