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Beyond State-of-the-Art Technologies for Power ac Corridors and Multi-Terminal HVDC Systems (BEST PATHS)

A group of eight Transmission System Operators with a generator company, manufacturers and research organisations, propose 5 demonstration projects to remove, in 4 years, several barriers which prevent large-scale penetration of renewable electricity production in the European transmission network. The full scale demonstrations led by industry aim at proving the benefits of novel technologies coupled with innovative system integration approaches: - A scaled down model of generators connected to a HVDC link is used within a new testing facility to validate novel control strategies to improve the interaction between HVDC links and wind turbine generators - The implementation of a full scale, hardware-in-the-loop test setup in collaboration with worldwide market leaders of HVDC-VSC technology explores the interactions of HVDC VSC multiterminal control systems to validate their interoperable operations - Strategies to upgrade existing HVDC interconnectors are validated with the help of innovative components, architecture and system integration performances, to ensure higher RES penetration and more efficient cross border exchanges. - Full scale experiments and pilot projects at real life scale of both installation and operation of AC overhead line repowering technologies are carried out to show how existing corridors can see their existing capacity increase within affordable investments. - The technical feasibility of integrating DC superconducting links within an AC meshed network (using MgB2 as the critical material) will be tested at prototype scale, thus proving that significant performance improvements have been reached to enable commercialization before 2030. The experimental results will be integrated into European impact analyses to show the scalability of the solutions: routes for replication will be provided with benefits for the pan European transmission network and the European electricity market as soon as 2018, in line with the SET plan objectives

FP7-ENERGY, CO2 capture: Optimisation of CO2 Capture Technology Allowing Verification and Implementation at Utility Scale (OCTAVIUS)

The OCTAVIUS project is part of the 7th framework programme of the European Commission. Gathering 17 partners comprising 15 European partners and 2 South African partners, the OCTAVIUS project is conceived as contributing to demonstration of integrated concepts for zero emission power plants covering all the components needed for power generation as well as CO2 capture and compression. OCTAVIUS gathers the leading organisations within the field of CCS and clean coal, covering the whole value chain from research institutes to end-users. The consortium consists of 5 research organisations, 2 universities, 1 SME, 1 engineering company, 2 equipment suppliers and 6 power generators. OCTAVIUS builds upon previous FP6 and FP7 CCS projects such as CASTOR and CESAR. The main coordinating research institutes and industrial partners of these projects also take part in OCTAVIUS. Results of the clean coal research are provided by end-users, engineering companies and technology vendors partnering in OCTAVIUS. The objectives of the OCTAVIUS project are: - To demonstrate operability and flexibility of first generation post-combustion processes on pilot plants in preparation of full scale demonstration projects such as the ROAD and Porto Tolle projects that will start in 2015-2016. Experimental studies will be carried out at 3 different industrial pilot plants (TNO pilot at Maasvlakte, ENEL pilot at Brindisi, EnBW pilot at Heilbronn). Based on the results of the pilot campaigns, OCTAVIUS will establish detailed guidelines with relevant data on emissions, operability, flexibility and cost aspects as well as health and safety (HSE) issues, for first generation CO2 capture processes. - To demonstrate the DMXTM process, the ENEL pilot plant at Brindisi which will be retrofitted using this process. This second generation capture process which resulted from IFPEN research uses phase change solvents and aims at an energy consumption of around 2.3 MJ/kgCO2 captured. Thus, it can enable a substantial reduction in the energy penalty and operational costs. The demonstration is an essential step before the first full-scale demonstration, envisaged to be launched at the end of OCTAVIUS. Application to coal power stations but also NGCC will be considered within OCTAVIUS. - To establish guidelines for commercial scale demonstration units in South Africa. Participation to the project of ESKOM and EcoMetrix will help these South African companies to establish the appropriate timeframe for such demonstration units in South Africa through exchange with the European partners.( abridged text)

Reverse Electrodialysis Alternative Power Production (REAPOWER)

The project is focusing on the salinity gradient power reverse electro-dialysis (SGP-RE) process. It has been shown in scientific papers that the performance of the process can be increased by an order of magnitude when brine and sea or brackish water are used for the creation of the salinity gradient rather than the current approach of seawater with fresh water. The overall potential is very high and the REAPower project aims to enable the SGP-RE technology to play an important role in the energy mix of the next decades, contributing to the major objectives of energy policy for sustainability, security of supply and competitiveness. The following specific scientific and technological objectives are expected to be achieved within the life-time of the project: (i) Create materials and components tailored to the requirements of the process, including the membranes, spacers, electrodes and electrolyte. (ii) Optimise the design of the SGP-RE cell pairs and stack using a computer modelling tool developed for that purpose (iii) Verify the model, and assess the developed materials, components and design through tests on laboratory stacks. (iv) Evaluate and improve the performance of the overall system through tests on a prototype fed with real brine from a salt pond (v) Evaluate the results, analyse the economics, assess the environmental impacts and define the next necessary R&D activities for further development of the technology. The REAPower project explores a new path that has been so far only theoretically analysed. A highly innovative novel technology will be applied that overcomes the limitations of the current approach. The multidisciplinary consortium brings together key players from the industry and the academic world to work across traditional boundaries. The development of the new materials and components will contribute to the establishment of a strong scientific and technical base for European science and technology in this emerging area of energy research.

