Innovative Technologies And Solutions To Improve Wind Energy Systems Supporting The Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan On Wind

Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

• Advance in the achievement of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan’s research and innovation priorities and targets for wind energy;
• Efficient and effective support to wind energy research and innovation through alignment and cooperation among different actors, avoiding fragmentation of efforts;
• Energy producers and consumers benefit from increased performance of wind energy technologies with the focus on efficiency and flexibility, reduced cost, improved reliability and sustainability, operation and maintenance, safety, robustness and security during all stages of the lifetime of a wind energy farm from installation, operation and maintenance to decommissioning;
• Increased contribution of wind energy to the energy system, with minimal impacts on health and the environment (notably biodiversity and pollution) and at the lowest possible cost.

The action contributes to address the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan’s research and innovation priorities and targets for wind energy, as defined by the Implementation Working Group (IWG) on wind energy, the European Technology and Innovation Platform on wind energy (ETIP Wind)^[1] and the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) joint programme on wind energy^[2].

The activities carried out by the project will pertain to the following priority R&I areas:

1. Industrialisation, scale-up and competitiveness: mass production supported by automation and reliable supply chains, design for large volume manufacturing and deployment, design for reliable and lasting products and improved construction and installation methods, digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) in industrial environment.
2. Optimisation and further digitalisation of operation and maintenance: integration of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, advanced repair methodologies and new sensor technologies, interoperability among wind farm sub-systems, advanced communication technologies and cybersecurity, innovative component replacement solutions and quick connect/disconnect systems for mooring lines and inter-array cables.
3. Wind energy system integration: definition and modelling of future system needs, advanced grid capabilities, interoperability, solutions to effectively manage curtailment, integration with energy storage technologies and hybrid plants, distributed wind energy.
4. Sustainability and circularity: material substitution for decarbonisation, material reduction, recycling methods, lifetime extension via re-using, refurbishing and re-purposing, new decommissioning tools and methods and solutions to minimise the environmental and biodiversity impacts and optimise the socio-economic impacts.
5. Floating offshore wind: development and demonstration of innovative technologies for offshore floating wind. Development of optimised floating wind energy systems through the integrated design of the different elements of the system, including the floater and the generation part.
6. Research and technology infrastructures for wind energy: upgrade of existing and establishment of new infrastructures and test centres for the sector. An area of particular interest in this domain are large-scale testing facilities for offshore floating wind energy systems.
7. Wind energy systems interactions with climate, atmosphere, ocean and geophysics: geophysical characteristics measuring and modelling, wake effect model development, climate change impact analysis
8. Environmental and social aspects, coexistence: evolution of environmental impact assessments, spatial planning, biodiversity solutions, reduced pollution (e.g. noise and vibration, pollution due to erosion of the blades), design and implementation of practices and platforms that facilitate inclusive communication and stakeholders’ involvement, tools to map stakeholder concerns and development of practical approaches to lifecycle public participation, socialisation of wind rights, relationship between people, technology and places for all relevant social issues
9. Emerging technologies: new concept assessment and development (e.g. multirotor concepts, tip rotor designs, ducted turbines), improved performance and efficiency of emerging/innovative wind energy systems

Structure, breakdown of activities and budget allocation

The action consists of activities directly implemented by the consortium and activities implemented through financial support to third parties. The R&I activities are divided into three challenges:

1. Breakthrough challenge
2. Validation challenge
3. Demonstration challenge

The breakthrough and the validation challenge can be carried out both through activities directly implemented by the core consortium and through FSTP activities.

The breakthrough challenge entails actions to develop new and potentially disruptive solutions, tools and new knowledge to increase the competitiveness of the wind energy sector and on the acceleration of wind energy deployment at scale both off- and onshore, including with experimental proof of concept, as well as with validation both in laboratory and relevant environment, as appropriate. Concepts and technologies initially developed through the breakthrough challenge could be further matured through the validation challenge.

