RFCS-2021 Steel Accompanying Measures
RFCS Project Grants
Basic Information
- Identifier
- RFCS-02-2021-AM
- Programme
- RFCS-2021
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- June 29, 2021
- Deadline
- September 22, 2021
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €11,362,500
- Min Grant Amount
- –
- Max Grant Amount
- –
- Expected Number of Grants
- –
- Keywords
- RFCS-02-2021-AMRFCS-2021Research Objective Art.10 - Conservation of resources, protection of the environment and circular economyResearch Objective Art.8 - New, sustainable and low-carbon steelmaking and finishing processesResearch Objective Art.9 - Advanced steel grades and applications
Description
Eligibility & Conditions
Conditions
Conditions
- Admissibility conditions are described in Part 2-Calls for proposals and Part 3-General Provisions of the Information Package 2021.
- Proposal page limits and layout are described in Part 3-General Provisions and Part 4-Guide and Manual of the Information Package 2021. The templates of Forms Part B are available for download in the Submission System and the page limits for each document are as well specified inside these templates.
- Eligible countries are described in Part 3-General Provisions of the Information Package 2021 and in the RFCS legal basis.
- Other eligibility conditions are described in Part 2-Calls for proposals and Part 3-General Provisions of the Information Package 2021.
- Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Part 3-General Provisions of the Information Package 2021.
- Submission and evaluation processes are described in Part 3-General Provisions and in more details in Part 4-Guide and Manual of the Information Package 2021 (Part 4 is a Guide for Applicants and Manual for Evaluation and Selection of the proposals) and the Online Manual.
- Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Part 3-General Provisions and in more details in Part 4-Guide and Manual of the Information Package 2021 (Part 4 is a Guide for Applicants and Manual for Evaluation and Selection of the proposals).
- Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement are described in Part 2-Calls for proposals of the Information Package 2021.
- Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in Part 3-General Provisions of the Information Package 2021.
Documents:
Information Package : Parts 1 - 4
Sample application form ([ToA]) — call-specific application forms are available in the Submission System
Content of Evaluation Forms — in the Part 4-Guide and Manual of the Information Package 2021 Annex II
Support & Resources
RFCS Website - for general information on RFCS Programme
For help related to this call, please contact: [email protected]
For questions related to RFCS policy aspects, please contact: [email protected]
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals.
IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.
Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and submission to reporting on your on-going project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Latest Updates
EVALUATION results
Published: 29.06.2021
Deadline: 22.09.2021
Available budget: EUR 11.362.500,00
RFCS-01-2021 Coal: EUR 3 090 600,00
(RFCS-01-2021-AM, RFCS-01-2021-PDP, RFCS-01-2021-RPJ)
RFCS-02-2021 Steel: EUR 8.271.900,00
(RFCS-02-2021-AM, RFCS-02-2021-PDP, RFCS-02-2021-RPJ)
The results of the evaluation are as follows:
Number of proposals submitted: 111
RFCS-01-2021 Coal: 28
RFCS-02-2021 Steel: 83
Number of inadmissible proposals: 3
RFCS-01-2021 Coal: 2
RFCS-02-2021 Steel: 1
Number of ineligible proposals: 0
Number of above-threshold proposals: 87
RFCS-01-2021 Coal: 19
RFCS-02-2021 Steel: 68
Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 111.701.745,02
RFCS-01-2021 Coal: EUR 26.594.545,57
RFCS-02-2021 Steel: EUR 85.107.199,45
We recently informed the applicants about the evaluation results for their proposals.
For questions, please contact [email protected]
Specific Challenge:
On the 1st of December 2019, a new European Commission entered into service for the present quinquennium 2019-2024. The new College of Commissioners, under the presidency of Ms Ursula von der Leyen, reset the Commission’s commitment to “tackling climate and environmental-related challenges that is this generation’s defining task”. The European Green Deal Communication, presented by the Commission in December 2019, is a new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use.
Within the most pertinent lines for the RFCS research programme arising from the European Green Deal Communication, applicants to RFCS-2021 call for the steel topic should consider the following elements when preparing their proposals:
- Energy-intensive industries, such as steel [..] are indispensable to Europe’s economy, as they supply several key value chains. The decarbonisation and modernisation of this sector is essential.
- The Commission will support clean steel breakthrough technologies leading to a zero-carbon steel making process by 2030.
Scope:
Proposals submitted to the RFCS programme on the steel research topic must address at least one of the respective RFCS Research Objectives of the Council Decision 2008/376/EC (Articles 8 to 10) and should relate to the European Green Deal Communication’s elements listed in the Introduction chapter of the RFCS 2021 Information Package Part 1.
When filling in the proposal, applicants are asked to indicate which research objectives are addressed and which of the European Green Deal Communication’s elements the proposal relates to.
Each proposal shall include an assessment of anticipated industrial, economic, social and environmental benefits, as stated in the Article 26 of the Council Decision 2008/376/EC “Content of proposals”.
The general challenges for the steel topic are: to contribute to clean sustainable development while increasing competitiveness, the development of new or improved technologies to guarantee the clean, safe and economic production of steel and steel products characterised by steadily increasing performance, suitability to use, customer satisfaction, prolonged service life, easy recovery and recycling.
The Research Objectives for the steel topic, valid at the opening of the call in June 2021, are:
1. New and improved steelmaking and finishing techniques
This objective aims to improve steel production processes with a view to enhancing product quality and increasing productivity. Reducing emissions, energy consumption and the environmental impact as well as enhancing the use of raw materials and the conservation of resources are an integral part of this improvements. Proposals shall address one or more of the following areas:
(a) new and improved iron-ore reduction processes; (b) ironmaking processes and operations; (c) electric arc furnace processes; (d) steelmaking processes; (e) secondary metallurgy techniques; (f) continuous casting and near net shape-casting techniques with and without direct rolling; (g) rolling, finishing and coating techniques; (h) hot- and cold-rolling techniques, pickling and finishing processes; (i) process instrumentation, control and automation; (j) maintenance and reliability of production lines.
2. RTD and the utilisation of steel
RTD related to the utilisation of steel is undertaken to meet the future requirements of steel users and to create new market opportunities. Proposals shall address one or more of the following areas:
(a) new steel grades for demanding applications; (b) steel properties addressing mechanical properties at low and high temperatures such as strength and toughness, fatigue, wear, creep, corrosion and resistance against fracture; (c) prolonging service life, in particular by improving the resistance of steels and steel structures to heat and corrosion; (d) steel-containing composites and sandwich structures; (e) predictive simulation models on microstructures and mechanical properties; (f) structural safety and design methods, in particular with regard to resistance to fire and earthquakes; (g) technologies relating to the forming, welding and joining of steel and other materials; (h) standardisation of testing and evaluation methods.
3. Conservation of resources and improvement of working conditions
In both steel production and steel utilisation, the conservation of resources, the preservation of the ecosystem and safety issues forms an integral part of the RTD work. Proposals shall address one or more of the following areas:
(a) techniques for recycling obsolete steel from various sources and classification of steel scrap; (b) steel grades and design of assembled structures to facilitate the easy recovery of steel scrap and its reconversion into usable steels; (c) control and protection of the environment in and around the workplace; (d) restoration of steelworks sites; (e) improvement of working conditions and quality of life in the workplace; (f) ergonomic methods; (g) occupational health and safety; (h) reduction of exposure to occupational emissions.