Metamorphosis of Power Distribution: System Services from Photovoltaics (METAPV)

MetaPV is the first project world-wide that will demonstrate the provision of electrical benefits from photovoltaics (PV) on a large scale. Additional benefits for active grid support from PV will be demonstrated at two sites: a residential/urban area of 128 households with 4 kWp each, and an industrial zone of 31 PV systems with 200 kWp each. The enhanced control capacities to be implemented into PV inverters and demonstrated are active voltage control, fault ride-through capability, autonomous grid operation, and interaction of distribution system control with PV systems. A detailed technical and economic assessment of the additional services from PV is carried out. The role of PV in an area fully supplied by renewable sources is to be assessed. The work covers 3 phases: - In the first phase, the demonstration is prepared for the specific demonstration zones. The PV side (inverter) and the network side will be both addressed. Small and large PV inverters for residential and industrial applications, which both can provide additional benefits for electrical network operation, will be developed. On the network side, adapted concepts for grid planning and operation of distribution networks with large amounts of PV generation will be developed. - In the second phase, based on the development and suggestions of phase one, two pilot demonstrations will be carried out and evaluated. The first one will demonstrate the active contribution of PV for increasing power quality and security of the system operation in a residential area. In the second one, security of power supply and autonomous operation will be demonstrated in an industrial zone. - The third phase covers communication with stakeholders that will take place from the beginning of the demonstration phase. The project results will be disseminated and communicated to the stakeholders, the scientific community and to the local public. The demonstration will allow for successful replication in other grids in Europe.

Efficient and robust dye sensitzed solar cells and modules (BUST DSC)

ROBUST DSC aims to develop materials and manufacturing procedures for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSC) with long lifetime and increased module efficiencies (7Prozent target). The project intends to accelerate the exploitation of the DSC technology in the energy supply market. The approach focuses on the development of large area, robust, 7Prozent efficient DSC modules using scalable, reproducible and commercially viable fabrication procedures. In parallel with this objective, more fundamental research, employing new materials and device configurations, will target increasing the efficiency of labscale DSC to 14Prozent. Progress on labscale devices will be fed directly into module development. The approach is based on the use of innovative low-cost materials, scalable manufacturing techniques, predictive device models and in-and outdoor lifetime testing. A sound and scientific understanding of the basic procedures to manufacture the cells and a thorough knowledge of the fundamental processes in the cell are important tools for our success. The partnership consists of: two SMEs (Orionsolar and G24i) that are committed to large-scale production of DSC, one industry (Corning) that has proven experience on inorganic frits for sealing of a variety of applications, three research institutes (ECN, IVF, FISE) with expertise in the field of long-term testing, up-scaling and module fabrication and four academic partners, world leaders in both new materials and concepts, and in fundamental research on cell function and modelling (EPFL, IMPERIAL, ICIQ, UAM). We anticipate that this project will result in the demonstration of a new scalable, low cost, photovoltaic technology. It will therefore form the basis of a potentially substantial business opportunity aiming at developing a new solar cell product with cost and payback characteristics strongly advantaged over existing technologies.

Innovative Wind Conversion Systems (10-20MW) for Offshore Applications (INNWIND.EU)

The proposed project is an ambitious successor for the UpWind project, where the vision of a 20MW wind turbine was put forth with specific technology advances that are required to make it happen. This project builds on the results from the UpWind project and will further utilize various national projects in different European countries to accelerate the development of innovations that help realize the 20MW wind turbine. DTU is the coordinator of this large project of 5 years duration and with a total of 27 European partners. The overall objectives of the INNWIND.EU project are the high performance innovative design of a beyond-state-of-the-art 10-20MW offshore wind turbine and hardware demonstrators of some of the critical components. The progress beyond the state of the art is envisaged as an integrated wind turbine concept with: The proposal addresses the heart of the Long Term R&D Programme of the New Turbines and Components strand of the European Wind Initiative (EWI) established under SET-Plan, the Common European Policy for Energy Technologies. The consortium comprises of leading Industrial Partners and Research Establishments.

