Full-scale demonstration of heat upgrade technologies with supply temperature in the range 90 - 160°C
HORIZON Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-CL5-2021-D4-01-04
- Programme
- Efficient, sustainable and inclusive energy use
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- June 24, 2021
- Deadline
- October 19, 2021
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €10,000,000
- Keywords
- Energy efficient industryEnergy, fuels and petroleum engineeringArtificial IntelligenceEnergy efficiency - generalDigital Agenda
Description
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Demonstration at full scale (0.5 – 10 MWth) of industrial heat upgrade systems to supply various industrial processes with useful heat in the (sink) temperature range of 90 – 160 °C, extracted from renewable heat sources (e.g. solar thermal), ambient heat or industrial waste heat.
- Scaling up and improvement of the economic and technical performances of heat upgrade in order to cover more industrial processes with special attention to integration and adaptation to existing/improved processes.
- Demonstration of business models and contractual agreements in the cases of use of the upgraded heat within the industrial plant, in other neighbouring plants or heating networks, as part of the Hubs4circularity approach, identifying also potential regulatory barriers.
- Better awareness of the challenges and benefits of heat upgrade in the relevant industrial sectors.
This topic aims to satisfy the need for low temperature heat in the relevant industrial sectors, by upgrading lower temperature heat flows, including from renewable heat sources, ambient heat or industrial excess (waste) heat, as a cost-efficient way to improve energy efficiency and reduce the GHG emissions.
Heat upgrade technologies exist, such as for example heat pumps, but their size needs to be scaled-up and their cost needs to be reduced, notably by improving their performances, and their operation needs to be demonstrated in various industrial contexts, in order to ensure their wide deployment. The optional integration of renewable heat sources (e.g. solar thermal) as the input heat flow to be further upgraded, is in scope.
In order to reach this goal all the following development areas need to be covered:
- Identify the target industrial processes which would benefit from this technology, as excess (waste) heat sources and as users (heat sinks); assess the impacts of these applications in terms of energy savings and GHG and air pollutant emissions reductions in the EU (and Associated States, if data are available), so as to maximise the impact and coverage of the most promising applications in the subsequent optimisation and demonstration steps. A preliminary analysis of the technico-economic feasibility and impact of the proposed heat upgrade process is expected already in the proposal.
- Optimise the heat upgrade system to improve its economic and technical performances in terms of: sink output temperature range (90 to 160°C); temperature increase between sink inlet and sink outlet temperatures; temperature spread between source and sink temperatures; flexibility to source input temperature variations; higher sink thermal power; higher coefficient of performance; bigger size; lower CAPEX (equipment) and operational costs (higher efficiency and lower maintenance).
- Development/improvement of design tools at components and system levels.
- Integration and long term full-scale demonstration of the system in an industrial application in at least one industrial sector.
- Technical and economical life cycle assessment of heat upgrade systems adapted for at least 4 industrial sectors, to demonstrate economic viability, define business cases and exploitation strategy.
- Assess the potential impact in CO2 emissions reduction (Mton CO2/a) and energy savings (TWh/a) in EU27 and (if data are available) in the Associated States, of using heat upgrade systems in the relevant industrial sectors, taking into account not only the thermal energy temperature and volumes needed by the relevant sectors but also the temperature lift capabilities, and the availability of ambient or waste heat sources. The supply temperature ranges to be considered for the impact assessment are: <100°C, 100-200°C and >200°C. Evaluate the potential impact at global level by extrapolation. In case several projects are funded under this call, the results of this assessment should be compared with the other projects and harmonised.
- Identify the potential barriers to the deployment of heat upgrade and use due to the local regulatory framework in the EU Member States and Associated Countries.
- Disseminate the technical and economic benefits, notably (but not only) to the communities of the relevant Horizon Europe private-public partnerships.
- Given the transversal nature of the technology, the potential for transferring the technology to the building heating sector, including district heat networks, should be assessed and disseminated.
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
Destination & Scope
This Destination addresses activities targeting the energy demand side, notably a more efficient use of energy as regards buildings and industry.
Demand side solutions and improved energy efficiency are among the most cost effective ways to support the transition to climate neutrality, reduce pollution and raw materials use, to create inclusive growth and employment in Europe, to bring down costs for consumers, to reduce our import dependency and redirect investments towards smart and sustainable infrastructure. The transition to a decentralised and climate neutral energy system will greatly benefit from the use of digital technologies which will enable buildings and industrial facilities to become inter-active elements in the energy system by optimising energy consumption, distributed generation and storage and vis-à-vis the energy system. They will also trigger new business opportunities and revenue streams for up-graded, innovative energy services which valorise energy savings and flexible consumption.