The validation challenge entails actions to validate technologies, tools and innovative solutions, both in a laboratory and in a relevant environment that have been developed in the project but also developed previously and separately in other European and national projects. For the validation, the project can consider different use cases (e.g. onshore, offshore).

The demonstration challenge entails demonstration activities to accelerate the take up of innovation by the industry, in line with the priorities set by the SET Plan (activities up to TRL 7-8). It will solely be implemented by the core consortium.

The total maximum amount of EU funding for the demonstration activities is expected to be 50 million Euros.

The project is expected to implement at least 3 demonstration activities. The focus of each demonstration activity should be clearly different from each other. The proposed solutions should be demonstrated for a continuous period of at least 6 months.

The project is expected to include a clear go/no go milestone, for each demonstration activity, before entering the deployment phase. Before each go/no-go milestone, the project is expected to show evidence of having in place i) all needed permits for deployment, ii) complete, detailed and realistic engineering plans, compliant with the applicable standards and iii) a complete business and implementation plan. The project proposal is expected to present a clear and convincing pathway to obtain necessary permits for the demonstration activities and allow for appropriate timelines to achieve these. The project proposal is also expected to demonstrate how it will get a financial close for each demonstration activity. For this, the use of other EU/national/regional support mechanisms can be considered.

Privileged research and innovation areas for the demonstration challenge are the ones listed from a. to f. in the scope: a. industrialisation, scale-up and competitiveness, b. optimisation and further digitalisation of operation and maintenance, c. wind energy system integration, d. sustainability and circularity, e. floating offshore wind and f. research and technology infrastructures for wind energy.

Activities directly implemented by the core consortium

The activities of the core consortium are expected to include the implementation of direct research and innovation activities in any of the areas listed in scope and in any of the challenges (breakthrough, validation, demonstration). The core consortium will be responsible for the management of the whole project, including the actions carried out through financial support to third parties (management of the FSTP calls, management of the FSTP projects). It is expected that the budget dedicated to the project management will not exceed 7% of the EU funding.

Activities implemented through Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP)

A share of the EU funding will be implemented through financial support to third parties and used to support research organizations, academia, start-ups, scale-ups, SME’s, industries and other entities and to enable use-cases that are not yet identified in the proposal stage.

The use of financial support to third parties should allow a faster implementation of research and innovation activities, attracting different stakeholders and innovators to develop and validate new technological solutions in the wind sector and respond quickly to new challenges. A tiered approach to address complex R&I challenges should be adopted via FSTP calls, meaning that projects with a relatively short duration should be supported (e.g. 12-18 months). A given action supported by FSTP can be implemented by one third party or by a (small) consortium of entities. Subsequent FSTP calls can be used to give further support to successful initiatives. The calls should be planned carefully and ensure that successful R&I work can continue without major interruption.

The demonstration challenge is excluded from FSTP calls.

For the FSTP calls, the following should be taken into account:

1. Breakthrough challenge: The proposal should include consecutive FSTP calls for the development of breakthrough technologies and innovative solutions in support of the long-term R&I challenges. Up to 8 million EUR of the EU requested contribution should be used to set up this ‘Breakthrough technologies’ challenge for third parties. The FSTP breakthrough challenge should aim at attracting innovative entities that does not necessarily have the capacity to apply directly for EU grants.
2. Validation challenge: The proposal should include consecutive FSTP calls for the validation of innovative technologies/solutions developed in the breakthrough challenge or from earlier R&I projects. Up to 16 million EUR of the EU requested contribution is expected to be used for subsequent FSTP calls. FSTP will be used to engage other entities not earlier identified.

The first FSTP call for the breakthrough challenge should be published in the first year of the project. The FSTP calls for the validation challenge must be published in a later stage considering the experience and the results of the breakthrough challenge and/or the core project R&I activities. The duration of the actions supported by FSTP should not be longer than 18 months.

The activities carried out through FSTP calls can pertain to any of the research and innovation areas listed in scope. The applicants must clearly describe in their proposal the objectives and the expected results of the FSTP call.

