Final Report Summary - OCEANERA-NET (The coordination of national research activities of Member States and Associated States in the field of Ocean Energy (ERA-NET))
Executive Summary:
The Ocean Energy ERA-NET (OCEANERA-NET), as a network of European marine energy research funding organisations, has been developed to coordinate ocean energy research in Europe to reduce duplication, benefit from transnational cooperation, further the extent of research carried out and provide a Europe-wide research gap analysis.
Europe is ideally positioned to make use of the natural waves and tidal streams that surround our continent. The potential for ocean energy in Europe is huge, 334GW for wave & tidal power and around 50GW for salinity gradient. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology also offers significant export and development potential for tropical coastal areas. This potential means the ocean energy sector will make a mainstream contribution to the energy mix by 2050, contributing up to 15 per cent of Europe’s electricity demand.
The overall objective of the OCEANERA-NET is to facilitate coordination of research in the ocean energy sector across Europe. In achieving this objective, it will avoid duplication, promote information sharing and scientific excellence, by furthering links between institutions and researchers across Europe. This will in turn give Europe a competitive advantage in the global pursuit of commercialising ocean energy.
OCEANERA-NET has tackled this by a programme of joint calls for collaborative research and development projects to tackle challenges for ocean energy and help companies, particularly SMEs, to develop their technology and move towards market ready products and commercialisation.
A pilot First Joint Call for collaborative research and development projects was launched on 23 October 2014. Ten funding organisations from 6 countries and 4 regions participated in the call, with a combined indicative funding pot of EUR 7 million. Nine projects were selected for funding. However, after negotiations at national level, only 7 have successfully concluded the national grant agreements, with a total cost of EUR 6.8 million and requested funding contribution of EUR 4 million. One project has been completed and 6 are under implementation.
The Second Joint Call 2016 was launched in February 2016, with input from 12 funding organisations from 5 countries and 6 regions and a combined indicative funding pot of EUR 6.4 million. Seven projects were selected for funding, with total project costs of EUR 5.9 million total and total requested funding contribution of EUR 4.1 million. At the end of the period 6 projects have started.
In addition, the project has implemented activities to engage with the research and industrial communities to promote sharing of experience and knowledge transfer, brokerage partnerships and collaborative projects, identify common challenges and potential solutions, and disseminate activities, particularly focused on the work and results of the funded projects. A number of activities, including workshops, reports and webinars were focused on equipping SMEs with skill and knowledge to help them with business development. In total, OCEANERA-NET has delivered 20 events and workshops and 11 reports and tools.
Project Context and Objectives:
The Ocean Energy ERA-NET (OCEANERA-NET), as a network of European marine energy research funding organisations, has been developed to coordinate ocean energy research in Europe to reduce duplication, benefit from transnational cooperation, further the extent of research carried out and provide a Europe-wide research gap analysis.
Europe is ideally positioned to make use of the natural waves and tidal streams that surround our continent. The potential for ocean energy in Europe is huge, 334GW for wave & tidal power and around 50GW for salinity gradient. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology also offers significant export and development potential for tropical coastal areas. This potential means the ocean energy sector will make a mainstream contribution to the energy mix by 2050, contributing up to 15 per cent of Europe’s electricity demand.
The goal of the ocean energy industry, as stated in the European Ocean Energy Association Industry Vision Paper, 2013, is to deliver reliable and cost-effective electricity from several small ocean arrays of up to 10 MW from 2015, the front-runners to deliver large-scale projects of up to 50MW by 2020, in preparation for wholesale market roll-out by 2050. It was recognised that such a vision can only be achieved by fostering partnership at the European level.
In January 2014, the European Commission produced a Communication on Ocean Energy, which recognised the significant potential contribution of ocean energy and led to the creation of the Ocean Energy Forum, to “bring together stakeholders ... in order to develop a shared understanding of the problems at hand and to collectively devise workable solutions".
The overall objective of the OCEANERA-NET is to facilitate coordination of research in the ocean energy sector across Europe. In achieving this objective, it will avoid duplication, promote information sharing and scientific excellence, by furthering links between institutions and researchers across Europe. This will in turn give Europe a competitive advantage in the global pursuit of commercialising ocean energy.
The specific objectives required to achieve this are:
To promote information exchange – the keystone to a successful ERA-NET will be developing strong information exchange networks and links between the regions.