This Destination contributes to the following Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations (KSO):
- C: Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy through the transformation of its mobility, energy, construction and production systems;
- A: Promoting an open strategic autonomy[[‘Open strategic autonomy’ refers to the term ‘strategic autonomy while preserving an open economy’, as reflected in the conclusions of the European Council 1 – 2 October 2020.]] by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains to accelerate and steer the digital and green transitions through human-centred technologies and innovations.
It covers the following impact areas:
- Industrial leadership in key and emerging technologies that work for people;
- Affordable and clean energy;
- Circular and clean economy.
The expected impact, in line with the Strategic Plan, is to contribute to the “Efficient and sustainable use of energy, accessible for all is ensured through a clean energy system and a just transition”, notably through
- Technological and socio-economic breakthroughs for achieving climate neutrality and the transition to zero pollution of the building stock by 2050, based on inclusive and people-centric R&I (more detailed information below).
- Increased energy efficiency in industry and reducing industry’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions through recovery, upgrade and/or conversion of industrial excess (waste) heat and through electrification of heat generation (more information below).
Other Horizon Europe Clusters include topics and activities that can be relevant to this Destination, e.g. in order to seek synergies. These include (but are not limited to) the following:
Cluster 2:
- Destination 2 – Innovative Research on the European Cultural Heritage and the Cultural and Creative Industries. That Destination is most relevant for the topics which scope addresses heritage buildings.
- Destination 3 - Innovative Research on Social and Economic Transformations. That Destination is most relevant for the social innovation items included in some of the topics.
Cluster 3:
- Destination 4 – Increased Cybersecurity. This potential link is most relevant for the topics that address smart buildings and digitalisation of buildings.
- Destination 5 – A Disaster-Resilient Society for Europe. This potential link can be relevant for the topics that address the resilience of the building stock.
Cluster 4: the whole cluster is relevant, in particular Destination 1 – Climate Neutral, circular and digitised production, which is highly relevant for all topics on buildings (e.g. for the digitalisation of construction / renovation workflows).
Cluster 6:
- Destination 3 – Circular economy and bioeconomy sectors and Destination 4 – Clean environment and zero pollution. This potential link is relevant for all topics, in particular those that address sustainable renovation of buildings.
Beyond Horizon Europe, other programmes include some components with which synergies and complementarities can be found. For instance, the Clean Energy Transition and Circular Economy sub-programmes under LIFE can contribute to the market uptake of the innovation delivered under this Destination. The Digital Europe programme includes actions that can be relevant to consider in relation to the topics that entail the development or use of (big) data approaches.
Highly energy-efficient and climate neutral European building stock
Topics under this Destination targeting highly energy-efficient and climate-neutral European building stock focus on both, the energy challenge in buildings and, more broadly, the transformation of the built environment towards more sustainable living.
In line with the new European Bauhaus aiming to “bring the European Green Deal to life in an attractive, and innovative and human-centred way”, the sustainable built environment should go beyond merely improving the energy and resource efficiency of buildings and also include a qualitative, aesthetic and human dimension. At the intersection of science, technology and the arts, new creative design and architectural solutions should be developed to ensure the sustainable renovation of the existing European building stock for the well-being of its users. In particular the renovation or adaptive reuse of historical and heritage buildings and sites needs to embrace quality principles to safeguard the cultural values of Europe’s historical environment and local architectural identity.
Topics targeting energy efficiency in buildings under this Destination seek to achieve the following impacts:
- More energy efficient building stocks supported by an accurate understanding of buildings performance in Europe and of related evolutions.
- Building stocks that effectively combine energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and digital and smart technologies to support the transformation of the energy system towards climate neutrality.
Addressing the broader transformation of the built environment, though, requires a larger involvement of all players across the built environment value chain and throughout building life cycle. To this end, a co-programmed European Partnership on a people-centric, sustainable built environment has been set up (Built4People) to develop holistic R&I for an effective transition to sustainability. All Horizon Europe R&I actions addressing the challenges related to the buildings and construction sector will contribute to achieving the Built4People Partnership goals and will benefit from the coordinated approach within the community of its partners and stakeholders. Topics contributing to the implementation of the Built4People European Partnership seek to achieve the following impacts:
- Higher buildings’ performance with lower environmental impacts through increased rates of holistic renovations.
- Higher quality, more affordable built environment preserving climate and environment, and safeguarding cultural heritage and ensuring better living conditions.
Industrial facilities in the energy transition
Topics on industrial facilities in the energy transition supported under this Destination focus on thermal energy management in industry. The bulk of R&I activities related to industry is however supported under Cluster 4 “Digital, Industry and Space”.
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes
The page limit of the application is 70 pages.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System
2. Eligible countries: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes
5. Evaluation and award:
- Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes
- Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual
- Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes
Specific conditions
7. Specific conditions: described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Documents
Call documents:
Standard application form — call-specific application form is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard evaluation form — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
MGA
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility
HE Main Work Programme 2021–2022 – 13. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme and Rules for Participation Regulation 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
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