For the FSTP calls, the consortium is expected to take into account the provisions on ‘financial support to third parties’ set out in Annex B of the General Annexes and incorporate them into the proposal. The consortium should consider specifically elements within the FSTP schemes to address broad EU geographical balance.

The FSTP calls should be open to any public or private entities, including SMEs.

Applicants are advised to consult the European Commission’s guidance on FSTP activities^[3].

Governance of the project

The project will have to set out how and with what frequency the calls for proposals to be funded through financial support to third parties (FSTP) are organised and how the evaluation of these proposals is carried out. The core project consortium needs to define the selection criteria and the process and criteria of organisations, for which financial support may be granted, ensuring compliance with the FSTP rules under Horizon Europe. The proposal should describe clearly the methodology to implement the various steps of the FSTP calls, define the specifications of the stages of the competitions, timelines, targets, KPIs and a solid evaluation methodology including evaluation criteria. The consortium is also responsible for ensuring high visibility of the FSTP calls.

The core consortium is expected to demonstrate proven experience in sound financial management of large projects, including public procurement and/or calls and grants to support third parties, in particular for the beneficiaries that will manage the FSTP calls.

The project sets up an Advisory Board, composed of experts in wind energy systems’ research and innovation, representing public and private entities that are independent from the beneficiaries of the project. A representation of the SET Plan Implementation Working Group (IWG) on Wind Energy, the Clean Energy Transition Cofund Partnership related initiative and of the European Commission should be as well part of the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board advises the project to ensure coherence and alignment with the SET Plan activities and goals. The consortium will ensure that the advice of the Advisory Board is appropriately taken into account in the project’s implementation. This will be monitored by the granting authority.

The proposal should define mechanisms to assess and demonstrate progress (with qualitative and quantitative key performance indicators (KPIs), benchmarking and progress monitoring). Besides defining and tracking progress of technology-specific KPIs in the technology areas specifically covered, the project should monitor and report on the contribution towards the high-level SET Plan KPIs defined by the SET Plan community in the wind energy sector^[4]. The project should report the progress of all its R&I activities according to these mechanisms and KPIs with an annual deliverable and milestone for the project execution according to plan.

The consortium will have to present a clear risk and mitigation plan. In this plan special attention should be paid to the risk that the chosen demonstration actions will not reach a go-decision.

In the project proposal, the consortium will have to describe all challenges and actions for the whole duration of the project, including the activities to be carried out directly by the core consortium and the ones carried out through financial support to third parties (FSTP). A given action supported by such FSTP scheme can be implemented by one third party or a by consortium of entities.

As regards data management, in addition to fulfilling the standard research data management and open access requirements in line with the Grant Agreement provisions, the project is expected to set up a platform, possibly re-using an already existing one, to ensure the accessibility and maintenance of the data generated by the project. The platform should be able to organise and host data generated by other research and innovation projects on wind energy. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this topic is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable)

The consortium should define measures to maximise the impact of the successful project and for that will contribute to the relevant Knowledge Community and Impact Network of the Clean Energy Transition Partnership and share communicable results with the European R&D community.

Cooperation with International Energy Agency (IEA) Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP) on wind energy systems

For activities carried out that are also covered by relevant initiatives under the International Energy Agency Technology Cooperation Programme for wind energy systems^[5], proposals should envisage liaising with these initiatives to consider possible synergies, cooperation and mutual sharing of knowledge.

Duration

The estimated project duration is around 5 years.

[1] See for instance: ETIP Wind Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda 2025-2027 - November 2023

[2] See for instance: NeWindEERA – A New Research Programme for the European Wind Energy Sector – September 2024

[3] European Commission (2025), Good practices for implementing financial support to third parties (FSTP) in EU grants.

[4] ETIP Wind, EERA JP Wind and IWG Wind (2025); “From innovation to industrial competitiveness – How wind R&I funding will deliver European technology sovereignty”. URL: https://etipwind.eu/wp-content/uploads/files/publications/20250408-Etipwind-report.pdf

[5] Task Directory - IEA Wind TCP