To assemble and analyse information and views on the management of current and planned ocean energy programmes: funding schemes, eligible R&D operators, evaluation, monitoring and dissemination.
To engage in a dialogue process on regional and national priorities: how they can work in synergy and progress towards joint programming.
To develop a common toolkit to enable the management and evaluation of joint transnational activities and calls.
To launch joint transnational activities and calls.
To promote a sustainable and growing coordinated research community for future calls and activities.
To act as leverage for further research and innovation funding at European, national or regional scale in the context of Horizon 2020 and the development of cohesion policy 2014-2020.
Project Results:
The OCEANERA-NET project has not directly produced any S & T results or foreground. These will be produced by the collaborative research and development projects which have been funded under the 2 Joint Calls implemented by OCEANERA-NET. The consortium has selected projects for funding by the national / regional funding organisations, of which 1 is completed and 12 are in implementation. These projects are tackling a range of challenges, covering wave, tidal and OTEC technologies, components, materials, moorings, foundations, tools, resource modelling and a reliability framework. Summaries of the projects and links to websites can be found on the OCEANERA-NET website.
Potential Impact:
The objective of OCEANERA-NET is to coordinate research funding for the ocean energy sector in Europe. The work of OCEANERA-NET has provided a significant contribution to the development of the European ocean energy research agenda through the Strategic Energy Technology Plan. The ERA-NET has helped to ensure that the limited research funding available across Europe is better focussed on priority areas that underpin the development of commercially viable ocean energy concepts.
Expected impacts of the OCEANERA-NET include:
Increased coordination of research in the ocean energy sector;
Reduction in duplication in research in this sector across the European member states;
Wider dissemination of results and impact of studies where more researchers have been involved;
More extensive research packages due to greater extent of resources to be used in programmes; Acceleration of sector maturation.
These impacts will be achieved in the following ways:
A significant resource of information about the sector has been created, improving the targeting of research funding efforts. Several strategic documents have been agreed, through analysis of available data and consultation and coordination with key stakeholders, which will provide a sound basis for development of national and regional research programmes and, in particular, added value, transnational collaboration. These include a Framework for Strategic Activities Towards Joint Programming, which considered the scope for joint calls, a Shared Vision which develops potential scenarios for ocean energy and Annual Studies of the EU Ocean Energy Sector, which are available of the project website.
Two transnational calls for collaborative research projects have been implemented, targeted on identified research needs of the sector, and providing significant funding to support the industry and research community to work together to tackle common issues, make technical advances, improve the reliability and performance of ocean energy devices, reduce the cost of energy and progress towards commercial deployment.
Other joint activities have been implemented to promote communication and common understanding of research needs and take specific action where the ERA-NET added value. Engagement with researchers and SMEs to share lessons learnt, consider the work of the funded projects and identify priorities for development of the sector has increased knowledge transfer and built relationships for future collaboration. SMEs have also been provided with training through free webinars and tools, such as the supply chain and test / competence centre mapping. Two workshops and detailed report on stage gate metrics for ocean energy will be taken forward to help establish a common international approach.
The results of OCEANERA-NET and the funded research projects have been widely disseminated, promoting knowledge exchange, learning and utilisation of results;
Continued cooperation among some of the consortium partners and other regions has been secured by the new OCEANERA-NET COFUND project, which started in January 2017.
The work of the project will have a longer-term impact in the following ways:
The implementation of OCEANERA-NET will impact on the growth of the sector by helping to answer the research challenges and developing an integrated information exchange network.
By promoting the development of the sector and the prize that comes with it – potential for 380 GW of ocean energy by 2050 – the ERA-NET will support increased energy production from renewable sources, reduced CO2 emissions and the growth of an industrial sector creating jobs across all aspects of the value chain. Due to the nature of the ocean energy industry and where the resource is found these jobs will include remote locations where skilled work is not readily available and will support local supply chains during manufacture, installation, operations and maintenance.
The biggest impact in terms of the production of clean, green energy from ocean energy will be beyond 2020, but the potential for generation at this time is huge and waiting to be realised.
The advantages that close collaboration can provide will enable the developing European ocean energy sector to maintain first mover advantage and compete effectively with technology concepts currently under development in other parts of the world. At the same time, it will support collaboration where this is in the common interest of developing the sector and the contribution it can make to global energy and climate challenges.