Advanced Aerodynamic Tools for large Rotors (AVATAR)

The motivation for the AVATAR project lies in the fact that up-scaling wind turbines towards 10-20 MW is expected to lead to radical innovations and design challenges in order to make such turbines feasible and cost effective. Many of these innovations (i.e. design philosophies leading to slender blades with tailored aeroelastic characteristics, thick airfoils, high tip speeds and the use of distributed flow control devices) have a strong aerodynamic component and can be considered as unconventional from an aero-elastic point of view: they violate assumptions in current tools on e.g. compressibility and Reynolds number effects, as well as assumptions on flow transition and separation effects, all in combination with a much more complex flow-structure interaction. Hence the analysis of these up-scaled rotor designs falls outside the validated range of applicability of the current state of the art computational aeroelastic tools. AVATAR will therefore bring the aerodynamic and aeroelastic models to a next level and calibrate them for all relevant aspects which are expected to play a role at large (10MW+) wind turbines.

European Liaison on Electricity Committed Towards long-term Research Activities for Smart Grids (ELECTRA)

The Erasmus Mundus Action 2 project Electra fosters the cooperation between European and ENPI countries by promoting intercultural understanding through research with a strong focus on environmental, energy and sustainable development issues. The project will strengthen educational, cultural, scientific and technological links between partners by implementing EHEA (European Higher Education Area) tools and mechanisms that promote transparency and recognition of studies abroad. Special attention is given to the roles of associated partners including research centers, ministries of education, association of universities in both ENPI and Europe, quality assurance agencies and environmental agencies in third countries. In addition to the first level objective of organizing 248 mobilities, the project focusses on second level objectives like: - Promotion of the knowledge-based triangle science-enterprise-university by targeting applied research in the PhD and Post-Doc proposals. - Integration of Bologna educational system and Lisbon Strategy in Central Asian partner institutions with support of Ministries of Education. - Contribution to the development of qualification frameworks in priority field areas. - Contribution to lifelong learning and employability of students.

Direct Normal Irradiance Nowcasting methods for optimized operation of concentrating solar technologies (DNICAST)

Concentrating solar technologies (CST) have proven to be very efficient sources of 'clean' power for the electrical grid. The efficient operation of concentrating solar technologies requires reliable forecasts of the incident irradiance for two main reasons. First, such forecasts yield a better management of the thermodynamic cycle because it becomes possible to dynamically fine tune some of its parameters such as the flow rate of the working fluid or the defocusing mirrors. Second, the electricity production can be optimally connected to the grid. Currently, forecasts are made by several techniques, which have their own merits and drawbacks. The uncertainty in the forecast of the DNI is still too large and must be reduced. Therefore, we propose a concept of portfolio of innovative or improved methods and possibly hardware that can be assembled by company experts to answer the specific needs of a given plant. To fulfil the objective, the Consortium will follow a strategy based on interactions with potential users of the system nowcastings, i.e., the plant operators. Requirements expressed by users will be collected and then converted into requirements on optical properties of the clear atmosphere and clouds for the design or improvements of methods. Users' feedback on the advances will be later collected in the course of the project where intermediate results will be shown. A final workshop will be held for the demonstration of the final version of the methods and their combinations. Additionally, bilateral face-to-face meetings will collect technical views that cannot be expressed in a general forum comprising competitors. These individual meetings will help in addressing the issue of the further commercial exploitation of the assembled know-how. A detailed plan for the scientific dissemination was developed.

Combined Efficient Large Scale Integrated Urban Systems (CELSIUS)

CELSIUS ist das größte Projekt, das im Rahmen der 'Smart Cities & Communities'-Ausschreibung der Europäischen Kommission bewilligt wurde. Das vierjährige Projekt wird von der Stadt Göteborg koordiniert und präsentiert Best-Practice-Lösungen im Bereich so genannter 'Smart Grid'- und 'Smart City'-Technologien durch einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz, um technische, soziale, politische, administrative, rechtliche und wirtschaftliche Barrieren zu überwinden. Das Projekt bringt Exzellenz und Expertise aus fünf europäischen Städten mit einer komplementären Ausgangssituation bezüglich Energie zusammen: Köln, Genua, London, Göteborg und Rotterdam. Mit zwölf neuen, ehrgeizigen und innovativen Demonstrationsprojekten und zusätzlichen 20 sich bereits in Betrieb befindenden Projekten deckt das CELSIUS-Projekt alle Aspekte städtischer Heiz- und Kühlsysteme, einschließlich der technischen Innovation und Ansätzen zur Finanzierung, unter Einbeziehung vieler Akteure ab.

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