List of Websites:
http://oceaneranet.eu/
Karen Fraser
Scottish Enterprise
karen.fraser@scotent.co.uk
Tel: 0044 (0) 141 468 5658
The Ocean Energy ERA-NET (OCEANERA-NET), as a network of European marine energy research funding organisations, has been developed to coordinate ocean energy research in Europe to reduce duplication, benefit from transnational cooperation, further the extent of research carried out and provide a Europe-wide research gap analysis.
Europe is ideally positioned to make use of the natural waves and tidal streams that surround our continent. The potential for ocean energy in Europe is huge, 334GW for wave & tidal power and around 50GW for salinity gradient. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology also offers significant export and development potential for tropical coastal areas. This potential means the ocean energy sector will make a mainstream contribution to the energy mix by 2050, contributing up to 15 per cent of Europe’s electricity demand.
The overall objective of the OCEANERA-NET is to facilitate coordination of research in the ocean energy sector across Europe. In achieving this objective, it will avoid duplication, promote information sharing and scientific excellence, by furthering links between institutions and researchers across Europe. This will in turn give Europe a competitive advantage in the global pursuit of commercialising ocean energy.
OCEANERA-NET has tackled this by a programme of joint calls for collaborative research and development projects to tackle challenges for ocean energy and help companies, particularly SMEs, to develop their technology and move towards market ready products and commercialisation.
A pilot First Joint Call for collaborative research and development projects was launched on 23 October 2014. Ten funding organisations from 6 countries and 4 regions participated in the call, with a combined indicative funding pot of EUR 7 million. Nine projects were selected for funding. However, after negotiations at national level, only 7 have successfully concluded the national grant agreements, with a total cost of EUR 6.8 million and requested funding contribution of EUR 4 million. One project has been completed and 6 are under implementation.
The Second Joint Call 2016 was launched in February 2016, with input from 12 funding organisations from 5 countries and 6 regions and a combined indicative funding pot of EUR 6.4 million. Seven projects were selected for funding, with total project costs of EUR 5.9 million total and total requested funding contribution of EUR 4.1 million. At the end of the period 6 projects have started.
In addition, the project has implemented activities to engage with the research and industrial communities to promote sharing of experience and knowledge transfer, brokerage partnerships and collaborative projects, identify common challenges and potential solutions, and disseminate activities, particularly focused on the work and results of the funded projects. A number of activities, including workshops, reports and webinars were focused on equipping SMEs with skill and knowledge to help them with business development. In total, OCEANERA-NET has delivered 20 events and workshops and 11 reports and tools.
Project Context and Objectives:
The Ocean Energy ERA-NET (OCEANERA-NET), as a network of European marine energy research funding organisations, has been developed to coordinate ocean energy research in Europe to reduce duplication, benefit from transnational cooperation, further the extent of research carried out and provide a Europe-wide research gap analysis.
Europe is ideally positioned to make use of the natural waves and tidal streams that surround our continent. The potential for ocean energy in Europe is huge, 334GW for wave & tidal power and around 50GW for salinity gradient. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology also offers significant export and development potential for tropical coastal areas. This potential means the ocean energy sector will make a mainstream contribution to the energy mix by 2050, contributing up to 15 per cent of Europe’s electricity demand.
The goal of the ocean energy industry, as stated in the European Ocean Energy Association Industry Vision Paper, 2013, is to deliver reliable and cost-effective electricity from several small ocean arrays of up to 10 MW from 2015, the front-runners to deliver large-scale projects of up to 50MW by 2020, in preparation for wholesale market roll-out by 2050. It was recognised that such a vision can only be achieved by fostering partnership at the European level.
In January 2014, the European Commission produced a Communication on Ocean Energy, which recognised the significant potential contribution of ocean energy and led to the creation of the Ocean Energy Forum, to “bring together stakeholders ... in order to develop a shared understanding of the problems at hand and to collectively devise workable solutions".
The overall objective of the OCEANERA-NET is to facilitate coordination of research in the ocean energy sector across Europe. In achieving this objective, it will avoid duplication, promote information sharing and scientific excellence, by furthering links between institutions and researchers across Europe. This will in turn give Europe a competitive advantage in the global pursuit of commercialising ocean energy.
The specific objectives required to achieve this are:
To promote information exchange – the keystone to a successful ERA-NET will be developing strong information exchange networks and links between the regions.
To assemble and analyse information and views on the management of current and planned ocean energy programmes: funding schemes, eligible R&D operators, evaluation, monitoring and dissemination.
To engage in a dialogue process on regional and national priorities: how they can work in synergy and progress towards joint programming.
To develop a common toolkit to enable the management and evaluation of joint transnational activities and calls.
To launch joint transnational activities and calls.
To promote a sustainable and growing coordinated research community for future calls and activities.
To act as leverage for further research and innovation funding at European, national or regional scale in the context of Horizon 2020 and the development of cohesion policy 2014-2020.
Project Results:
The OCEANERA-NET project has not directly produced any S & T results or foreground. These will be produced by the collaborative research and development projects which have been funded under the 2 Joint Calls implemented by OCEANERA-NET. The consortium has selected projects for funding by the national / regional funding organisations, of which 1 is completed and 12 are in implementation. These projects are tackling a range of challenges, covering wave, tidal and OTEC technologies, components, materials, moorings, foundations, tools, resource modelling and a reliability framework. Summaries of the projects and links to websites can be found on the OCEANERA-NET website.
Potential Impact:
The objective of OCEANERA-NET is to coordinate research funding for the ocean energy sector in Europe. The work of OCEANERA-NET has provided a significant contribution to the development of the European ocean energy research agenda through the Strategic Energy Technology Plan. The ERA-NET has helped to ensure that the limited research funding available across Europe is better focussed on priority areas that underpin the development of commercially viable ocean energy concepts.
Expected impacts of the OCEANERA-NET include:
Increased coordination of research in the ocean energy sector;
Reduction in duplication in research in this sector across the European member states;
Wider dissemination of results and impact of studies where more researchers have been involved;
More extensive research packages due to greater extent of resources to be used in programmes; Acceleration of sector maturation.
These impacts will be achieved in the following ways:
A significant resource of information about the sector has been created, improving the targeting of research funding efforts. Several strategic documents have been agreed, through analysis of available data and consultation and coordination with key stakeholders, which will provide a sound basis for development of national and regional research programmes and, in particular, added value, transnational collaboration. These include a Framework for Strategic Activities Towards Joint Programming, which considered the scope for joint calls, a Shared Vision which develops potential scenarios for ocean energy and Annual Studies of the EU Ocean Energy Sector, which are available of the project website.
Two transnational calls for collaborative research projects have been implemented, targeted on identified research needs of the sector, and providing significant funding to support the industry and research community to work together to tackle common issues, make technical advances, improve the reliability and performance of ocean energy devices, reduce the cost of energy and progress towards commercial deployment.
Other joint activities have been implemented to promote communication and common understanding of research needs and take specific action where the ERA-NET added value. Engagement with researchers and SMEs to share lessons learnt, consider the work of the funded projects and identify priorities for development of the sector has increased knowledge transfer and built relationships for future collaboration. SMEs have also been provided with training through free webinars and tools, such as the supply chain and test / competence centre mapping. Two workshops and detailed report on stage gate metrics for ocean energy will be taken forward to help establish a common international approach.
The results of OCEANERA-NET and the funded research projects have been widely disseminated, promoting knowledge exchange, learning and utilisation of results;
Continued cooperation among some of the consortium partners and other regions has been secured by the new OCEANERA-NET COFUND project, which started in January 2017.
The work of the project will have a longer-term impact in the following ways:
The implementation of OCEANERA-NET will impact on the growth of the sector by helping to answer the research challenges and developing an integrated information exchange network.
By promoting the development of the sector and the prize that comes with it – potential for 380 GW of ocean energy by 2050 – the ERA-NET will support increased energy production from renewable sources, reduced CO2 emissions and the growth of an industrial sector creating jobs across all aspects of the value chain. Due to the nature of the ocean energy industry and where the resource is found these jobs will include remote locations where skilled work is not readily available and will support local supply chains during manufacture, installation, operations and maintenance.
The biggest impact in terms of the production of clean, green energy from ocean energy will be beyond 2020, but the potential for generation at this time is huge and waiting to be realised.
The advantages that close collaboration can provide will enable the developing European ocean energy sector to maintain first mover advantage and compete effectively with technology concepts currently under development in other parts of the world. At the same time, it will support collaboration where this is in the common interest of developing the sector and the contribution it can make to global energy and climate challenges.
List of Websites:
http://oceaneranet.eu/
Karen Fraser
Scottish Enterprise
karen.fraser@scotent.co.uk
Tel: 0044 (0) 141 468 5658